Way back in the 1970’s, according to Wikipedia, the information age began. This was a period after the industrial revolution where computers started to be part of the daily business landscape. Vast amounts of “information” were now created, stored and transmitted by these computers. A good long run considering it is still going on.
Along comes a time, not exactly sure when, where the computer revolution became all about “data” and “tech”. These are fine things, but what are they? Data is data until someone turns it into information that is useful. Tech is certainly cool on my wrist, but isn’t it being informed of an upcoming meeting the important part? We’re still in the information age, but why doesn’t it feel like it?
First off, its not very sexy to sell information tools. Take document management for an example. Document management is there to make sure users get the information they need to make decisions, close deals, prevent errors and function at a high level. But the organization, storage and delivery of information is just not a very sexy topic.
There are lots of sexy ways to deliver information. You can get answers from Alexa or Siri. Endless amounts of notifications and flashing icons on your phone or watch will let you know important information has arrived. Very soon little robots or flying drones will track you down and blurt out information that is surely important to you. All very sexy.
Now for the reality check. Information is defined as; 1) facts provided or learned about something or someone, 2) knowledge obtained from investigation, study, or instruction and so on. In order for data or tech to be helpful in the information age, it needs to be factual, studied, learned, supported. Here’s where document management comes in. Documents contain the facts, can be studied and learned and will definitely support the decisions when document management is done well.
Document management needs to be organized, trusted and available and it’s just data or tech. Integrate your EDM with your line of business applications. Use document management for workflow so data and supporting documents are a package to help decision makers. Go old school in 2020 and get your document management in order to support your data and make your tech investments pay off.
Millennia Group provides workflow and document management services and solutions. To get a document management checkup, contact us at www.mgdocs.com or info@mgdocs.com.
