Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy

Book Description

Today's businesses are overwhelmed with the need to create more content, faster, cutomized for more customers, and for more media than ever before. Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy provides the concepts, strategies, guidelines, processes, and technological options that will prepare enterprise content managers and authors to meet the increasing demands of creating, managing, and distributing content.

Author Ann Rockley, along with the Rockley Group team, provides techniques that will help you define your content management requirements, build your vision, design your content architecture, pick the right tools, and overcome the hurdles of managing enterprise content. This book will help you visualize the broad spectrum of enterprise content, the requirements for effectively creating, managing, and delivering content, and the value of developing a unified content strategy for your organization.

Customer Reviews:

An expert's view on unifying information.......2007-07-26

Actually implementing a content management solution, even for a small company, is a daunting prospect. Not only do you have to consider a myriad of concrete tasks in order to audit, centralize, and reuse your information. You also have to "sell" a major work-style change to numerous players. Even knowing where to start can be overwhelming, and that's where Ann Rockley's book Managing Enterprise Content comes in.

Authoritative and experienced, Rockley acknowledges that enterprise content management is not for everyone (a refreshing change from those pushing cookie-cutter solutions). In cases where content management could solve business problems, Rockley makes her case with calm conviction, breaking the subject down into logical chunks. In particular, her chapters on designing metadata (the "information about information" that is key to effective and scalable content management) and workflow (the designation of who does what, when) are lucid and comprehensive.

Whether your objective is to get a grasp of the subject, sell an implementation to your organization, or just digest what an impending implementation will mean to you, you'll want Rockley's book on your desk.

An excellent starting point for tech writers making the move to single sourcing........2007-05-25

I came to this book from a very different direction than many (all?) of the other reviewers. I'm a technical writer ("content developer") researching methods and tools for single-sourcing technical documentation. For my purposes, this book was an excellent starting point in recognizing and understanding the considerations that must be taken into account when migrating to a single-source solution (i.e., one tool and set of practices for developing documentation to be delivered in multiple media), defining a new set of practices, and evaluating an authoring tool. I recommend this book strongly to any tech writer/manager who needs help understanding the basics of single-sourcing.

Content reuse, not Enterprise Content Management...,.......2006-11-05

This book's title has probably attracted those interested in Enterprise Content Management. ECM has increasingly become a major buzz in business strategy circles as the information age tidal wave spills over into organizations and floods them with content. We're literally drowning. "Managing Enterprise Content" does not discuss ECM in broad terms, such as structured and unstructured content, email, scanned documents, OCR, ICR, etc. Instead, it focuses on content reuse. To take a simple example, a product brochure, a website, and a press release all include descriptions of a product. Why, the book argues, rewrite that description three separate times for each medium? Why not write it just once, store it in a content management system, and then reuse it over and over again? "Content Modularization" or "Content Reuse" probably describe the goals of this book less confusingly than "Managing Enterprise Content." But, in fairness to the authors, the current title isn't inaccurate, it just lends itself easily to misunderstanding. To reiterate: those looking for a course in Enterprise Content Management conforming to the Association for Information and Image Management's (AIIM) guidelines should look elsewhere.

Nonetheless, those looking for a strategy to manage distributable content throughout an organization should take a look at "Managing Enterprise Content." The focus remains on implementing a "unified content strategy," which translates essentially to an efficient reuse of content. Here the word "content" has a specific sense relating to verbiage authored for a specific use. Product descriptions, mission and vision statements, disclaimers, compliance and regulatory announcements, anything widely distributable qualifies. How does one efficiently manage the creation and the evolution of such content across an organization? This obviously implies some form of centralization (although this pregnant term gets strategically avoided for obvious reasons). And this further implies a software system. But prior to purchasing an expensive application, the business must align itself process-wise to enable content reuse. Otherwise the costly program will sit and rot. The first three parts of the book (I - III), comprising its first twelve chapters, discuss these necessary preparations and walk the reader through to implementation. This progression mirrors, for good reasons, the project management and software development life cycle processes. First, determine the concept or the "why?" of the project (Chapters 1 & 2). Then perform cost benefit analysis (Chapter 3 discusses ROI for content reuse), analyze and prioritize the current content infrastructure, the "As-Is" (Chapters 4 through 6), look to the future by modeling and designing the elements of the system the "To-Be" (Chapters 7 through 11), and finally implement the reusable content infrastructure (Chapter 12). Evaluation of software tools and technology should come before implementation, but the book instead covers these topics in Part IV (Chapters 13 to 18). So it's that easy to implement a unified content strategy? Well, no, not really.

