The business world today is a rapidly growing and changing environment. This kind of environment requires you to dynamically evaluate and change business processes, upgrade software and products, automate work, and ultimately keep your customers satisfied. With any business, change management is an important consideration when implementing any enterprise technology, because this requires a change in business process.
There are a few great practices for managing this change that can relieve the stress of any implementation. With modern day advanced technology, integrating changes with minimum disruption in daily business operations is easier than ever before.
Tips to seamlessly integrate ECM systems into your business processes:
1.Plan, plan, plan
Without proper planning, you risk taking on too much too soon. The planning process should include consideration for every single user; launch date, technical requirements, and other elements along the chain. Always double check that your processes and workflows are mapped out properly. This prevents the end-users of the ECM from being disrupted or alienated.
2. Set realistic goals and standards
Stakeholder politics is one of the main reasons why IT projects fail. When all of your stakeholders are in agreement about the expectations and goals of the project, everything will run much more smoothly. Prepare your staff and stakeholders for the normal business disruption that may happen during the process to keep the process moving.
3. Take small, gradual steps.
When it comes to implementing enterprise technology, slow and steady wins the race. Rather than pushing out a new ECM system all at once, take things one step at a time. Begin with just one area of a business process and perfect it before moving onto the next. This is going to set your ECM up for success.
4. Proper testing in every step
Testing the software is a must before pushing out your ECM solution. There are many ways to test the software. This is not a step that should be overlooked. This will create a smoother transition, and prevent any surprises that could cause unnecessary disruptions.
5. Employee training and development
It is important to first pick an enterprise system that suites the needs of your employees, and is easy to use. Learning new systems and routines can cause dissatisfaction and interruption among employees. Make sure you have a solid user training plan, and train employees in advance, so once you roll out your ECM system your organization can continue without distractions.
In the long run, ECM helps to automate work and streamline business processes. Disruptions are unavoidable when implementing this kind of change. However, the benefits outweigh any of these short lived disruptions by making your organization a more modern, efficient place.
BSC provides customized tools and services tailored to fit your needs. ECM helps to enhance the quality of your decisions, improve customer service, increase productivity, and provide better access to documents. We can help you seamlessly integrate an ECM with the technology you already use. Talk with our staff today about making a plan perfect for your business.
Call us today! (205) 988-3300