The Rising Trend of Enterprise Content Management

According to a research, an average office has 25 feet of paper per person[1]. Moreover, 

day-to-day operations create more paper. Ever wondered how companies manage the tons of paper they create? Take the example of a telecom firm. Each day, thousands of SIM cards are bought in every city. This means that a telecom company has more than a hundred thousand forms to process, digitize and store every single day.

What do you think happens to a Customer Identification Form (CIF), for buying a new SIM card, after you’ve filled it? 

This enormous quantity of paperwork is ideally managed using an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) company. These companies collect the documents, verify them, process & digitize the data, barcode and scan the images. All this needs to happen for about three to four hundred thousand forms, every day. Your number is activated in 24 hours, which means that this process ends within that time-frame. In fact SoftAge, which is a leader in this industry, finishes this process within 4 hours. After the scanning, all documents are indexed and stored in massive warehouses. The indexing and warehousing process is so meticulous, that a company like SoftAge can retrieve a stored document within 5 minutes.

SoftAge Information Technology Ltd., now an ECM industry expert and forerunner, started with just 6 people and in a small room in 1994. Its first assignment was application processing for Unit Trust of India (UTI). Vodafone gave it a small assignment, which required only 5 people to complete. Gradually the company grew, and by 2011 it was an ISO certified Limited company with about 7000 employees spread over 100 offices. As inspiring as this growth is, the real story actually truly begins here.

Since Enterprise Content Management didn’t quite exist as a concept in India, no organization really had the capacity to manage documents for a giant like Vodafone, across various States. So Vodafone put forward a challenge to its multiple vendors – to get this huge business for their company, they must open 450 fully-functional offices within one month of signing contract.

SoftAge decided to take the risk, and start scouting for the office locations before it had even signed the contract. Within 10 days of signing the contract, SoftAge had opened 450 offices in 450 districts across the vast landscape of India, each of which were fully equipped with staff and infrastructure.

There was no looking back for the organization after that point. It opened its first international office in that very year in UAE. Only two and a half years since the Vodafone contract, SoftAge has 600+ offices across Asia and Africa.

Both SoftAge’s rapid growth and its immense cache of clients including Airtel, Indigo, Ogilvy, Indian Air Force, Indian Space Research Organization, MTS and Max New York Life Insurance indicate a trend. Enterprise Content Management companies are clearly benefiting their clients and are here to stay.

What do you think? Feel free to leave comments and insights on this page.

---

[1] Research by Environment Protection agency, Govt of USA.

7 Reasons Your Company Needs End-to-End Document Management

If you are in an organization, you create documents. Whether they are employee records, forms filled by customers, product plans, strategy memos, legal records, or even minutes of meetings. Those documents are valuable to someone somewhere in your organization – be it in terms of decision making or daily operations. But without a secure document management system in place, that value is often diminished due to damage or loss. This is especially true as the organization grows. Business Dictionary defines Document Management System (DMS) as, An electronic system designed to organize and manage documents. These documents are usually organized with software, which provides the user with the ability to access, modify, and centrally store the documents. Document management systems handle tedious tasks such as archiving, distribution, and creation of documents.

An end-to-end document management solution , such as one provided by SoftAge, includes a sophisticated DMS, along with value added services such as collection of the document from the company’s local offices/distribution points, verification of the document according to company parameters and warehousing of the physical document.

