Document Management solutions have not yet reached, on the Romanian market, the degree of penetration and popularity that, for example, ERP applications have. However, both the private and the public sector are starting to show an increased interest in this type of solutions. In order to find out how consistent this interest is, how well the need for document management systems is perceived by potential customers, but especially when and how they consider it necessary to start a Document Management project, we invited, in a debate conducted by our magazine, some of the main players operating on this market. They kindly responded to our request: Madalina-Manon Serbanescu, Business Development Manager Information Management Business Solutions – Star Storage, Claudiu Borsan, Country Sales Manager – ELO Digital Office, Tudor Popa, Technology Sales Consultant – Oracle Romania, Radu Ionescu, Sales Director – Docentris, Cristian Apa, Information Management Sales Representative – IBM Romania, Theodor Dumbrava, Business Process Solutions Development Manager – Xerox Romania and Republic of Moldova, Viorel Delinschi, Business Development Manager Information Management Business Solutions – Star Storage, and Alin Nita, General Manager – FivePlus Solutions.
R.G. – External consultancy and redesign of information flows, necessary steps in the implementation of a DM solution, modify business processes and procedures. How can customer reluctance at this level be overcome?
Radu Ionescu, Docentris: It’s tricky to draw a line between where our role as solution implementers ends and where business consulting and process and procedure redesign begins. It should be noted that we, as vendors or implementers, are not primarily in the business of consulting, redesigning business processes or the way they communicate, etc. In essence, what we do is to provide them with a set of tools to enable them to achieve certain goals. Obviously, in order to effectively deliver and implement a DM solution, we need to have a good understanding of the client company’s processes and how information flows within it. And the rigour of a DM system effectively prevents you from working without well-defined working procedures. Regarding the reluctance, I think the “little secret” here is to implement a pilot project within the company. A successful project that, even if it doesn’t ensure a very high RoI, can be a model for the rest of the company. Which could be expanded with the help of top management, the main element that can generate the necessary pressure to use such a system. This small success in implementation is necessary, because redesigning business processes is a rather “dry” operation and the small victory can compensate for the overload felt at the end-user level.
Madalina-Manon Serbanescu, Star Storage: I would point out here an interesting aspect, namely that it happens quite often that we, the vendors, end up playing the role of mediator between the implementation team appointed by the company’s IT department and the company’s IT department. Just as frequently it happens that, in the case of implementing a certain flow at departmental level, there are considerable differences of opinion. In this case, we have to play an advisory role, which puts us in a delicate position.
Key elements in starting a Document Management project
G.V. – The need for a pilot project in a DM system implementation process was mentioned. What other elements need to be taken into account when starting such a project?
Theodor Dumbrava, Xerox: We approach DM projects from the perspective of the service provider rather than the solution provider, and our service offering is very diverse, ranging from business process auditing and business process consulting to service delivery. From this perspective, I believe that identifying the client’s real need is an essential condition. And the need to know very well his business implies a sustained effort on our part, not only at the top management level, but also at the end-user level of the service or DM solution. Both plans need to be followed, and the first step we take is the process audit, whether we are talking about a complex process or a simple document flow. Basically, we follow the paths that the different types of documents go through within the organisation, attaching a series of drivers to them, which are finally quantified and presented to the client, together with a series of proposals to optimise those flows or processes, in order to achieve lower costs and/or process efficiency improvements.
Alin Nita, FivePlus Solutions: I think an essential element in a DM project is for the supplier to have the same language with the beneficiary when discussing what document management means for the client. Over time, I have noticed that for different service or solution providers, Document Management has different meanings and is treated in different ways. This is natural, because approaches differ from client to client, depending on the specifics of their business and the vertical in which they operate. The “common language”, however, involves awareness of the real needs on the part of the customer and expert advice from the solution or service provider. It is only after this stage that one can move on to the next phase of analysis, workflow development, process adjustments, etc. I don’t think there is a vendor that has a universally valid DM solution for any type of company. From our point of view, document management means a combination of modules covering various specific activities that can be adapted according to the customer’s needs. For example, the contract accounting part, the invoice processing part, the personnel file processing part or the electronic registration part are all guided in principle, in 60-80% proportion, by the same rules, the document management being carried out according to a somewhat standardized algorithm. The rest depends on the “local policy”, on the specificity of the company’s way of working, and this “rest”, which is very important, is built together with the client.
