State of Document Management Report. July 2014

Transcription

1 State of Document Management Report July 2014

2 DOCURATED STATE OF DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT REPORT: VOLUME 1 Over the past 2 years, Docurated has had the pleasure of working in the trenches with Sales, Marketing, and Technology Leaders, who are responsible for evaluating, deploying, or managing content and storage solutions. While most companies tout transformation and productivity as key business imperatives, from an investment and utilization perspective The State of Document Management Report reveals a different story. With the volume of Shadow IT storage repositories and employee business content rapidly growing, many companies find themselves under-resourced and lacking in basic tools to do their work. On a recent customer visit our sponsor told us that their Document Management System was like a high school locker, LITERALLY. I didn t believe him so he sent us a picture. A locker to store work files? Can you believe that? See for yourself, there is no better image for the pathetic state of document management than this picture... This first of its kind study aims to provide data and fact-based intelligence on the state of document management, to identify the key challenges and provide recommendations for maximizing this vital infrastructure s effectiveness. Best Regards, ALEX GORBANSKY Chief Executive Officer, Docurated

3 Executive Summary The biggest problem in Enterprise IT is Where is that file? - CIO, Fortune 500 Consumer Product Goods Company This report captures anonymized knowledge worker data collected by Docurated s cloud-based sales productivity solution and a survey of 116 IT Executives. The report examines the state of document management technology and the role of information storage and information retrieval. By definition, this report refers to the management of unstructured content like documents (not web content management). Its findings show companies awash in content and documents of all sorts, and employees stuck searching through legacy and contemporary file system architectures that have not seen any major innovation in decades. As a cloud-based platform, Docurated is in the unique position of being able to offer the broadest and deepest repository of content intelligence in the world, connecting both legacy and cloud-based file storage solutions. In this report, Docurated found strong evidence to support the following observations: Document management as a key pain point and priority, nearly two thirds of IT Executives are investing in Document Management initiatives 68% of organizations have 5 or more storage repositories Despite the hype around Cloud, 77% of respondents still use file servers as their primary repository The inability to find content and poor mobility are cited as the biggest challenges IT Leaders face Cloud Storage is being deployed but more than 79% of documents are still stored on-premises Despite efforts to consolidate the number of storage repositories, companies are actually increasing the number of silos they manage

4 Docurated enables IT to maintain its existing infrastructure while transforming a hierarchical and disparate content system into a powerful and simple knowledge store, where content can be instantly surfaced without having to remember where it lives. One of the goals of the State of Document Management Report is to create greater awareness and intelligence around the challenges facing IT Leaders and Knowledge Workers, and the key drivers of inefficiency and sub-optimal effectiveness that arise due to legacy repositories, which have started to look like veritable digital landfills. The results are aimed at creating a greater sense of urgency around the problem of employee productivity, providing a framework of key recommendations and requirements for new document management investments, while also giving organizations the information they need to quickly take action. Docurated recommend taking the following into account when making Document or Content Management investment decisions: 1. Conduct an audit of your document management infrastructure to identify the number repositories, size of each and the years of content. 2. Understand your end-users requirements around document management and their biggest pain points and challenges. Find out how much time your users are spending unable to find information or reinventing documents that already exist. 3. Develop a strategy aligned with addressing the IT and end-user objectives. 4. Consolidation is not a panacea seek out solutions that will address your user pain points. For example, if inability to find information is a problem, seek out solutions that address this issue rather than simply moving the problem to another repository.

5 Key Findings 1. Nearly Two Thirds of IT Executives are Investing in Document Management Initiatives 62% of executives cited Document Management as a key investment priority in 2014, with other major areas of focus being Business Intelligence and Collaboration improvements through Mobile and Cloud deployments. What are your top strategic imperatives for 2014? Respondents reported having years of content spread across disparate repositories, making it virtually impossible for their user base to navigate. During interviews the CIO of a well known consumer goods company stated: We have a legacy content stack of file servers and SharePoint making it impossible for our users to get the information they need. We are focused on upgrading to a new and modern stack. Recommendation(s): Leading companies view technology as an investment in innovation and make investment decisions based on impact to productivity and revenue. Leverage technology as a strategic differentiator. There is a lot of innovation and disruption happening in Big Data, Mobile, Cloud, Collaboration, and Storage. Solutions to glean insights from content can help enterprises impact both the top and bottom line of their balance sheet.

