Enterprise mobility has been one of the more widely discussed matters in corporate computing and IT management throughout the past five years or so, as smartphones, tablets and portable computers are rising in popularity and prominence across industries and regions. Companies must ensure they are managing the devices, applications, users, data and backend systems involved, or face a much more weighty line of threats to security, safety and even productivity.
Content management has become far more complex as a result of a wider range of devices, operating systems, apps and more entering into the IT equation, but automation has largely helped firms keep a handle on these matters. After all, the balance between accessibility and security, as well as that of productivity and safety, is a tough one to strike in the modern business, but one that is achievable when the right solutions are used to get the job done.
Mobility is only going to continue to become more complex and challenging as time goes on, especially as the Internet of Things begins to take hold of the public and private sectors, which is already occurring more quickly than many experts initially predicted. This is not necessarily the same exact trend as enterprise mobility, but will have similar impacts on content management performance and present firms with complex challenges when trying to secure data and use new information in an intelligence strategy.
So, before these trends get too far ahead of business leaders, IT departments and managers in human resources, accounts payable and the like, decision-makers must take proactive and progressive steps toward streamlined content management strategies. At the end of the day, putting a bit more effort into the initial planning and research aspects of strategic creation will go a long way in improving the overall ebb and flow of content management in these far more complex, futuristic environments that are right around the corner.
A look inside
Before crafting policies, procurement strategies and the like, business leaders ought to know what to expect from the IoT in terms of content management and information governance.
Gartner released a report in March that explained some of the fundamental ways in which the IoT will influence the best practices of information governance for the average business, as well as how companies can begin to make proactive changes that will prepare operations for the advent of more connected devices. Remember that the IoT is characterized by the dramatic increase and diversification of connected "things," ranging from commercial buildings and power grids to baby monitors and beyond.
According to the researchers, the most important matter to keep in mind is that the IoT will generate a far greater volume of unstructured and structured information, and that distribution and processing strategies will need to be adjusted to handle the complexities contained therein.
"The IoT means massive distribution of data and the processing of data," Nick Heudecker, research director at Gartner, affirmed. "Data will be produced, collected and stored in multiple locations depending on the nature and goals of the IoT architecture and use case."
Using the example of smart agriculture, which will use devices falling into the category of the IoT, Gartner affirmed that sensors will be incorporated into devices and equipment to generate real-time usage data. Diagnostics, performance and other points of reference will be more clearly and quickly revealed by these sensors, so long as the user has the right type of content management system in place.
The researchers suggested taking a few steps to get the most out of the IoT, including implementing a more acute focus on monitoring and manageability, embracing hybrid IT and content management architecture, disaggregation of data and boosting workflow resiliency.
Taking content management mobile
With a solution such as the Kofax Mobile Capture Platform that turns smartphones into information capture devices, content management can be refined to ensure that all activity is monitored and information is kept in check. Mobile adoption is continuing on an upward path and has certainly diversified given the myriad devices used in the average workplace today, and a single platform to control data classification and extraction, business rules and image processing can help to make sense of it all.
Other tools are also available that can provide a different angle to leaders and IT departments, including the OnBase Mobile Content Management and Workflow solution. This one offers access to workflow so managers can keep tasks moving through the system and maintain tight control of critical documents.
Because automation and management software is evolving so quickly amid increased demand and innovation, leveraging the support and services of a vendor that is not bogged down by the use of only one platform or developer's products can have a vastly positive impact on outcomes over time.