Claudiu Borsan, ELO Digital Office: we should not lose sight of the situation in which a company understands its needs very clearly, knows exactly what it wants, and after awareness and analysis of these needs it turns to several vendors. This is where the differences arise. The company that has gone beyond the level of internal analysis reaches the stage where it can opt, for example, for a platform solution, which allows it to develop modules that best meet its needs, or it can choose a pre-customized solution, so to speak, which allows a lower degree of customization, but requires less development and implementation effort. Time is of the essence – you can get the same thing from two different vendors, but from one in a week and from the other in two months. The problem is for that company to understand the differences and capabilities of each application, to know which solution best meets its needs. It’s not a simple task, because a multitude of elements need to be taken into account – from integration with legacy systems, to how user-friendly the interface is, which is an important element in increasing end-user adoption.
G.V. – Do these items basically define the shortlist of vendors that a customer makes?
Claudiu Borsan, ELO Digital Office: No matter how well a company knows its needs and understands the working principles of a DM solution, until it gets the pulse of the market, it will not have the right information on what can be achieved in practice. And, related to this, I would like to point out a very good initiative, in my opinion, carried out in Germany, a country with a mature DM market, where the most important companies operating in the document management solutions market have contributed to a joint budget for the promotion and popularization of these solutions. An excellent thing, I think, especially in Romania, where Document Management is still an unclear notion for many companies.
Radu Ionescu, Docentris: I think this situation has a simple explanation – Document Management is not yet a “commodity”, it is not a field that everyone is good at, understands the differences and has preferences. It is only after a company has a consultant to help it understand the concept that the surface of the iceberg is reached and only then can it start to probe the market offer. We can draw a parallel with buying a car: when you want to buy a car you know exactly what you want from it, what parameters it has to meet, what requirements it has to meet as a priority – it is natural to do so because a car is a commodity nowadays. DM solutions have not yet reached this status, not only because of the complexity of this type of solutions, but also because the local DM market is not as mature as the car market – we don’t know who offers good service, which brands are reliable, etc.
When and how to define the budget
G.V. – At what stage and how can a client get an idea of the budget he has to allocate to such a project?
Radu Ionescu, Docentris: First of all, it depends on how big the project is If a company wants to solve a single problem that is not very complex, the process is simpler – select a few vendors and see clearly what the costs are in time and money. In larger projects, however, I don’t think budgeting can be done right from the start, but there are a few intermediate steps to go through – internal analysis, assembling a project team, defining project specifications and objectives, etc. Then comes the market research phase and identifying possible vendors. All these stages probably take more than a month. Then, together with the vendor with whom a first draft of a specification has been agreed, a “Statement of Work” has to be drawn up, in which the client states very clearly what he wants to do with the DM pilot project – if such an approach is chosen – and whether he wants it to be a stand-alone project or a scalable one that can be extended. It is only after these steps that the client has a general idea of what they want to do and over what timeframe and can move on to the budgeting phase.
Cristian Apa, IBM: This is a valid approach when attacking a specific problem. The dual situation arises when the client has a strategic approach, expressed at the management level of the company, which is seen in the need for process redesign, plus a system to support and optimise these processes. in such situations it is much more difficult to discuss a budget at an early stage. The solution is to allocate an estimated annual budget, more as an order of magnitude, on the basis of market research by specialists, case studies, similar experiences. In such cases, defining the scope of the project is a much more laborious analysis work, which can take up to 6-9 months.
