Solving Content Chaos With Adhere
Where do we even begin?
In part one of this blog, we outlined the creation of content chaos, discussing how the past 10 years have shown a steady trend towards simplifying the sharing of content, both inside and outside the organization. At the same time, we’ve seen a diminished focus on managing and securing that content and associated information governance.
So how can you solve your content chaos? Recognizing that SharePoint isn’t going away, and realizing that you need to deliver content security that addresses the Dropbox problem. You must to provide ECM systems that promote adoption with user-friendly interfaces, automated business processes, and also integration with email, office, and other tools.
It was exactly this question that led us to create Adhere—our solution to the content chaos that exists today. The Adhere offering is built on Alfresco’s core document and records management platform, with enterprise-class components from collaboration to global information governance. Available on-premise, cloud-only, or as the only true hybrid-cloud ECM model, our Adhere solution uniquely provides for both the wants of users and the needs of the enterprise.
With Adhere as the glue that binds together and secures content both in and outside of your organization, throughout your ECM systems and content silos, we can deliver to users what an ECM solution should have always meant to them. Our Adhere solution today provides:
- SharePoint Integration and Synchronization
- Federated Search
- Automated Workflow/BPM
- Embedded “In-Process” Classification and Extraction
- Simplified Information Governance
- Universal Content Security (UCS)
- Enterprise Mobile ECM
Solving SharePoint
Across both the public and private sector, companies have made an investment in SharePoint and it is clear that it isn’t going to simply disappear from their daily operations. As noted in part one of this blog, over 75% of organizations still have a “strong commitment” to SharePoint, according to a recent survey. However, only 11% say their SharePoint deployment is a success.
Our Adhere solution focuses on solving SharePoint by identifying and classifying critical content within your sites. It then integrates and synchronizes SharePoint + Alfresco, streamlines business processes, and then delivers content security, information governance, and federated search.
In addition, while most organizations are looking to manage, rather than replace, their SharePoint sites, our Adhere Solution can also migrate your content from SharePoint to Alfresco when required. These migrations leverage ActiveMigrate methodology from Zia and can be either a full migration or simply a migration of active content (a “lazy” migration).
Solving Dropbox
For many CIOs, the single largest area of concern right now is making sure they don’t end up as the next Sony Pictures or Anthem, with their corporate data shared around the world by hackers. This is not just a public relations concern, with the recent news that Sony is facing a multi-million dollar class-action lawsuit by employees. They allege the company “failed to secure its computer systems, servers and databases, despite weaknesses that it has known about for years.”
So how do you protect critical corporate content, while recognizing a world where Dropbox and Box.net are pervasive, and that employees can very simply accidentally or intentionally share information inside or ourside the organization. With our Adhere solution, we introduce the concept of Universal Content Security (UCS)—which secures data based on policy, not platform.
Whether you are sharing content via Dropbox, USBs, email, SharePoint, Alfresco Cloud Sync, or any other technology platform, our UCS solution will protect the data—even through a cut and paste scenario. From employee records to sales data or board documents—across internal and external collaboration—the ability to remove users from responsibility for content security provides the solution to the Dropbox problem.
Solving Information Governance
The legacy of records management (RM) systems is one where solutions have often been designed for dedicated compliance officers rather than content creators. These are deployed in a standalone environment that is disconnected from corporate collaboration and ECM systems. This situation has only become worse with the rise of SharePoint—where in a recent study only 13% said SharePoint aligns with their information governance policies. And of course, the paper problem still exists with many large organizations storing the majority of their records as paper files.
Zia provides Easy RM solutions that work the way you do, connecting those who are creating content with the compliance process. As we like to say, “Everyone’s a Records Manager, and Nobody Knows It!” Easy RM incorporates the tools you use on a daily basis, from SharePoint to Office to email, reducing barriers to implementation and widespread usage. Additionally, Easy RM solutions are built on a single DoD5015.02 certified content hub for document and records management, reducing duplication and wrong version usage.
Principles of Easy RM solutions include:
- Automated Declaration of Records
- Intelligent Rule-Based File Plan
- SharePoint Integration and Synchronization
- Consolidated Paper/Electronic File Plans
- Digitization with Intelligent Capture
- Office and Outlook Integration
When your records management tools fit into the daily work habits of employees, you can reduce barriers to adoption, reduce duplication of efforts and errors with one central repository, increase productivity with automated processes, and keep control of your data by reducing use of external tools.
Adhere
In 2015 we have reached a tipping point where once again the need to find, manage, and secure content has become as important as the need to simplify the sharing of information. For the first time since 2007, we would expect more respondents to list compliance/risk as the primary driver for new ECM related investments, rather than collaboration. The Zia Adhere solution was designed for the world of 2015, the world of Sony and Anthem, and the world where most organizations are committed to SharePoint and yet still deem it a failure.
If you would like more information on Adhere, please feel free to contact me personally at probinson@ziaconsulting.com or visit our website at www.ziaconsulting.com.
Phil Robinson, SVP at Zia Consulting