DOCUMENT Strategy Spring 2022 by MadMen3

SPECIAL FEATURE

13 COMPANIES FOR YOUR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES PAGE 28

DOCUMENTmedia.com | Spring.22

DON’T DROWN IN A SEA OF DATA ADJUSTING TO CHANGING TECHNOLOGY

OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF OUTSOURCING ELECTRIC UTILITIES EMBARK ON A NEW ERA

SHOW ISSUE: DSF ‘22 CHICAGO

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TABLE OF CONTENTS volume 29 issue 1 | Spring.22 | DOCUMENTmedia.com

FEATURES 10

Don’t Drown in a Sea of Data Re-engineering business processes for the digital enterprise of the future By Chris Huff

Electric Utilities Embark on a New Era

By adopting more virtual and powerful tech, they will contribute to a greener planet

By John Harney

The Great Resignation: An Opportunity to Reset?

Businesses are now faced with finding ways to do more with fewer people

By Guatam Jit Kanwar

Too Big, Too Small, Just Right Strategies for digital transformation in businesses of any size

By Alan Pelz-Sharpe

Changing the Approach to Customer Communications

While communication is paramount, it is even more important to serve up communications and information in ways that consumers demand them

By Patrick Kehoe

The Challenges of Outsourcing

Addressing the loss of knowledge and experience as a result

By Bob Larrivee

Adjusting to Changing Technology

It requires planning, communication, active executive sponsorship… and empathy

By Pat McGrew

DEPARTMENTS 06

Letter from the Advisory Board

What’s New

SPONSORED CONTENT

Food for Thought — Why a Document Strategy?

Why CCM Must Now Become CXM

XMPie and Adobe. The Perfect Combination.

13 Companies with Answers and Solutions for Your Digital Transformation Initiatives

spring.2022 DOCUMENTmedia.com

LETTER FROM THE ADVISORY BOARD

What Does It All Mean? Clarity Is Ahead! DX, Digital Transformation, Digital Experience, CX, Customer Experience Transformation — these terms mean many different things to people. This challenges organizations, especially product and services development teams, to define and pinpoint exactly what needs to be done daily to support the vital need for better experiences. Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step — seeking more information. Whether you’re a long-time or first-time reader, or joining us at Document Strategy Forum ’22 in Chicago, thank you for diving into educating yourself and staying ahead of the curve. At this year’s show — so great to be in-person! — you’ll see industry leaders from across North America showcasing the latest information, technology, tools and services that you can put into action, improving CX from day one, no matter how you define it. When you are back at your organizations, take the step to learn more — from the customer’s perspective. Let their experience be your source of truth. Are there hoops to jump through for customer service or support? Does the customer feel acknowledged when they call in or log on? Are NPS scores soaring or lagging? As our nations move toward the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, a duality emerges with our customers. Some will want to go back to how things were, while others

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will prefer a touchless experience, perhaps now comfortable in a fully digital-first world. Our clients will expect agility. What new perspective does that give your project roadmap? Are the goals you have in mind accommodating an audience that wants to make use of multiple channels, perhaps at the same time? As you re-visit your organization’s CX through the clients’ lens, are you sharing your experiences internally? It’s not enough to be a CX enthusiast. Leaders must be CX evangelists. Build a coalition. Help peers understand their role in the CX journey. From the pre-sales and brand awareness experience to the buying process to on-going support, every department has a role to play. End-to-end is tough. If you are working in a remote environment, it can feel especially challenging to evangelize across department “walls.” That’s where your coalition can help. And DOCUMENT Strategy is happy and proud to have your back, supplying your cause the latest trends, facts, figures, research and perspectives on evolving CX landscapes. I’m looking forward to seeing you at DSF ’22! O

PAUL ABDOOL is the CRO of WayPath Consulting, a Customer Experience Support Platform implementation organization. He uses his 20+ years of regulatory communications industry experience to help customers develop and optimize their customer communication strategies with process automation, workfl ow solutions and professional services.

president Chad Griepentrog publisher Ken Waddell managing editor Erin Eagan [ erin@rbpub.com ] contributing editor Amanda Armendariz contributors John Harney Chris Huff Guatam Jit Kanwar Patrick Kehoe Bob Larrivee Pat McGrew Alan Pelz-Sharpe advertising Ken Waddell [ ken.w@rbpub.com ] 608.235.2212 audience development manager Rachel Chapman [ rachel@rbpub.com ] creative director Kelli Cooke

PO BOX 259098 Madison WI 53725-9098 p: 608-241-8777 f: 608-241-8666 email: customerservice@rbpub.com

DOCUMENT Strategy Media (ISSN 1081-4078) is published on a daily basis via its online portal and produces special print editions by Madmen3, PO BOX 259098, Madison, WI 53725-9098. All material in this magazine is copyrighted ©2022 by Madmen3 All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Any correspondence sent to DOCUMENT Strategy Media, Madmen3, or its staff becomes the property of Madmen3. The articles in this magazine represent the views of the authors and not those of Madmen3 or DOCUMENT Strategy Media. Madmen3 and/or DOCUMENT Strategy Media expressly disclaim any liability for the products or services sold or otherwise endorsed by advertisers or authors included in this magazine. SUBSCRIPTIONS: DOCUMENT Strategy Media is the essential publication for executives, directors, and managers involved in the core areas of Communications, Enterprise Content Management, and Information Management strategies. Free to qualified recipients; subscribe at documentmedia.com/subscribe. REPRINTS: For high-quality reprints, please contact our exclusive reprint provider, ReprintPros, 949-702-5390, www.ReprintPros.com.

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What’s New Catch up on all the news, opinions, and featured articles that caught our eye on documentmedia.com.

How to Market to Existing Customers — and Why You Should!

Marketing doesn’t have to be a daunting task, nor does it have to cost an arm and a leg. Some of the most powerful marketing solutions can be found with the resources you already have — your existing customers. https://documentmedia.com/ article-3170-How-to-Market-toExisting-Customers-mdash-andWhy-You-Should_.html

The Future Role of Print in CX

What’s Next in Information Management?