Alin Nita, FivePlus Solutions: Obviously, everything depends on the size of the implementation, of the project. Because, if we are talking about companies in the SME category, here we can’t talk about an annual budget allocated to the DM project. in such cases, the client is reluctant if the vendor proposes to implement everything once and then a modular approach is more appropriate, built on small budgets. Basically, we help the customer to build his budget based on a calculation made according to his needs.
Viorel Delinschi, Star Storage: However, the issue of the budget allocated to a DM solution should be seen from a double perspective – whether the company chooses to develop the solution internally or to implement an existing solution on the market, in which case it has very high initial costs and then recurring costs depending on how it develops its business, or whether it chooses to have recurring costs from the beginning, by opting for the outsourcing option. The latter option, outsourcing, allows the client to forecast monthly costs and budget for a year, with a much smaller margin of error than in-house implementation or development. In addition, an outsourced service provider has more accurate calculation models, which allow an accurate assessment of costs. And as in this period of crisis, for most companies CAPEX is a delicate issue, outsourcing is a very good option, especially as, well managed outsourcing contract, it can ensure a fixed value OPEX.
Risks vs. Benefits
G.V. – What are the main benefits a company can and should expect from implementing a DM solution? What about the risks?
Tudor Popa, Oracle: The key elements a customer can expect from implementing a DM solution are speed in accessing data and working with information, less time for employees to spend searching for information, a clearer record of what has happened to any document – from the moment it is created to when it is archived or further on destroyed – and an accurate record of activities, as document flows can be quantified more precisely. All this translates into significant increases in efficiency and productivity.
Radu Ionescu, Docentris: The benefits of DM systems are multiple: optimized processes, document security, structuring access to information, efficiency, etc. Risks are also present – there is a risk that 4 out of 5 projects will fail: not fitting the budget or the purpose of implementation, not being accepted by users, etc. But there are risks common to all IT projects. Also related to risks, it is important that we understand what the client wants to achieve through implementation, what benefits they expect. We should not assume that all customers want the same results by the same methods. and we must also adapt to the company culture. A brief example: in one of his lectures, Tom Peters said that one of the common understandings of managerial power can be defined as follows: “A manager is more powerful the longer a document waits on his desk to be signed”. Peters emphasized how archaic this concept is and how inapplicable it is in a modern company where things have to move fast. But it’s hard to fight with these concepts, preferably it’s to manage to implement a change for the better with a minimum of effort (in the above case it’s easier to point out the control mechanisms that the decision makers still have, than to make arguments in favour of company agility, i.e. to adapt your speech, not to fight to change the culture of that company…).
Alin Nita, FivePlus Solutions: The major risk that can even lead to the failure of a project occurs when the implementer fails to attract management to support him in the implementation, i.e. cannot convince him to participate in the important stages of the project. When objectives are not explicitly set in DM projects, if they cannot be quickly quantified, as they are benefits in qualitative areas, the risk of not having a clear understanding of what is to be achieved at the end is very high. But when you manage to have a very high level of transparency and an important ally on your side, the level of risk is significantly reduced.
Cristian Apa, IBM: The success of a DM project is a combination of several factors, the most important of which is to have the right people who can understand the specifics of the client’s business. The quality of the consultants participating in the project is very important for its success.
Claudiu Borsan, ELO Digital Office: Another risk that I would highlight is the one related to the optimal use of information. I believe that, in order to approach the problem as correctly as possible, a client should not consider implementing a DM system, but an Information Management system. The explanation is simple: if in a company information comes from more than two sources, which is practically the case in any company – information comes by fax, by mail, by post, from an ERP or other installed information system – there is a clear need for a system to manage all this information. Without an Information Management system, companies, whatever their level of computerisation, cannot make the most of the information they have in the company. This is why I believe that, in 5-10 years, such a system will be considered indispensable for any company.
A press release by Radu Ghitulescu