Part V, the book's final section, outlines the inevitable issues that face organizational restructuring. Implementation of a unified content strategy will probably necessitate fundamental changes. Roles will get changes, people moved around, departments will get realigned or reorganized. All of this can sap morale or cause anxiety amongst employees. The author is not an authority on such issues, so this section of the book remains somewhat cursory and high-level. Conflict management gets deferred to a website (the book contains an out of date URL, but the book's website[...] has an updated address), and the advice presented here will probably not surprise anyone. Still, managing change remains an important part of any new implementation and this section, though rudimentary, will at least raise awareness.

Lastly, the appendices contain a grab bag of information. Appendix C, on vendors, has probably suffered from age (these days, a lot can happen in three years), but it may provide some good leads. Appendix B, "Writing for Multiple Media," probably could have appeared in the main body of the book; it contains important details not covered elsewhere.

Overall, the book does give a plausible outline for implementing the proposed strategy. Some of the chapters may seem overly simplistic or overlong to those experienced with system implementations or business process management. At the very least, "Managing Enterprise Content" may introduce some readers to the concept of enterprise content reuse. That concept remains a challenging one that will likely mean different things to different organizations. So this book does not provide the final word on the subject, nor does it intend to. An organization can only use this book as a blueprint or a guidepost for implementing its own unified content strategy.

Review of Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Str.......2004-05-21

Are you overwhelmed with the need to create more content, faster, customized for more customers, and for more media than ever before? Do you consider storing documentation on a server as an effective a content management system? Do you want to learn how content management will empower your organization? The answer to these questions and many more is covered in Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy by Ann Rockley with Pamela Kostur and Steve Manning of The Rockley Group. The Rockley Group is one of the leading providers of content management methodologies.

Managing Enterprise Content provides concepts, strategies, guidelines, processes, and technical options that will prepare you to meet the increasing demands of creating, managing, and distributing content. It describes techniques that will help you define your content management requirements, build your vision, design your content architecture, select tools, and overcome obstacles of managing enterprise content. It will help you to visualize the spectrum of enterprise content, the requirements for effectively creating, managing, and delivering content, and the value of developing a content strategy for your organization. That¡¦s a lot of information for one person to understand. That¡¦s why the book is written for three audiences: content managers, information architects, and authors. Managing Enterprise Content follows the same methodical approach that Rockley uses to teach content management in seminars and workshops.

I was expecting the book to jump into the technologies to implement a content management system. But that¡¦s not how Rockley presents content management. She begins with The basis of a unified content strategy and describes how content is created, who creates it, why authors work in isolation, and the consequences of isolation and centralizing content. The solution is to consolidate content in a definitive source, and a process that encourage authors to work collaboratively. The next step is to assess opportunities for content reuse. If you have never heard the term ¡¥reusing content,¡¦ you may know it as single sourcing. You probably already reuse content (i.e. copy and paste), which works well until the information, and everywhere that it appears, must be updated. Content reuse involves using existing content components (e.g. paragraphs, sections, and chapters) to develop new documents. Implementing a unified content strategy is a costly investment: tools, technologies, and training are not cheap. Investment costs are incurred in technology, training and consulting, and lost productivity.

Examples are given to calculate the cost of authoring tools, content management systems, training and consulting¡Xa content management system is not a plug and play, one size fits all solution. The return on investment is achieved by reduced time to market, reduced cost of product content development, improved accuracy and quality of content, and reduced manufacturing defects. The examples are especially helpful because you will need to create a proposal to convince budget holders and management on the return on investment of a content management solution.

Are you ready to buy a content management system? Not yet, read further. ¡§Performing a substantive audit: Determining business requirements¡¨ begins with an introduction on how to determine goals that you want a unified content strategy to solve, for example:
h Reduce the time to plan, write, review, approve, and publish
h Create flexible content that is easily reused to create information products for multiple products and multiple media
h Reduce the cost of translation by reusing existing translations.
h Make content more accessible; separating content from format makes it possible for content to be displayed automatically in a format appropriate to the disability.
Rockley describes how to identify opportunities where a unified approach of content management (i.e. planning, design, authoring and revision, version control, access control, publication and delivery to its audiences) is beneficial.

You are probably wondering how this all fits together, and Rockley explains how. ¡§Design¡¨ describes information modeling and metadata, how to personalize content, how to design a workflow, and how to implement your design.

An information model is critical for a unified content strategy because it provides a framework for documentation. It's the 80/20 rule: 80% of your effort is planning and analysis, and 20% of your effort is implementing the solution with whatever tools are selected to accomplish the goals the organization has set for itself. The level of detail of your information model depends on the level of reuse you want to achieve.