Even after leaving 2021 behind and forging into a new year, many businesses are still adapting their information management strategies to account for document sharing, anywhere-anytime access and data security concerns as many employees still work remotely — and may remain doing so for the indefinite future. https://documentmedia.com/ article-3199-What’s-Next-in-Information-Management.html

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Intelligent Document Processing in 2022 2021 was an interesting year for the intelligent document processing (IDP) space. Gartner’s latest Competitive Landscape Report on IDP Vendors lists over 40 solutions offerings that meet the criteria to be listed, and it seems every day there is a new startup or solution looking to add this high-demand functional capability. How will 2022 shape the market? https://documentmedia. com/article-3176-IntelligentDocument-Processing-i n-2022-Driving-Towardsthe-Unknown.html

How Accurate Was Your 2022 CCM Forecast? Let’s fast forward to December 31. You are about to deliver your final report on your customer communications plan as the year closes. How well will that discussion go? How much confidence did you have in your plan? How complete was your understanding of your customers? How well do you know your cost structures? How prepared were you for any surprises?. https://documentmedia. com/article-3197-HowAccurate-Was-Your-2022-CCMForecast.html

In a world filled with mobile smart devices and content flowing in a variety of digital channels, one might wonder what value print has in a largely digitally transformed age. It seems rare to find any piece of information that cannot be found in electronic form and yet, despite some organizations’ best effort to encourage consumers to suppress paper in favor of digital formats, many consumers still prefer paper. https://documentmedia.com/article-3179-The-Future-Role-of-Print-in-CX.html

Reducing the Potential Impact of Ransomware Affecting Critical Records

The volume of ransomware attacks/data breaches has been substantially increasing over the past several years, many that are successfully raising significant concerns at both the state and national level — especially for organizations such as government agencies, healthcare facilities and banks — about how to protect their critical records. https://documentmedia.com/article-3182-Reducing-the-Potential-Impact-of-Ransomware-Affecting-Critical-Records.html

Forced to Scramble

As the national economy gradually re-opens, many employers have vowed to continue offering remote working opportunities to staff that do not need to be in the office to complete their tasks. After scrambling to create workable solutions for at-home work during the first days of the crisis, businesses recognize that many employees not only enjoy working from home, but that some are also more productive. https://documentmedia.com/article-3187-Forced-toScramblenbsp.html

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DON’T DROWN IN A SEA OF DATA Re-engineering business processes for the digital enterprise of the future By Chris Huff

he tsunami of data is here. And it just keeps growing. In fact, it’s predicted global data creation and replication will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% over the five-year period of 2020 to 2025. Organizations need to capture, process and analyze this data quickly to run efficient operations and make informed business decisions. But how can companies keep pace with the ever-increasing speed of data generation? Automation has long been viewed as the answer, but the traditional point solution approach is too slow and disjointed. An intelligent automation platform, however, integrates various technologies, making end-to-end, scalable automation a reality and creating the optimal mix of people, processes and technologies. But the work doesn’t stop there. Truly intelligent automation goes beyond the technology platform itself and requires organizations to take a hard look at their business processes and workflows. Which ones are the prime candidates for automation? How can companies ensure all the necessary stakeholders are on board and committed to the initiative?

These are tough questions, but, when done right, organizations can use intelligent automation to re-engineer business processes and become the digital enterprise of the future — no matter how massive the wave of data is. The Data Challenge: How can organizations tackle the data challenge and obtain maximum value from the tidal wave of structured and unstructured data? A leading financial institution took the plunge from point solutions and moved to a comprehensive intelligent automation platform. Their success story can serve as a blueprint for the types of automation technologies required for scalable automation, making it possible to move further down the digital transformation path. The financial institution had already made investments in automation technologies like robotic process automation (RPA), but RPA alone isn’t enough for end-to-end automation. They needed to modernize their approach with an intelligent automation platform that would cover all existing and new use cases within the company, such as wholesale lending, home mortgages, trade finance and auto and consumer lending.

The company chose an intelligent automation platform that was able to integrate with existing technologies and vendors, as well as solutions the institution may invest in down the road. A hybrid cloud solution enabled the company to outsource their IT infrastructure, saving them an estimated $2+ million a year in infrastructure costs alone. A low-code platform provides an intuitive interface with drag-and-drop features, empowering citizen developers to contribute to the automation and digitization process. It also gives the organization the speed and agility needed to keep up with the vast amounts of data coming into the enterprise. In addition, a low-code solution makes it easy to scale automation initiatives across departments and use cases. The intelligent automation platform also addresses the complex ecosystems within the organization through digital workflows. Specifically, the system is being used to govern other automation solutions, creating a hyper-connected enterprise where data is ingested and automatically passed from one application or system to another. Some of the specific automation technologies leveraged in the platform include:  Cognitive capture, which leverages AI for automated document identification, document processing and data mining  Smart integration to connect critical systems without coding  RPA to automate tasks such as onboarding and assist the human workforce  Advanced analytics and reporting capabilities to help business leaders make faster, more informed decisions  Authentication and authorization through role-based permissions for optimal security As a result of the implementation, the company is benefitting from:  Consistent document and data processing across all channels  Reduced compliance risk through document security protocols  Strong integration with existing workflows to layer on analytics across the organization  The transformation of 100 million pages annually across functional use continued on page 12

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APPLICATION ARTICLE

Food for Thought - Why a Document Strategy? Organizations have been investing in business document design solutions for decades. In fact, many organizations have invested in more than one document design and formatting system. But this is a double-edged sword. These disparate technologies may be addressing specific features, but they also hinder organizations achieving a seamless, connected customer experience and rarely meet the much needed efficiency, productivity and effectiveness.

your business document applications from the core (ERP/CRM) will result in significant cost savings and fast performance when document changes are required. The emergence of tools for non-technical teams will offload the work from IT, and bring improved quality and fast outcome, allowing work to be done where it occurs. Consistency and productivity are ensured, allowing users to share and reuse content from a central library. In an efficient, unified design process, they deliver highly personalized business documents with optimized cross-channel designs.

To move forward, a strong direction is needed. By Annemarie Pucher Many organizations are still struggling with digital CEO Papyrus Software and paper channels coupled with point solutions, We are happy to support you with the modern, despite spending much money on technology because of a lack of an enterprise document strategy. Without flexible and fitfor-future enterprise CCM platform technology. it, those rapidly increased digital channels lead to document Meet our customers and find out more at the upcoming Open inconsistency and complexity in creating and distributing House 2022 on June 12-14 at our Global Headquarters in the business communication across your synchronous and Vienna, Austria. asynchronous communication channels. Our experts will share their extensive experience in implementing You can aim higher! An enterprise-wide CCM strategy helps enterprise CCM solutions, and demonstrate the overall evolution you focus on your business needs, meet your time-to-market of document design tools. You can experience the unique new business-enabling design capabilities on our single-source objectives and grow revenue. CCM/DMS platform that can be deployed on premise, hybrid or • Consolidating of business documents based on one source in the cloud, for use in the Web and on Mobile. • Decoupling of documents from core applications • Preventing IT overload by expanding into cross-functional The Automated Document Factory solution with the integrated teams Document Pool, Content services and the WebArchive are other • Reusing content for increased productivity and consistency key areas of technology presentations • Maintaining unified branding with a single resource library • Empowering business users to self-serve their own needs Consolidation onto one CCM platform will reduce the number of templates you need to maintain to 1/4 or less. Decoupling