6 2. 68% of Organizations Have Five or More Storage Repositories Despite efforts to simplify IT infrastructure the number of repositories continues to grow. Number of content repositories currently deployed (% Respondents) Almost 60% of organizations in our study report content growing at over 100%. Theses figures align with previously reported data such as a SanDisk statistic that states the volume of business data in the world doubles every 1.2 years. Content is easier than ever to produce, but the random scattering of content across legacy files and folders has created a digital landfill. Estimated annual growth rate of unstructured content (% Respondents) Recommendation(s): Make technology and training investments to ensure employees have ready access to the firm s intellectual property and provide timely support for existing infrastructure.

7 3. Inability to Find Content and Poor Mobility Cited as Biggest Challenges In mature, and even nascent companies, it is common to accumulate Terabytes of work that is stored on aging and difficult to access infrastructure. Nearly 2/3 of the survey respondents pinpointed - poor user experience - as a top document management challenge. Biggest document management challenges (% Respondents) Studies from IDC, McKinsey, and Docurated show that on average, knowledge workers spend 9 hours per week searching for content. Legacy files servers have become the equivalent of a black hole. Business leaders are frustrated with the difficulty associated with finding materials. This wasted time takes away from employees doing the job they were hired to do. Recommendation(s): Strategies and technologies being employed to address content challenges include: Enterprise Search, Content Migration, Content Archival, Workflow, and Cloud Storage. Be careful of employing a strategy that can lead to more challenges namely new information silos being rolled out that require ongoing management and deployment resources.

8 4. Biggest Drivers of New Investment: Improving Mobility and Making Content Easier to Find IT executives are looking to address some of the biggest challenges with legacy content stores including mobile access and inadequate search capabilities. What are the top 2 drivers of your document management initiatives? Most contemporary storage and collaboration solutions have been built to make it easy for organizations to store and share content. Because it is so simple to add and share content, enterprises typically see a massive surge in content storage. While this type of use improves content access and mobility, it also results in file and folder sprawl, creating a new challenge around information retrieval Where is that file? Why do file-sharing solutions create this pain point? - The volume of content created within Enterprises grows nearly exponentially - Users can readily add folders and content without standard naming or organizational conventions - Search creates another layer of content for users to navigate Given these file-sharing pain points it is no surprise that 67% of respondents are focused on making content easier to find.

9 Docurated quantitative platform data and survey response qualitative data points to companies being awash in content stored on legacy file systems meant to handle megabytes, not terabytes, of content. Recommendation(s): One of the goals of the State of Document Management Report is to create greater awareness and intelligence around the content challenges facing business leaders and the key drivers of inefficiency and suboptimal effectiveness that arise due to legacy repositories. Sales, Marketing and Technology leaders should make productivity and top-line improving investments. These types of investments aid with; presenting better ideas to clients; responding to inquiries quickly and accurately; effectively sharing work and materials across departments.

10 5. Antiquated Technology is Rife Within the Enterprise: 77% of Companies Still Using File Servers as Primary Repository File servers are the most common customer repositories indexed by Docurated. Legacy file servers do not have the features and functionality needed to enable employee productivity from any location something that is needed in the age of the mobile worker. Companies frequently fall back on for collaboration. But lacks the versioning and security required to protect confidential client information. Common file server limitations highlighted in the survey include version control, granular permissions, access stats/logs, expiration dates on links, passwords, and mobile access. Recommendation(s): Examine onboarding and day-to-day processes, and then invest in efficient ways to improve sub-optimal processes. Legacy technology can slow down a team and make top performers disgruntled.

