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Optimizing Available Resources with Enterprise Information Management

By CIOReview | Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Since the advent of technology, information has always been a vital component for all enterprises, irrespective of their size, nature and industry. Organizations have experienced a rapid surge in the amount of business-centric information that are generated and requires maintenance on a regular basis. The technologies used to seamless formulate the flow of information have also become complex, often requiring strenuous management capabilities to solve data management intricacies. However with the emergence of innovative solutions, enterprises have found a solution to the constant issue of data deluge. Enterprise information management (EIM) is one such strategic business approach that combines numerous practices involved in business intelligence (BI), enterprise integration, and content management. It effectively streamlines various processes based on data access, storage, and handling.

According to Gartner, the global EIM market experienced a significant growth in the year 2015, when compared to 2014. The research giant also predicts the market will tremendously between the period 2016 to 2020. The upward shift in market was a result of the various transformations that took place in the overall EIM market since the year 2000 such as the growth of big data analytics, tools for fraud detection and social as well as mobile platforms.

The current EIM market is widely classified into five divisions which include Information Exchange, Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Business Process Management (BPM), Customer Experience Management (CEM), Analytics and Discovery. Compared to all other divisions, the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) arena is deemed to be the largest division in the market. Additionally, the Discovery happens to be recognized as the division that delivers highest growth rate for users’ organization.

However, despite of the growth factors, the EIM market encounters certain set of challenges in the data, information, and management level.

An Outlook on EIM

When it comes to implementing EIM solutions, defining specific strategies and initiatives is crucial as it helps integrate several technologies and procedures. In a highly systematic manner, the solutions focus on leveraging critical information across an organization and also serve as a panacea for problems that deter organizations from achieving profits and augmenting revenue generation capability. Looking into the current market scenario and functionality of the available EIM solution, the key motives of organizations would be around the utilization of marketing opportunities, driving customer service, detection of fraudulent activities, and adhering regulatory compliance.

End-to-End Solutions Offered by EIM

Apart from the feature of centralizing data and making it easily accessible, EIM also ensures data   quality. It also considers its relevance factors for the employees, business partners, and customers associated with the organization. But, to transform core functions into actions and generate profitable outcome, an ideal EIM solutions must be proficient in the following aspects:

1. Master data management

EIM reinforces the process of identifying, linking, and synchronizing available information across different sources. By developing registries that enable the creation of Virtual Master Records, access to a single version of genuine information can be granted across the organization. The information is based on the data retrieved from employees, customers, products, patients, vendors or citizens.

2. Data quality management

An organization choosing EMIs solutions should vest certain degree of attention in not just assuring security but also maintain the quality as per the prescribed standards. EIM’s ability of data quality management deals with the aspect of maintaining the accuracy and consistency of information flowing in-stream, downstream and upstream.

Instream Information

Instream information deals with the aspect of the data gaining access and flowing through entire enterprise environment. As a standard process, the data will be processed through a series of updates and modifications before utilizing it for executing complex transactions. Furthermore, it can also be effectively merged with other data components to produce derived data for analysis.

Upstream Information

Upstream information involves the process of receiving enterprise data in the form of e-mails, letters or fax. The received data is then added to the business applications such as the ERP and CRM systems. The data can be effectively collected through business-to-business (B2B) gateways, interactive voice response (IVR) and other forms of automated systems.

Downstream Information

To support the flow of daily activities, users will effectively evaluate and analyze the massive data that lies within an organization’s information pool. Analysts will also conduct accurate and in-depth analysis on the data retrieved from the marts and warehouses. Additionally, scorecards and performance dashboards will display vital information to the company’s mid-level and senior officials.

What to Consider when Implementing EIM

Determine the Initiatives

Setting EIM goals can help companies reduce operational costs, boost the overall productivity, and achieve a remarkable competitive edge. But, while putting forth a business initiative, it is important to evaluate the company’s culture, the capacity to spend, and the overall awareness of EIM’s potential benefits. Adopting a highly targeted approach while recognizing the various constraints involved will mark the success of your EIM implementation.

Combine Benefits with Goals

The first step involves determining the type of benefits that aligns closely with  the company’s goals. These profitable benefits may include reduction in expenditure, rise in revenue, business continuity or risk compliance.

Analyze the Current Scenario: With the help of current state data metrics, it is essential to visualize a company’s current state of processes. This also means including specific data metrics such as volume and costs. In case if the enterprises find incomplete data, it is always recommended to refer the industry benchmark data and incorporate them in the metrics. Furthermore, to get a fair idea about the organized approach, comparing the metrics with other enterprises and also adopting a similar analytic model is advisable.

Predict the Future Scenario: To develop a well organized protocol, it is crucial for enterprises to envision the desired future outcome. It is recommended to utilize the industry benchmark data to predict the all-inclusive operational costs. In this manner, enterprises will effectively gain the ability to estimate and predict the level of development that can be achieved by adopting an EIM solution.