www.isis-papyrus.com info@isis-papyrus.com 817.416.2345

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! cases, saving multiple lines of business time and costs The solution supports the financial institution’s new digital infrastructure strategy to drive technological speed, agility and scalability for its customers and employees. The cloud deployment initially transformed one million pages annually across cross-functional use cases and has been positioned to provide workflows for additional use cases that process more than one billion pages per year. The move to an integrated automation platform and the creation of digital workflows has turned the choppy waters of data into a smooth, ridable wave. Where to Start: As with many transformation processes, the first step on the path to becoming a truly digital enterprise is the most important. True re-engineering of business processes demands collaboration between the CIO, IT leaders and line of business leaders. How can this be accomplished efficiently and effectively? It all begins with a Center of Excellence (COE). This team is comprised of representatives from each stakeholder group within the company. The COE is responsible for six core functions critical to establishing the infrastructure needed for a successful automation program which meets current and future needs. 1. Program leadership and vision: Responsible for overseeing the Center of Excellence and ensuring all impacted groups within the organization are consulted and informed as new automation initiatives begin. 2. Vendor and IT relations: Manages the relationship with the intelligent automation platform vendor. This includes external issues such as software updates and licensing, as well as internal items like the server used to host the platform. Technology disruptions can bring initiatives to a screeching halt, so this function is essential to ensure smooth sailing. 3. Platform enablement: Creates assets to promote the adoption and spread of automation initiatives within the organization. This may include training for citizen developers or

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information to help employees identify uses cases ripe for automation. 4. Human capital and transition planning: Many employees may fear automation, thinking it will put them out of a job. This group is tasked with fostering a positive attitude towards automation and ensuring workers impacted by automation continue to feel empowered. New roles may need to be created, and this group will also work to fill any skills gaps created by automation initiatives. 5. Program reporting: Monitors the impact of automation and reports findings to a designated program champion. Success metrics should be defined early on, and they should have a direct tie to larger strategic priorities in the company. 6. Knowledge management and continual improvement: Automation technology is constantly improving. This group is responsible for testing new releases and software updates from the vendor and making sure they’re adopted and rolled out without interrupting the current automated operations and processes. Through these six competencies, the COE supports operations and scalability, ensuring the long-term benefits of automation are realized. What’s Next: Once the COE program is operational, the next step is to determine where to start automating. An Operating Model Assessment is a three-step process that helps organizations identify the best process candidates fit for automation. This ensures companies gain the biggest value from day one. 1. Identify processes that can be automated  Conduct an initial analysis to determine if a process is fit or unfit for automation.  Base the analysis on criteria such as the manual work involved, the likelihood for errors to occur and transaction volume.  Create a prioritized list of processes ripe for automation. 2. Assess process complexity  Determine the level of effort needed to develop digital workers for each automatable process.

 Items to evaluate during this step include the type and number of applications involved, the type of input data (structured, unstructured, digital) and systems integration requirements.  Assign a level of complexity to each process, such as “low,” “medium” or “high.” 3. Document the initial business case  Evaluate the key metrics associated with each fit process, such as labor costs, to calculate the initial ROI of automation.  Create a business case based on four key areas:  Determine the level of effort needed to develop digital workers for each automatable process.  Strategic alignment: Does the investment align with the larger organizational strategic priorities?  Financial impact: What’s the estimated cost savings, payback period and the ROI?  Business operational value: What are the projected efficiencies in processing time and daily throughput? How will data analytics improve?  Workforce impact: How many labor hours will be saved annually? How many employees can be reallocated to higher-value work? Don’t drown in a sea of data. Leverage an intelligent automation platform to unlock the true value of data and re-engineer business processes. With the power to make faster, smarter decisions, intelligent automation helps organizations ride the data wave into the digital enterprise of the future. Surf’s up! O

In his role as Chief Strategy Officer, CHRIS HUFF develops and drives the Kofax’s strategic initiatives to become the premier provider of Intelligent Automation, ensuring better alignment and execution across all functional areas. A thought-leader and recognized expert in the field, Chris was most recently with Deloitte Consulting’s U.S. Public Sector Robotics and Cognitive Automation practice which he led during RPA’s emergence.

APPLICATION ARTICLE

Why CCM Must Now Become CXM Customer and business expectations demand better intelligent omnichannel interactions. It’s clear that the pandemic has spurred organizations’ digital transformations. Organizations have juggled significant changes in consumer behavior with the need for staff to work remotely. “When a crisis hits, we are forced to confront the truth about how our systems work (or don’t). The places where things could be done better or more efficiently become glaringly obvious. All of a sudden, opportunities for innovation are staring us in the face.” – Larry Clark, Harvard Business Publishing, ‘Innovation in a time of crisis’ Most organizations have substantially increased digital interactions with their customers. So, it is vital now to move from Customer Communication Management (CCM) systems to Customer Experience Management (CXM) systems. CXM systems operate efficiently, provide scalable functionality and improve both the customer and employee experience. The value of CXM cannot be understated. In a recent survey, 86% of consumers said they were willing to pay more for a great customer experience. And, in highly regulated industries where price and product are largely fixed, exceptional customer experience is even more crucial as it may be the only differentiator. Opportunities for stepping up are outlined in a recent CoTé insight that looks at how operations can improve customer experience. The pandemic alone would have been enough to force many organizations into accelerating their digital offering, but it’s far from the only pressure compelling this transformation. Customers compare organisations’ digital experience as they know that great technology exists to simplify processes — and they expect it. This is true of communications, where 60% of customers prefer to contact companies through digital means rather than by voice. There is an expectation that interactions will be thorough, twoway conversations. In fact, 40% of people expect organizations to respond within an hour of reaching out on social media. Millennials are four times more likely to switch brands because of poor communication. And a full 50% of Millennials and Gen Z will ignore communications that are not personalized to them. This all means organisations must have an automated omnichannel process that responds swiftly in all the ways that customers want. While full transformation to digital can be challenging for many organizations, technology is moving quickly as well. Advances in AI, machine learning, business process automation, customer data management and cloud hosted managed services mean that offering customers an amazing two-way experience is easily

achievable. As an example, AI used to assist human-supported online chat, quality ratings and scheduled follow ups all go to improving the customer’s experience. As CCM evolves into CXM more stakeholders will become involved in customer experience design, each bring with them unique perspectives, goals, and challenges. Stakeholders are looking for outsource providers with a multi discipline approach who can provide CCM, BPM, CRM, CS, CDP, DAM to deliver a more end-to-end strategy. Kaspar Roos, CEO of Aspire and recognized thought-leader, published a CoTé-sponsored whitepaper outlining the trends seen in CXM transformation. Call or email us for your free copy of ‘Elevating your CCM: The Benefits of a Next- Generation Omni-Channel Processing Platform’

https://cote.com.au/contact-cote/ info@cote.com.au +61 1800 847 724 CoTé is headquartered in Australia with offices in Los Angeles, CA and Dover, DE.