Here are 7 reasons your company should adopt an End-to-End Document Management System:

1. Saves Money Both Directly and Indirectly: The time and money spent searching for paper files is significant. A study conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that an enterprise with 1,000 workers wastes between $2.5 and $3.5 million a year searching for important documents. In addition to this reduction in operational costs, storage costs are reduced because you don’t need to rent your own warehouses, you can simply scan and digitize everything or leverage off your DMS provider’s warehouse infrastructure. 
2.  Greater Speed of Document Retrieval: Not only is money wasted in document retrieval, by an extension, so is time. IDC uncovered that staff spends around 20% of their working hours searching for information in files, although they only ever find half of what they are looking for. A DMS ensures that documents are indexed in several different ways simultaneously, and archived systematically. This ensures that the digital copy and the physical document can be searched & retrieved within a few minutes.
3.  Controlled and Improved Document Distribution: A DMS acts as a centralizing force for all your information, ensuring control over document access and preserving intellectual capital & organizational knowledge. The locality of information is not locked away in the 'heads' of specific individuals who might leave, and can be easily shared across departments and physical locations, increasing the value of that information to the organization. This means that important operational data becomes portable and is easily accessible, whereas confidential information & sensitive documents are kept secure. An efficient DMS provider also ensures security for your documents through biometrics, state-of-art alarm systems and security personnel. 
4.  Reduce Scope of Human Error:  There is often time lost in a manual system due to human error. A user may have stored a document in the wrong place by accident, indexed incorrectly, forgotten what the document was named etc. According to IDC and a PWC study, in an average office, one in 20 documents is lost for good. Lost documents can be expensive and time-consuming to replace. When stored in a central repository, documents remain centrally archived while being viewed or used, so that none are misplaced.
5. Legal Benefits:  Organizations often find themselves dealing with legal proceedings. These might be small concerns such as fees & fines or larger disputes which involve court cases. Valid long-term records and documents are required and extremely helpful in such cases. Also, most industries have regulatory compliances and standards.  The risk of non-conformance leads to fines, license withdrawal, or in certain circumstances custodial sentences. An End-to-End DMS ensures that your organization is thoroughly prepared in such circumstances through a combination of systematically maintained records, security control, audit trails and archiving. 
6.  Improved customer service and satisfaction: Efficient Document Management means reduced response times and a more accurate response. More controlled processes mean that the time spent on 'manually' ensuring customer satisfaction is reduced, and the process becomes more efficient. Also, the turn around time in delivering your product or service to the customer reduces, as the document-based process becomes more efficient.
7. Increased Operational Efficiency: All of the above points imply or lead to increased operational efficiency. Also, using a DMS firm means that the organization can allocate resources to other core business activities. In addition to this, DMS has other operational benefits such as an improved cash flow. Increased productivity in accessing and processing invoices, debt collection and other "cash critical" business documents, ensures that the flow of cash can be controlled centrally and that all documentation required to make cash flow decisions can be accessed immediately