Many desktop publishing tools can dynamically publish personalized letters and forms by matching elements such as names and address¡Xa content management system can do the same. I was confused why design is given so much attention. Why not conduct the audit, buy the tools, and worry about design later? You can¡¦t. The design of information, reuse models/maps, meta data and workflow are all tool independent tasks. Regardless of the tools selected, you must first analyse and then design a content or information model so that it can be presented to IT staff and software vendors. Doing this in advance makes it possible for you to ask vendors to respond to a request for proposal and document how their tools can help you satisfy your specific challenges. Analysis provides an opportunity to collect metrics. From your information models, you can identify how much of your content could be reusable and where.

Educated on how content is used, where and how, you are better prepared to match the tools and technology to the origination¡¦s goals to deliver a unified content management solution. ¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ offers guidelines for evaluating tools. With so many tools and technologies to choose from, selecting the one that best satisfies your goals and budget is a challenge. Your best advantage is to be an educated consumer before you shop around. Rockley recommends that you identify your needs, and criteria for evaluating product options in terms of usability, training provided, supporting documentation provided, technical support, upgrades and enhancements, implementation time, cost, vendor viability, partnerships the vendor has to provide an expanded solution, and references. Where do you being looking?

Some good sources are conferences where vendors present authoring solutions such as the annual STC conference, electronic mailing lists, technology magazines, Web sites and online discussion boards and newsgroups. A supplement to ¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ is Appendix C, ¡§Vendors,¡¨ which is an overview of products, features and vendors. Appendix D, ¡§Tools Checklist,¡¨ which lists sample questions to ask a vendor. When you have narrowed your list of potential vendors, Rockley suggests that you either contact the vendors and request onsite demonstrations or send vendors an RFP (request for proposal).

¡§Tools and technologies¡¨ covers XML because it provides interoperability between applications. XML is not a set of tags that you apply to documents; it is a specification that sets rules for the creation of tag sets that you apply to documents. For instance, if you selected tools first and then designed your content, you might find that some of the content does not behave the way you expect it to. One solution would be to use XSLT to transform the content and move it around where you want it. While this may be an acceptable solution, it¡¦s not. The conversion costs time, money, and resources. There is no need to convert or transform content if it¡¦s modelled in XML from the start.

Rockley describes strategies for collaborative authoring, how to separate content from format, how to manage change and transition. An example is given to illustrate how the same product description is reused effectively to create a show catalog, brochure, press release and Web site. It¡¦s easy to understand that people find it hard to believe that content somebody else created could possibly meet their needs. After all, Rockley notes, it was written for a different purpose and media, and the author could not have known their customers/audience/requirements. However, if content is written for a different purpose, audience, or media without considering how the content can be reused, it¡¦ won¡¦t work.

Don¡¦t be optimistic that everybody will be willing to convert to a better way of authoring and managing content. Rockley presents issues to consider when planning your change management strategy such as overcoming resistance from opponents and descriptions of new and modified roles. She recommends creating a role for an enterprise project coordinator and information technologist; a change to existing roles business owners or analysts and information architects; and new skill sets (p. 413-415). Unintentionally overlooked are system administrators to maintain the content management system and to ensure that users adhere to standards.

Don¡¦t be overly optimistic that everybody will want morph into new roles and change their authoring habits. An XML system is best suited and ideal for a large documentation department for all content authoring or an organization where every author uses the XML authoring tool. A team of ten or fewer will be constrained to balance XML implementation and documentation project duties, and learn how to use the (new) content management system. Even if you assign the complex task of XML implementation and creation of information models, workflows and DTDs to a consultant, the consultant will require guidance from the team. These are only a few of the constraints to overcome to assure a successful unified content strategy that Rockley expertly describes how to overcome.

Managing Enterprise Content concludes with a checklist for implementing a unified content strategy, suggestions for writing for multiple media, sample questions to ask vendors, a checklist for the tools required to implement a unified content strategy, and the importance of content relationships in version control. Pay close attention to usability. The rollout of a content management system, authoring tools, and authoring standards affects every member of the organization. If it¡¦s not easy to learn, easy to use, easy to support, and easy to maintain, authors will revert to the traditional way of writing and managing content.

Read Managing Enterprise Content before you invest in a content management system and consulting fees. You will be an educated and informed customer and user when you begin shopping for a content management solution of your own.

A must for Content Management projects.......2004-02-02

This book is an absolute must for Content Management projects. It touches all of the important aspects: Technical, functional and process. There is something for all stakeholders in a EMS/CMS project.