ELECTRIC UTILITIES EMBARK ON A NEW ERA BY JOHN HARNEY

By adopting more virtual and powerful tech, they will contribute to a greener planet

n 2020, electricity production created 25% of global greenhouse gases directly and indirectly through powering industry another 21% (epa. gov). Fossil fuels created 63% of that (ourworldindata.org). In response, electric utilities (EUs) are migrating from fossil sources like natural gas, oil and coal to green ones like wind, water and solar. But it’s a slow go, and it’s

not for lack of pollution regulations — globally, they’ve ballooned many-fold since the ‘70s. Recently, most countries at COP26 in 2021 pledged to meet The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. Pledges made at the 2016 Paris Agreement, however, were largely unmet. That does not bode well for 2030. Regulations and pledges are one thing — reality is another. Environmental law

is poorly enforced — this is the key reason that global pollution increases unabated. Citizens, though, are demanding change. With data-driven tech, EUs may digitally transform and disrupt energy as we know it. EU Types and Markets Electric utilities generate, transmit and distribute electricity for sale in

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regulated and deregulated markets. There are four types: investor-owned utilities (IOUs) issue stock to shareholders; public ones are run by federal, state and municipal governments; cooperatives are rural, not-for-profit and member-owned; nationalized are owned by countries and run as virtual monopolies. In US regulated markets, utilities own all infrastructure and sell at rates set by state commissions to consumers locked into that market. In deregulated markets, participants invest in the infrastructure, and utilities generate and sell electricity wholesale to suppliers that buy and sell it at competing rates. Regulated markets offer stable, predictable rates over a long term; deregulated ones offer competitive rates, so customers have more choice, but rates fluctuate. Regulated markets are by nature slow to change, so they lag deregulated ones in adoption of green tech, but both are tending greener. In both, reliability is paramount. A power outage at a big EU can, for instance, crash manufacturers’ production lines and hospitals’ vital operations — while it kills the lights for hundreds of thousands of customers. Slouching Towards Green Because EUs now get data from both fossil and greentech sources upstream and from residential, commercial and industrial customers downstream, they are drowning in a dynamic soup of omnidirectional megadata from Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors at power sources and in cities and factories as well as from solar panels on customers’ houses and buildings. That quantitative increase of data is forcing qualitative change. EUs are becoming digital data ecosystems in which contenttech is indispensable and which more comprehensive IT force-multipliers will super-empower.  Artificial intelligence (AI) will holistically enhance content and other tech throughout EUs.

 Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), particularly Business Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS), will cut capital expenses, speed deployment, eliminate troubleshooting and management and let users collaborate over processes in discrete apps like human resources remotely from anywhere.  Superchip-enabled clouds will be pay-per-use and megapower-on-demand for dynamite, but affordable, performance.  Data lakes and data mesh will decentralize data ownership so workers with use case expertise can better service customers.  No-code/low-code will simplify app development so it’s more ubiquitous.  Superchips with trillions of transistors per wafer will power analysis of huge AI data sets to yield much better business intelligence (BI) that EUs can leverage for tech innovation and customer engagement. Before that can happen, though, EUs must undergo structural change. An Aspirational Architecture The emerging standards-compliant, open architecture will support record, intelligence and engagement systems. The first will be comprised of legacy apps like ERP and those controlling interoperability with the electricity grid; the second of customized ones like contenttech and e-commerce that modernize and differentiate the EU by tech innovation; the third of apps like marketing technology and customer experience that promote EU services and provide insights into customer behavior for enhanced customer service. They’ll do app development faster as it will be component-based; they’ll minimize resource management as servers will reside in the cloud but available on demand. It’s likely vertical integration of the three systems and apps will require a systems integrator (SI), though integration hubs exist to expedite it, and it

will happen in a domain-specific integration-Platform-as-a-service (iPaaS). The iPaaS allows no-/low-code development, execution and governance of integration flows linking on-prem and cloud apps and services. The Power of AI Databloat is a curse and blessing for EUs because the data soup they are drowning in will also provide the big data sets AI will train on. Generally, the bigger the data set, the better the business intelligence that AI can extract from it. It’s not feasible to analyze all of EUs’ ever-growing data soup, but EUs can analyze bigger data sets within it. Earlier iterations of BI inform the AI used later to analyze a set, so resulting data models are constantly retrained. Ever-better models yield ever-better insights, and those insights loop back and refine ever-growing data sets. AI data pipelines ingest real-time and historical data streaming from the interprise edge and omniforms of voice, video, email, text files, etc. throughout interprise. Data scientists label the datasoup by cleansing the noise (purposeless data like duplicates, etc.) and reconciling file formats (JPEG, MPEG, etc.). Dashboards surface and visually present for end users the characteristics (prospects per sales channel, etc.) of the resulting betterdata. This process yields an aggregate of constantly refined betterdata, or data lake. Traditional AI is model-driven: data scientists create then train and retrain data models to better parse the data comprising the data lake for better BI. Newer AI is data-driven: scientists spend less time creating good enough (not constantly retrained) data models and instead hyperprep the data in the data lake so it informs the model. In the first case, humans do most of the data labeling; in the second, AI does it. Both improve the quality of data, but datadriven AI improves the data and model simultaneously, and that bi-directional

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synergy self-actualizes the data for much faster time-to-quality. Data lakes are tech-centric, monolithic and centralized because data scientists enrich data primarily as they are influenced by C-level managers with nominal input from domain experts, so data is nominally differentiated in the data lake and ownership resides in executives high up in the interprise hierarchy. Data meshes are organizational principles that reverse this dynamic. They reorganize data by business units, which makes data lakes business-centric, data highly differentiated and ownership decentralized and down in the hierarchy. Data is thereby focused on specific use cases, so it can inform better customer service and be marketed and sold as a product. AI will lower costs, increase revenues from data as a product, improve productivity and speed payback as well as expedite decision-making, enable tech and customer service innovation, allow performance monitoring and quicken response to unforeseen business problems. These benefits will make EUs more adaptable to the flux of new tech and market forces. The Role of Contenttech Knowledge workers spend the equivalent of a day a week searching for information. EUs are especially data access- and management-challenged for many reasons.  They deal with ever-changing big data.  That data is omniform.  EU terminology pervades it.  It’s siloed in legacy and outsourced apps which hampers findability.  It’s taxonomized by manual or sloppy digital methods.  Therefore, north of 90% is dark so inaccessible to, say, line-of-business users who could otherwise leverage it for better customer service. Contenttech Can Solve These Problems Intelligent enterprise search locates and indexes documents in different formats like PDF and JPEG. With Natural