11 6. Finding Content is Extremely Challenging Storage is cheap it is information retrieval that is expensive. A typical worker can easily produce thousands of s, spreadsheets, proposals, reports, and notes annually without breaking a sweat. Whether it is HR documentation, strategic analysis, or new business pitches, content quickly grows by the Terabyte. Saving this content has never been easier. Content storage options such as cheap external hard drives, on-premise systems like SharePoint, and cloud services like Box and Dropbox have made content storage even simpler than content creation. The great challenge is locating what you need because finding and retrieving content is far more difficult than creating and storing it. While companies have tried to centralize content, this strategy inevitably creates yet another content silo that many employees will simply ignore because they prefer to continue doing what they ve been doing. Even a focus on creating object-based retrieval systems to solve folder sprawl and retrieval chaos has fallen short. Content is simply impossible to find, a reality that taxes enterprise productivity, even for those organizations with relatively small content libraries. Recommendation(s): Look to progressive companies to understand their mix of technology investments. Develop and implement a file synchronization and sharing plan. Map out content storage scenarios where employees use a variety of tools and services, leaving content in many places. Watch out for the unintended creation of information silos, and unstructured and unsearchable content.

12 7. Cloud Storage Options are Being Adopted but the Lion s Share of Content is Still On-premises While cloud storage solutions and file sharing products offer many benefits, there is an inherent difficulty in migrating content and changing user behavior. As a result, even those organizations that have deployed cloud storage have seen only a fraction of their content move to the cloud. For those organizations that have deployed a cloud storage solution, what percentage of your content now lives in the cloud? While IT execs want to envision a world of one or two repositories, the reality on the ground is that more and more content silos are being created. 57% of respondents state they will have more documents repositories to support through What is the vision for content at your company? What is the net increase or decrease in repositories you will have in 2014? Move everything to several cloud 21% 2 23% Consolidate to one or two main repositories 41% 1 34% Consolidate to one repository I don't know 7% 29% % 19% 20% Business Leaders share a dream of migrating off of these old silos, into the Cloud, or into the next new shiny object!

13 Instead of trying to create another new place where we are going to migrate our stuff, we decided we are better off keeping what we have and having a solution that lets us access our content from a singe place. CIO NYC Department of Transportation Recommendation(s): Until recently, the evolution in content storage had not been matched by similar advancements in content retrieval. This lack of innovation is puzzling given the myriad of benefits effective content retrieval can bring to organizations and knowledge workers. The problem is that today content is tied to its physical location. There needs to be a way to untether content from its storage. By connecting content and creating a single knowledge reservoir for employees (regardless of where the actual document is stored), organizations can: 1. Find the information needed to pursue new revenue opportunities. 2. Respond to more proposals (a quantitative effect), while increasing the accuracy and value of the information in the proposal (a qualitative effect). 3. Slow org chart growth: By slowing the addition of employees due to the productivity of current staff. 4. Leverage institutional knowledge: By accessing and leveraging existing/historical facts/figures/successes.

14 Recommendations 1. Conduct an audit of your document management infrastructure to identify the number repositories, size of each and the years of content 2. Understand your end-users requirements around document management and their biggest pain points and challenges. Find out how much time your users are spending unable to find information or reinventing documents that already exist. 3. Develop a strategy aligned with addressing the IT and end-user objectives. 4. Consolidation is not a panacea seek out solutions that will address your user pain points. For example, if inability to find information is a problem, seek out solutions that address this issue rather than simply moving the problem to another repository.

15 DOCURATED STATE OF DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT REPORT: VOLUME 1 About Docurated Docurated is a Productivity Solution that enables Sales Organizations in companies such as DigitasLBi and Havas surface and use the best Marketing content for higher quality pitches and faster go to market. Beyond Sales, Docurated supports other critical functions, such as IT, Finance and Legal, across leading organizations such as Netflix and Goldwater, Dube, drastically reducing time spent retrieving critical information from legacy content repositories. For more information on how Docurated helps enterprise sales teams accelerate pipeline with the best content, visit