Especially good about this book is that the parts that are not your direct job are still very readable, understandable and interesting. It provides valuable insights in other peoples jobs and reasoning.

Coming from the technical side and with a lot of experience in setting up systems and also information architecture and DTD design, for me this book contained several new insights and some very helpfull checklists.

Book Description

This is a book of fresh insights, perspectives, strategies, and approaches for managing electronic records and archives. The authors draw on first-hand experience to present practical solutions, including recommendations for building and sustaining strong electronic records programs.

E-Mail Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication

Average customer rating:

Rules and Policy
Getting A Handle on E-Mail Compliance
Great Book
It Will Pay for Itself a Hundred Times Over

E-Mail Rules: A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication
Nancy Flynn
Manufacturer: American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

MIS | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0814471889

Book Description

All companies rely on e-mail as a critical business tool, but few have considered the policies and systems necessary to safeguard their interests. Important information including transaction details, trade secrets, and confidential documents contained within messages are business assets with serious legal and financial implications. If an organization is to be safe, it needs a practical system for handling everything that comes into-and leaves-its computers. A toolkit for protecting any company's electronic capital, E-Mail Rules shows how to:

* Use technology, policy, and employee training to minimize the loss of data * Create enterprise-wide retention rules for the saving and disposal of messages * Gain control of transmission and ensure a secure electronic environment * Develop strategies for related technologies like instant messaging, list serves, and online chat

E-Mail Rules shows readers how to maximize the effectiveness of their organizations' e-mail systems, and put an end to lost or compromised information.

Customer Reviews:

Rules and Policy.......2007-08-13

A fine book, and a nice addition to the growing necessity for managing employee activity and office automation. It should be said that a more comprehensive treatment can be found in "I.T. Wars: Managing the Business-Technology Weave in the New Millennium."

Getting A Handle on E-Mail Compliance.......2005-07-12

In a recent review of "The ePolicy Handbook: Designing and Implementing Effective E-Mail, Internet and Software Policies", I wrote asking questions such as "Does your company or organization have a policy that covers writing style in electronic communications? Does your company or organization have cyberinsurance to cover losses attributed to errors or employee misbehavior using your e-mail systems? Does your company or organization offer netiquette training for employees and managers?"

In her follow-up book, E-Mail Rules - A Business Guide to Managing Policies, Security, and Legal Issues for E-Mail and Digital Communication, (254 Pages, The American Management Association, 2003), Nancy Flynn takes a narrower view of the management of E-Mail and Digital Communication in the enterprise.

Much like her first book, Flynn lays out 37 Rules to follow in establishing and managing these policies. She starts out by establishing a framework to build a case for e-mail management. This section covers the need to reduce liability and exposure, real world legal issues, and spelling pout that e-mail belongs to the employer not the employee. From this point, she goes into specific issues surrounding privacy (very important for international communications and differences in laws), content management, Listserv use, and more. The book also has very good concise discussion about retaining e-mail as business records, different methods of storage, and employee education. Flynn then delves into discussions of E-mail Security and managing alternative technologies such as instant messaging and peer-to-peer networking technologies.

Fir this reader, the most important rules are the last two in the book, that deal with employee training as the key to reducing risk, and working to instill a sense of ownership in employees. Without these two items, no policy ever written will work or be effective.

Much like her first book though, the only caution for potential readers is that this book also seems to be a lead-in as a commercial for the services and her colleagues as listed in Appendix C.

The Scorecard: Par on an average Par 4.

Great Book.......2004-03-05

Nancy Flynn is brilliant. Love this book! I also heard she's speaking at two conferences. I'm going to Enterprise Messaging Decisions in Chicago in early May. I think the url is enterprisemessagingdecisions.com. She's also speaking at another conference in June in San Fran. Maybe I'll go to both!

It Will Pay for Itself a Hundred Times Over.......2003-05-01

This book covers it all. From email etiquette to how to protect yourself in case of a law suit. Email is a major part of any business --- large and small. And if you're not prepared to handle it; if you don't know how to use it, what to save and what to get rid of, you're going to end out in one big mess.

This book can save you a lot of time and money by telling you how to deal with spam, what sort of policies to implement in your company or business, what email etiquette is all about and many other topics.

This is a book you should have and use no matter how large or small your business is.