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Language Processing (NLP), it continuously learns based on previous queries, so it nets increasingly focused results even as data constantly streams through the EU. These inform customer profiles so reps can personalize service and be more productive in the process. With data analytics, EUs can perform proactive customer service. After storms, analytics detect interrupted IoT data streams from field equipment that indicate failures. Service teams then quickly address them, so customers experience less downtime. Analytics also let EUs operate more efficiently. Analytics cluster customers who have similar usage patterns — say, heavy use when kids come home from school — so EUs can provision to the right group at the right time and pass on the savings to customers. Analytics via smart meters automatically and wirelessly provide real-time usage and cost data to in-house displays so customers’ can monitor and economically manage consumption. EUs render data thusly as value-added services they can charge for. Typical EUs have of hundreds of ad hoc, redundant and inefficient manual and automated business processes in a spaghetti-like mashup resulting from upgrades and replacement of legacy apps like enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) — for machine control — and asset management — for, say, field equipment, as well as a patchwork of modernizing apps like Internet-ofThings (IoT), auto-meter-reading, customer service portals, each with its own processes islanded from legacy ones. Workers also improvise manual workarounds that create shadow processes. The result is a process mess, and managing it requires the majority of IT’s budget better dedicated to core business. Interview-based discovery of, and manual efforts to streamline these, are incredibly time-consuming and expensive. Cloud-based business process management (BPM) lets EUs discover,

model, automate, monitor and continually improve their processes. They can find on-premises and cloud “as is” shadow, manual and automated processes, optimize processes with high business value, retire low-value or redundant ones, and consolidate others so they’re more efficient. Because infrastructure and operations are in the cloud, the solution requires little up-front capital, the provider sets up, maintains and troubleshoots it much easier and faster than if it were installed, its pay-for-use cost model makes it very affordable, and it scales as needed as the EU modernizes. Users then get anytime/anywhere remote collaboration over frictionless processes linking legacy and differentiating apps and even those tracing the customer’s journey. Cloud-native records, document and content management come provided to various degree and power by enterprise content management (ECM) platforms. ECM is strong on records auditing, compliance and cradle-to-grave content management. Some vendors can deploy in multi-cloud environments for scale; some even specialize in regulated industries (especially relevant to EUs). New Models for a New Age EUs will adopt new business and tech models to better interact with increasingly greentech-empowered energy sources and customers. As contenttech has become more virtual and powerful when complemented by AI and on the cloud, it will promote EUs’ digital transformation now required as ante to play in the new hybrid energy era. O

JOHN HARNEY is President of SaaSWatch, where he consults on Software-as-a-Service techs and markets. He also reports on IT issues across most industries, particularly where SaaS, cloud, AI and content are solutions, and especially as they drive the greening of the planet. He can be reached at 240.877.5019 and jharney583@gmail.com.

APPLICATION ARTICLE

XMPie and Adobe. The Perfect Combination.

Gone are the days when organizations could be satisfied with delivering identikit transactional documents and treating their interactions with customers, employees, and other stakeholders as simply a means to an end. In today’s market, every point on the customer journey must go beyond functional. Every email, print piece or personalized video should be exquisitely tailored and relevant, wherever the recipient is in their customer journey. It needs to be eye-catching, provoke a response, foster brand trust, and grow customer lifetime value. The XMPie Platform is designed to help enterprises put the customer first by managing hyper-personalized customer journeys across print and digital media. Powered by intelligent data and driven by business logic in real-time, you can transform your CX Journeys from one-way operational necessities to fully interactive omnichannel conversations. Personalization + End-to-End Adobe Workflow Offering unparalleled personalization capabilities combined with its end-to-end Adobe workflow, XMPie takes the relationship between customer and content to the next level. Our technology provides complete brand protection and supports the original creative concept; the only restraint is the limits of your designer’s imagination, not the limitation of your software. What starts in Adobe, stays in Adobe For Print, XMPie supports the complete Adobe InDesign workflow from set-up through preview and composition. With faster onboarding of templates and fewer steps in the design workflow, XMPie offers full graphics support and color management (where others are limited) so that brands can protect their graphic identity for every touchpoint. And by harnessing Adobe’s technology as part of the composition process, XMPie retains the quality of the design into the variable data print stream as if you were printing each document manually straight from the Adobe application. Every Channel. Go Beyond Print. We love print, and our personalization engine has been the leader in the print industry for over 20 years. But today our personalization capabilities reach every channel, including email, websites, SMS, social media, and even video. Because your customer isn’t interested in channels or devices, and they don’t want to jump through hoops. They expect an effortless and seamless interaction when they connect with your business on any device. And with XMPie, even though you might deliver your omnichannel campaign on a massive scale to thousands or even millions of recipients, each customer will feel valued as if they were the single recipient of the campaign.

Integrate with Third-Party System The XMPie Platform is extendable and can be customized to any environment or need. That’s why you can achieve synergy across all lines of business, no matter what systems are already in place. By integrating XMPie with your existing CRM, ERP, eCommerce, eProcurement, Print MIS, Social Channels, or almost any of your other third-party systems, your customer knows that you appreciate them throughout their entire CX Journey. Your CCM system can be more than a mere operating expense. Put your customer first by choosing XMPie as your technology partner. Visit us at Booth 123 for a demonstration of our platform and get a taster of what you can achieve with XMPie.

Scott Houck scott.houck@xmpie.com +1-3302560801 www.xmpie.com

THE GREAT RESIGNATION: AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESET?

Businesses are now faced with finding ways to do more with fewer people

t’s all over the news. Millions of people around the world are re-evaluating their careers. Many are moving into new fields, longterm employees are retiring early at record rates and some employees are just quitting. In last year alone, 4.5 million people left their jobs. What has been named the “Great Resignation,” is resulting in a mounting labor shortage that is challenging many businesses — and causing companies to rethink their people-dependent processes. With fewer mid-level managers returning to work, businesses are now faced with finding ways to do more with fewer people. All of this makes the complete utilization of your customer communications management (CCM) systems critical. With more customers communicating online (making a text-smooth interface paramount), we have moved to a time where the digital space is as inviting and simple as an in-person transaction. More importantly, communications are deployed via the media

spring.2022 DOCUMENTmedia.com

By Gautam Jit Kanwar the customer requests, which gives a bonus of increased open and response rates. Consumers now can feel the concierge experience they enjoyed while visiting a brick-and-mortar business. Digital communications are no longer relegated to strictly marketing messages. With the distributed way in which we now work, communicating digitally is alive and in demand; and the benefits are being recognized. For example, transactional bill paying through multiple bill-pay channels has decreased late payments, postage and printing costs. Digital tools that offer electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP) assist in counteracting the effect of delivery slowdowns, as well as employee shortages. Clients that were once averse to online bill pay are now viewing it from a perspective of convenience. This makes it the perfect time to exercise a reset of your customer communications processes. If you haven’t already done so, now is also the time to take advantage of the

Great Resignation to make a push to greater automation. It is worth the investment to look for solutions that don’t require a triage to keep running efficiently or human intervention for quality checks. Daily, we are asking teams to make what could be a million-dollar gamble when utilizing manual verification processes, but if the teams are new, overworked or simply not there anymore, we have a problem. It is important in 2022 to take stock of current processes and procedures, find the common issues, address them and make a business case for how they can be automated for the future. Another advantage of the push to automation spurred by the Great Resignation is the opportunity to redesign your customer communications. The business of staying connected has never been more important — or more complicated. New challenges demand that intelligent, easy-to-use tools from mobile devices are the future. It is imperative to recognize the changes the pandemic, as well as