Global Document Management Conclave

Unarguably, SoftAge has emerged strongly as a key player in the DMS industry, with cutting edge technology and a team of over 10,700 employees. In fact, 2014 marks 20 years in this field and the company organized SoftAge Global Document Conclave to commemorate this achievement. 
According to the Indian national newspaper, The Daily Pioneer, "The event saw experts and professionals from across the globe and a variety of sectors talk about the right knowledge". Indeed, the conclave saw 120 diverse delegates and speakers from across 3 continents, was applauded in over 22 media appearances and brought together the 640+ offices of the organization. There was representation from a plethora of industries such as healthcare, telecom, education, insurance, consultancy, IT, charted accountancy, logistics and manufacture.
“Even as Document Management is deep rooted in our history, it is all the more important in today’s Digital Age. With the great influx of information in our organizations, DMS is what keeps us efficient, streamlined, process-oriented and fast-paced”, Mr Ozair Yasin, MD, in his opening address of the Global Document Management Conclave organized by SoftAge Information Technology limited.
The event began with the SoftAge I innovate awards, an initiative to facilitate ideas generated within the organization that aim to improve the DMS experience of its clients and prospects. The awardees were deeply honored as Dr Ishitiaq, Vice Chancellor, Magadh University and Mr Ram Mudaqavi, Head Customer Service from Vodafone presented the awards. 
This was followed by ExpertSpeak, a session which provided the delegates with an informed and holistic perspective on the field of Document Management and Enterprise Content Management. The first speaker, Mr Fredrick Giron, is an analyst from Forrester Research, a global research and advisory firm with intensive expertise in technology and change management. He spoke of the origins of the field and share insights regarding relevance in the present and the future, in both the Indian and the global context. The next speaker, Mr Sanad Al Meqbali, brought to the table the Middle East perspective, from UAE’s cutting-edge e-governance initiative to how the companies in the region are turning to sophisticated DMS technology to stream-line their processes. The next speaker was Mr Vivek Naidu, Vice President - Document Imaging (India Cluster) at Kodak Alaris India Pvt.Ltd. A man with over 27 years of experience in the field of IT and ITeS, Mr Naidu explored the symbiotic relationship between hardware and software in the context of DMS. 
The focus returned on innovation in the next segment, which showcased technologies, products and software aimed at making information management simpler, faster and more cost-effective. This was followed by a panel discussion, moderated by the company’s Global IT Head, Ms Ananya Das. The illustrious panel included Mr Suchitto K Das (Chief Commercial Manager, South Eastern Railway), Mr Shailesh Upadhyay (Head, Customer Service, Vodafone India), Ms Diana Muthee-Gitiba (CEO, Adept Technologies, Africa), Mr Mustafa Naqwi (CEO, DNA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) and Murtuza Kachwala (Director, Protiviti Global). 
A surfeit of important insights emerged from this discussion. "We face difficulties on a daily basis to retrieve documents. This kind of technology, once we go in we should be able to store, retrieve and search documents in a much more efficient way," said Mr Suchitto Das in reference to the Indian Railways, as quoted by Business Standard and Economic Times. The panel went on to explore the current scenario in the field of document management, emerging trends and how DMS strategy would look like in the future, with focus on organizational bottom-line. 
It would suffice to say that the conclave succeeded in facilitation of learning, networking and innovation within the field. We hope to continue doing so through similar events, activities and forums in the future. Do keep an eye on this space for updates on this front!

SoftAge at CeBIT India 2014

SoftAge Information Technology Limited, one of the leading firms providing solutions and services in Document Management participated in world’s leading B2B Business IT and ICT Exhibition in Bengaluru from 12th – 14th November 2014. The theme for CeBIT India 2014 was “New perspectives in IT Business”.

After various successful exhibitions across the globe, this was the first time CeBIT came to India. CeBIT India 2014 was designed to assist attendees steer the fast-changing technology background by putting the spotlight on innovative trends and current developments in the ICT industries.

SoftAge focused on New Perspectives in IT Business catering to the Indian market and to meet the objective of tapping sustainable growth in the IT industry and lead generation of new and national and international business opportunities.

 Indian IT Industry needs wide-ranging coverage in the following topic/sector clusters: Enterprise Content Management, ERP & Data Analysis, Research & Innovations, IT infrastructure and Data Centers, Security, Communication & Networks, and IT Services. CeBIT generated vital content on the following topics and boosted the Indian IT Companies.

 " As a key player in the Indian IT Industry, we need to be updated with the current trends and developments and this will be the platform where we will be able to grasp the current happenings the best move taken by our company. CeBIT India will focus on 4 key trends impacting the IT industry- Cloud, Social Media, Enterprise Mobility and Big Data. CeBIT India will act as an enabler and catalyst for growth in our Business IT and ICT market." said Ms. Fahmida Ozair CEO, SoftAge.

The show generated vital content on a range of topics around key technology trends – four forces that are changing the way the world does business today – Enterprise Mobility, Social, Big Data & Cloud Computing.

 Indian IT Industry is rapidly expanding at a fast pace and ha s a great scope for moving altogether too new heights. This event will not only be a ladder in the success but also will introduce trend changing things. Thus the event provides the participating Indian ICT companies opportunities for exploring the four forces that are changing the way the world does business today – Enterprise Mobility, Social, Big Data & Cloud Computing.