Susanna K. Hutcheson
Executive Copy Director and Owner
Powerwriting.com LLC

Average customer rating:

Helpful Reference

Managing electronic records
William Saffady
Manufacturer: ARMA International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Information Storage & Retrieval | Library & Information Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1931786054

Book Description

This second edition of ARMAs best-selling classic, Managing Electronic Records, provides a comprehensive discussion of records management concepts and methodologies as they apply to electronic records. It is a practical book intended for professional records managers, archivists, computer systems professionals, office systems analysts, administrative system specialists, data center managers, librarians, and others responsible for the creation, maintenance, management, control, and use of electronic records created by computer, audio, and video systems. On completion of the book, the reader should understand: the special records management issues and problems associated with electronic records; the physical and application characteristics of electronic records encountered in offices and other work environments; principles and procedures for inventorying and scheduling electronic records; factors that influence the stability and durability of electronic records; methods of protecting vital electronic records against damage and destruction; and guidelines for the daily management of electronic records as working information resources.

Customer Reviews:

Helpful Reference.......2000-09-28

As someone embarking on a first time records management task I found most of the information in this book helpful. It did get a bit redundant at times, but if you are lost as far as electronic media and what is the best for your particular situation, this book will be a good guide for you.

Electronic Discovery And Records Management: Managing Business Risks In The Age Of Electronic Documents

Average customer rating:

Electronic Discovery And Records Management: Managing Business Risks In The Age Of Electronic Documents
Mitchell J. Banas Junior , Jeffrey H. LaBarge , John M. Monahan , Sharon P. Stiller , Peter R. Coons , John Holland , and CPA, CFE, CFS Christopher J. Rosetti
Manufacturer: Lorman Education Services
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000KN4WS8

Product Description

This manual is designed to provide readers with information on emerging trends in electronic media discovery practices. Readers will have a better understanding of the litigation aspects of electronic document retention and destruction. This includes the scope of electronic discovery, triggering mechanisms for document retention, duties of counsel, and potential civil and criminal sanctions for improper document destruction.

Electronic Document Management Systems: A User Centered Approach for Creating, Distributing, and Managing Online Publications

Average customer rating:

Organisational and Management Perspective to EDMS
How to create plug-in

Electronic Document Management Systems: A User Centered Approach for Creating, Distributing, and Managing Online Publications
Larry Bielawski , and Jim Boyle
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Ptr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Manager's Guides to Computing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Electronic Documents | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Organisational and Management Perspective to EDMS.......2000-08-02

As computer systems have become more and more powerful and computer storage mediums have become able to handle terabytes instead of kilobytes of data, the idea of electronic document management systems (EDMS) have become not only plausible but alluring. But as with any other innovative application of modern information and communication technologies, mere computerisation of existing, document centred document management procedures is not enough to justify the price tag attached. A totally new paradigm is required in order to tap into the real benefits of the new technologies. Bielawski and Boyle suggest a user centred approach to form the basis for such a paradigm. Based on personal experiences it is easy to agree.

As a book, Electronic Document Management Systems is an easy read, even too easy for those with experience on corresponding computer systems as the authors have written the book with a much wider audience in mind. Even someone with no experience whatsoever in such systems can understand the points Bielawski and Boyle make. As a result, this book may be used to orient the end users to participate in the design of user centred electronic document management systems. After reading this book they know what they can and what they should demand of the systems they are supposed to use in their work. Therefore also the designers and developers of such systems should read this book in spite of the fact that some 90% of the contents is already familiar to them. It is the 10% that make the difference.

The ease of reading means also a relatively high amount of redundancy as the authors have wanted to make certain that their main points do get through.

If there is something disturbing in this book it is the performance / business goal oriented approach often seen in U.S. literature. In spite of the user centred approach preached, the end user motivations and feelings are not discussed in such a detail as a Scandinavian reader would have preferred. There are major issues to be found from between the lines in this respect too, but it requires an attentive reader to pinpoint them. For example, an EDMS designed according to the theses presented in this book would most likely become a powerful tool of empowerment and would allow a lot of autonomy for its users (if the organisational culture is up to it).

Unfortunately the "permanent web site" dedicated to this book is no longer there where the authors promise it to be. It should have provided current information on EDMS issues as well as vendor related information and case study materials

How to create plug-in.......1999-09-01

How to create plug-in with MSVC++6.

Electronic Evidence: Strategies for Managing Records in Contemporary Organizations

Average customer rating:

Electronic Evidence: Strategies for Managing Records in Contemporary Organizations
David Bearman
Manufacturer: Archives and Museum Informatics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1885626088

Information Management: Challenges in Managing and Preserving Electronic Records

Average customer rating:

Information Management: Challenges in Managing and Preserving Electronic Records
Linda D. Koontz
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

Government | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0756728304

Average customer rating:

Managing electronic documents as assets
Rob Allen
Manufacturer: Association for Information and Image Management International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0892583444

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books