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! the shift in workforce, has caused and create new methods of communication. Fortunately, there are many excellent software solutions and developers continuing to push the envelope so you can create new ways to move your customer communications forward. Identifying the processes and having a clear understanding of why they are in place is the first step toward moving to a more automated workflow. Implementing a system that creates confidence and is proven to be stable and dependable requires not only looking at current needs, but also effectively anticipating what tomorrow’s needs will be. Cracking the code to create better processes can be time-consuming, but it is worth it to achieve increases in throughput and elimination of the inaccuracies that are possible with manual intervention. Within the world of automation there are many software choices, from proprietary programs that range from those packaged with a manufacturer’s printer to custom modularized automation

platforms, with pricing that varies significantly. It is important to look for software that is flexible and also has an eye on research and development. A serious commitment to social platforms and alternative ways to get the attention of the new generation is also key. It may be time to survey customers to discover how are they consuming media and how they want it delivered. Archival capabilities is another key area, along with PDF size, storage and attention to accessibility. And let’s not forget to seek out and leverage new approaches, such as artificial intelligence (AI). AI-based solutions are available in the market today that can do work faster, with less cost and more accurately than manual processes. With paper being less desirable as communications evolve, platforms that can be leveraged to ensure the accurate delivery of customer messages across all channels will continue to take precedence. Finally, explore what the vendor company is doing to encourage innovation

within its own walls. The right partner not only sells a solution that works for today, the company also actively invests in developing solutions that meet the increasing requirement to simplify and speed the creation of customer communications. The changes in how we do business brought on by the pandemic may require a “great reset” on the part of your business. Smart, forward-thinking businesses will take a fresh look at the business model they have operating in place today and find ways to make processes less people-dependent and more solution-centric with the understanding that doing so will be a critical component to success and continued growth. O

GAUTAM JIT KANWAR is president of BelWo Inc., a global provider of managed services specializing in customer communications management (CCM) consulting and delivery solutions that help companies meet strategic CCM goals.

DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2022

TOO BIG, TOO SMALL,

JUST RIGHT

By Alan Pelz-Sharpe

Strategies for digital transformation in businesses of any size

igital transformation has been a popular term for quite a few years now. It sounds great, but most digital transformation projects suffer from “Goldilocks Syndrome.” They are too big or too small; getting it right is remarkably hard. Approximately 70% of these projects fail or fall short of expectations, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s first start with a couple of things not to do. What follows is arguably common sense, but as I say all too often, common sense isn’t that common. Firstly, never start with the technology; always start with the business problem you want to solve. I say this as it’s common to see enterprises and government departments alike pulling together shortlists of technology providers before they have built a thorough business case or undertaken any business analysis. That’s a recipe for disaster. Good business analysis often shows that the problem you are trying to solve is not the problem you should be solving. Similarly, a thorough business case may well show you that though transformation would be good, it’s simply not worth the time, money and risk. In short, you should never try to transform

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anything without a business case and thorough business analysis. Significant and ambitious transformations almost always fail because life is complex. What can seem like a straightforward, albeit ambitious transformation, will reveal itself over time to be more and more complicated than you first thought. Even a relatively common, though critical, activity like Accounts Payable, can be challenging to automate and transform. Over the past five years, there has been an explosion of interest in RPA (Robotic Process Automation) automation tools that can undertake tiny transformations, such as eliminating the need to manually type the same information into two different screens. A large part of the popularity of RPA bots and tools is that they are easy to deploy and fix a known problem. However, just as large-scale business process automation can get out of hand quickly, so too can a slew of quick RPA fixes. Think of these bots as band-aids; a couple can make a lot of sense, but if you need 100-plus band-aids, you may need to go to A&E. A minor fix here can trigger another problem somewhere else. So at one end of the spectrum, we have entire business processes; at the other, we have individual tasks. And as

of today, most digital transformations focus on one or the other. We should be looking at the middle ground between these two extremes in an ideal world. That’s more possible today than ever before, and there is technology freely and cost-effectively available to help. There are many Process & Task Mining products on the market that can provide you with a quick and detailed insight into exactly what is happening, when, how and by whom. Starting with a broad yet thorough understanding of your business activity is essential. Though you will still need a business analyst to interpret and augment the work of these technologies, business analysis that would have taken months can now be done in a fraction of the time. From this broad picture, you can identify specific bottlenecks and/or areas for improvement and break the transformation work down into an ordered set of digestible, affordable and sub-projects. Let’s put this into a real-world context. A couple of years back we advised a supply chain transformation initiative. It was driven by a recognition that technology, in this case, blockchain and IoT devices, could speed up endto-end shipments and dramatically reduce the number of disputes over

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! paperwork. In theory, our clients were correct, on paper at least, and even in an actual proof of concept that tracked a shipment from Brazil to the US, it worked perfectly. But after spending a lot of time and money, it became clear that it was not going to work in the real world. The reason was such an ambitious transformation needed buy-in from multiple different internal and external stakeholders that just wasn’t there. In some cases, the pushback was due to technophobia, for others it was perceived risk and for a few the inefficiency was beneficial. Thankfully all was not lost or wasted; the IoT data, for example, has proved to be helpful in at least reducing disputes. Furthermore, the project’s business analysis revealed a significant bottleneck (the manual collection of production certificates from suppliers). It was transformed by simply scanning and uploading it to a secure cloud folder. Not as sexy as Blockchain & IOT, but a significant time and cost saver and enthusiastically embraced by all

stakeholders. It’s not the end of this supply chain digital transformation, they are still exploring the use of blockchain, but they are more realistic now about what needs to be done, how long it will take, and the needs and concerns of the various stakeholders. Not too big, not too small, just right. The supply chain project could have been run better with the value of hindsight, but our client understood the importance of a good business case and business analysis to give them credit. Just as importantly, they quickly grasped the future potential and addressed some of the middle ground challenges speedily and effectively. Or, to put it all another way, know your ‘As Is’ how things work today in detail, be as ambitious as you like with your ‘To Be’ how you would like things to run in a perfect world. Then look for high-value and hopefully low-risk opportunities in the middle to make some beneficial changes to move you forward. Consultants and technology vendors will happily sell you a digital

transformation dream, but you need to deal with reality. Suppose you have people in your organization spending all their time typing identical information into different screens. In that case, you have a problem, but be aware that it may be a symptom that masks a bigger problem. Similarly, though you may well want to transform an entire business process, be mindful that what you see today may not tell the whole story; use the technology available, business analysis, and some common sense to figure it all out before diving in. And once again, never start with the technology; always start with the business problem. O

ALAN PELZ-SHARPE is the Founder and Principal Analyst of Deep Analysis, an independent technology research firm focused on next-generation information management. He has over 25 years of experience in IT working with a wide variety of end users. He is regularly quoted in the press, including the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian, and has appeared on the BBC, CNBC, and ABC as an expert guest.

DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2022

CHANGING THE APPROACH TO CUSTOMER COMMUNICATIONS While communication is paramount, it is even more important to serve up communications and information in ways that consumers demand them

By Patrick Kehoe

n my last article, I made the case for changing how we create and manage customer communications. It is impossible to witness the changes in business over the past few years without recognizing the need for a communications strategy that reaches beyond the document-centric one we know. I think it is safe to say that the construct of the document has dominated our approach to managing customer communications and has been primarily dictated by word processing applications and complete file storage and structures built on paths that have been standard for decades. The changes businesses needed to make quite hastily at the onset of the pandemic proved that while communication is paramount, it is even more important to serve up communications and information (in our vernacular content) in ways that consumers demand them.

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Here is the critical part that we all have to start paying attention to: The new consumer is focused on posts and hashtags. They communicate in 280 characters. They use emojis to express thoughts. They are used to signing contracts, paying bills and buying groceries on a mobile device. This demographic looks at the world from more of a mind map point of view and less of a file folder structure. Separating content from the wrapper opens possibilities for better constructed campaigns and personalized experiences based on end-user behavior and selections. With these changing ways of interacting — and the understanding that how we deliver content needs to evolve in tandem — it is time to smash the document paradigm and create communications and experiences that resonate with this burgeoning wave of new consumers.

A place to start is first to understand two key concepts regarding content before diving into a proposed alternative on how we can more effectively manage our communications today. Two primary methods of treating content have emerged from those heavily involved in content marketing. The first is Create Once, Publish Everywhere (COPE). COPE is an established strategy for content creation and distribution. It means reusing the same content on all marketing channels to drive efficiency in creation and consistency in messaging. Applied to customer communications, think about leveraging COPE to repurpose a piece of componentized content. Think of a logo, a URL, a regulatory disclosure, an offer, a product description, etc. and how many templates where that exact piece of content is found across your communications, across channels. Applying this concept enables you to create a single content component, centrally manage it and share it out to all the places it needs to exist. When you need to make an edit to that single component or object, you make the edit once and the change is reflected everywhere that component is stored. The second concept, Create Once, Repurpose Everywhere (CORE), is the notion of having to adapt content to various channels and uses. It’s not as powerful as COPE from an efficiency perspective, but it enables the tailoring of content to the situation, driving relevancy and personalization in your content. For example, you might need to change a regulatory disclosure by state or modify it to a short form for a digital touchpoint. Applying CORE, you create renditions of what is largely the same piece of content, but with some variation to accommodate those differences — whether they are regional, language, product, etc. This is important because it still allows you to centrally manage content, but it also associates related content, so you can better manage it. Intelligently applying technology to these variations can also help further streamline the content to blend COPE and CORE to really change how you approach content management.

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! Both of these concepts help content creators streamline content management processes to save time and, in some cases, gain greater control over compliance. It also helps to drive consistency across channels and touchpoints. Like content marketers, document professionals use COPE and CORE in some fashion today, but the challenge lies in the lack of management constructs to enable the content to be efficiently managed, updated and leveraged. We all know successful communications need to convey a consistent message that can be pushed through multiple platforms (mobile apps, SMS, email, web and print). The typical method of using spreadsheets and Word® documents to author the content and then have it deployed in a variety of templates across various disconnected delivery systems doesn’t work. The modular approach, with body copy, header, contact info, image, messages and regulatory disclosures as separate elements, gives business users the ability to access these assets centrally, yet still control

the actual message they want deployed into various communications and channels. Breaking down current communications into their own elements, separating content from the presentation medium, increases relevancy and personalization. Utilizing a central content hub makes it easier to adjust messaging to the appropriate audience and publish it. Additionally, this new view of managing content lends itself to dynamic communications that are relevant to your audience and on brand — something that has never been more important in your efforts to reach a growing customer base with a short attention span. A modularized content management approach also makes it possible to enhance collaboration between servicing and communications teams to send consistent, relevant and timely communications. Communication channels have never been more diverse than they are in today’s digital world. It is time to stop looking at the world of customer

communications through an individual document lens and start focusing on the content that needs to be sent. Moving from a traditional template mindset in CCM is a challenge, but it is a leap worth making to create truly dynamic communications that engage customers. The impact of a modularized content management approach to a customer communications strategy is a significant game changer for any company willing to invest the time and think outside the template to the future. O

PATRICK KEHOE is Executive Vice President of Product Management for Messagepoint, Inc. an AI-powered customer communications management solution that automates and simplifies the process of migrating, optimizing, authoring, and managing complex customer communications for non-technical (business) users. Patrick has more than 25 years of experience delivering business solutions for document processing, customer communications, and content management.

DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2022

By Bob Larrivee

THE CHALLENGES OF OUTSOURCING

Addressing the loss of knowledge and experience as a result

ver the years, many companies have made the decision to outsource various activities. Most often, the reason cited is to lower operating costs, lower headcount and increase flexibility. There are also some negatives to this that are often cited including loss of control, communication challenges based on region and time zones, and more often cited, poor work quality. But one question I always ask is this, at what point does outsourcing negatively impact the business in terms of lost knowledge and experience? For example, recently, I have had friends who have lost their jobs to outsourcing, only to be called by their past employer inquiring about circumstances that surfaced and no one at the outsourced service or still employed

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at the company knew what actions to take. The company outsourced what they thought were routine, mundane tasks, without consideration or provision for exceptions. That knowledge and expertise was now unavailable since the person(s) with that knowledge and expertise were no longer in the employ of the company. Think about this for a minute. You have employees who have been with the company for 20, 30, even 40 years. The knowledge, experience and expertise they have is priceless and for many executives, unseen. That is because the job gets done with minimal to no disruption because the employee knows how to properly address the situation when it arises. There is an old parable that I think is fitting to highlight the importance of

employee knowledge and expertise. I am not sure where it originated but, in a nutshell, here it is: A giant engine in a factory failed. The factory owners had spoken to several ‘experts’ but none of them could show the owners how they could solve the problem. Eventually the owners brought back an old man who had been employed by them and focused on fixing their engines for many years. After inspecting the huge engine for a minute or two, the old man pulled a hammer out of his tool bag and gently tapped on the engine. Immediately the engine sprung back into life. A week later, the owners of the business received an invoice from the old man for $10,000. Stunned, they wrote to the old man asking him to send through an itemized bill. The old man

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE! complied and provided a bill that read as follows: 1. Use of a hammer: $1.00 2. Knowing where to tap: $9,999.00 This scenario plays out daily for many businesses where outsourcing has become a chosen model. Now I am not saying that outsourcing is a bad thing and should never happen. What I am saying is that careful consideration should be made, and a clear understanding of what will be lost when experienced employees are released from their employ due to outsourcing. In My View Outsourcing is a viable option for many businesses and should be investigated for inclusion to the business model. Do a cost assessment compared to in-house operations. Evaluate the technology, required supervision, communications methods, and all the things from a business operations perspective you need, to make the right

decision. But do not forget to evaluate the impact of losing the experience and expertise of your employees. Before you make the decision to outsource, understand how things truly operate today with your in-house processes. Identify areas where exception processing takes place, causes of the exceptions and how they can be resolved. Learn what your employees know and assess how valuable that knowledge is before it is gone. Establish a means by which you can capture and share the experience and knowledge of your employees. An interesting approach to this was addressed by NASA and shared in an article I feel is still very insightful and relevant today. The article, written in 2014 titled “Closing the Gap of Knowledge Walking Out the Door,” demonstrates the proactive steps the NASA Safety Center implemented to capture what would be lost knowledge. Some of these steps include the use of video where stories are shared about past challenges and resolutions.

If nothing more, I hope this article has led you to ask questions you otherwise might not have considered. Before you outsource, take time to really know how the business operates and where potential points of failure may occur if the knowledge and expertise of your employees is lost. Remember the Old Man, how the loss of his knowledge impacted the business with the cost of consultants and finally bringing him back to resolve the problem. O

BOB LARRIVEE is a recognized expert in the application of advanced technologies and process improvement to solve business problems and enhance business operations. In his career, Bob has led many projects and authored hundreds of e-books, industry reports, blogs, articles, and infographics. In addition, he has served as host and guest subject matter expert on a wide variety of webinars, podcasts, virtual events, and lectured at seminars and conferences around the globe.

DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2022

ADJUSTING TO CHANGING TECHNOLOGY It requires planning, communication, active executive sponsorship… and empathy By Pat McGrew

igital transformation is a hot topic. Articles in magazines and sessions at conferences have examined what it means to execute a digital transformation while keeping the business running. Most advisors agree that you should start with an assessment of your people, processes and technology to develop a solid foundation for any change you undertake. That assessment will expose priorities and the members of the team who will be your champions. Resistors and saboteurs will also become evident and make it clear why 70% of transformation and change projects fail. That number originated in a study Harvard Professor John Kotter led in the 1990s. Search on his name and the 70% number, and you will find a laundry list of references to his work. Is it still valid? In September 2021, the Harvard Business Review added

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a new article to the conversation with data gathered by Copperfield Advisory (Copperfield), Insider and Revolution Insights Group (RIG). Their work found a 78% failure rate and reiterated most of the points of failure seen by Kotter more than 25 years ago. The takeaway is that change is hard, staff and management may resist the very change they say they need, and changing technologies make it more difficult, not easier. Why It’s Hard Look around your workspace. There is technology everywhere. Laptops, tablets, phones, assistant devices (Alexa, Bixby, Siri, Google) and smart automation solutions at home put us face to face with technology stacks. Just updating a phone can be a mind-bending experience because we aren’t sure our favorite apps will work the same way. New Windows and MAC updates create the same concern, and changes to the

software sitting on those platforms bring a mix of excitement and dread. Now take that change to the office — brick-and-mortar or remote — and the reason change causes concern emerges. Change in the office takes employees and managers out of their comfort zones. Talk of automation raises the specter of changing job roles. Replacing homegrown program code and scripts with automation suites sounds like a plot to eliminate programming staff. Integrating systems to update business and production dashboards continuously changes the office dynamic. Adding new equipment that brings new capabilities and capacity can seem intimidating to the daily cadence. These are the evergreen reasons that adjusting to changing technology requires planning, communication and active executive sponsorship. Add the global experience of the last two years to the mix, and we have an

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additional ingredient to add to the recipe. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said it best: we need empathy. He found it lacking when he took over Microsoft, and it became a thread he wove through transformation he sponsored. Streamlining and automating, changing the metrics and rethinking management structure to support new goals were important. But without empathy for everyone in the chain, there would be no success. Help Everyone Adjust For every project to change processes and technology, you need a plan. It needs to be more than a set of bullets in a slide deck. It needs to be a living plan that considers every touchpoint in the organization and clearly states what is changing, why it is changing and its impact on specific jobs and processes. Make sure that everyone knows what technology you have, how it works, who holds responsibility for maintaining it, and each technology’s role on the other side of a transformation project. If you haven’t done a process and technology assessment to codify what you have, how old or new it is, and its current state, do that before you try to make everyone comfortable. The assessment may point out technology that puts the business at risk due to age or other issues. It may also identify technology that can remain in place a bit longer because it’s been kept current. Find your unofficial leader in each team. It may not be the manager or director. It may not be the longest-tenured person. Find the person everyone goes to and has confidence in, and make sure they understand the changes. It’s even better if they can be an influencer with their teams. Build a plan that allows for adjustment. Help everyone understand that some of the programs may need to change. Technology implementations tend to take some time. Processes need to migrate. New connections and data feeds may take some time and will require review to ensure that the correct data is fed into the workflow. Timing may need to change for cutover

to new systems. Planned integrations may hit roadblocks. Find outlets for everyone to express concerns, and take them seriously. Consider approaching changing technology with an open mind. Make it safe for everyone to offer suggestions and point out problems. Bring everyone to the table, but measure and test along the way. Fast failure is an option. Finding the Balance Moving from manual to automated systems, or even islands of automation, requires giant leaps of faith, but it pays off for the business. Homegrown systems and manual processes put the business at risk. Many companies learned this when they had to close offices and ask their teams to work from home. The companies that had invested in automating their business and production workflows found it easier to handle work-in-progress and new work than those who relied on people moving paper from process to process. Organizations that invested in integrating their systems to use common, normalized data pools to inform commonly accessible dashboards were better positioned to adjust decisions in real-time. The path forward that mitigates risk and positions companies for growth is to embrace automation. Helping everyone adjust to the changes it brings is conducive to continued success. O

PAT MCGREW helps companies perform better in the print hardware, software and printing services industries. An experienced professional speaker and co-author of 8 industry books, editor of A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge, and regular writer in the industry trade press, Pat won the 2014 #GirlsWhoPrint Girlie Award for dedication to education and communication in the industry, and the 2016 Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award from Xplor International. She is certified as a Master Electronic Document Professional by Xplor International, with lifetime status, and as a Color Management Professional by IDEAlliance. Pat also serves on the DOCUMENT Strategy Advisory Board.

A Helpful Checklist Use this checklist to ensure your change and transformation projects don’t leave your team dazed and confused: Assess your current state at the macro- and micro-levels.

Identify key stakeholders and unofficial leaders.

Create an event plan to keep everyone informed and provide a forum for concerns.

Define the project plans and communicate them to everyone, even those not initially impacted.

Define a strategy for repurposing staff and identifying their growth path.

Identify your metrics and be faithful about capturing data and sharing the analysis.

Be ready to pivot if part of the plan is not producing the needed results.

Remember that failure is an option; do it fast and get past it.

Document and test every change.

Celebrate every success.

DOCUMENTmedia.com spring.2022