As is the case with a variety of new trends in corporate computing and operational management, finding ways to squeeze the most financial advantages out of a new deployment can be a difficult and arduous process. This remains true when looking at enterprise content management, which is now one of the higher priorities of decision-makers given the increased reliance upon digital information and systems to get through almost every responsibility each day. 

There is no cookie-cutter approach to content management, and many organizations have struggled to optimize the ebb and flow of data governance because they have tried to fit a square peg into a round hole. The only way to get content management right is to create a highly tailored strategy that sets forth clear and attainable objectives, then dictating the ways in which decision-makers go about the provisioning stages of technological deployments. 

Once the firm has a tight and comprehensive understanding of what is needed and the ways in which information will be generated, aligning each investment with a specific objective will be far easier and more accurate. Leaders must remember that the only way to truly enjoy the highest possible returns on any technological investment is through clear and strict alignment with targeted needs, as failure to do so will almost always make it either difficult to measure the impact or enjoy financial benefits. 

In the world of content management, firms should be looking to automated solutions that cover core functions such as data and document capture, reporting, accounting and more, as these tools will bolster the efficiency of governance and analysis. The end result is generally characterized by higher levels of performance, stronger returns on investment, quicker responses to regulatory compliance demands and wide range of indirect advantages to boot. 

Remember the human side
One of the often overlooked but critically important aspects of maximizing ROI in content management systems is preparing employees as much as necessary to ensure everyone is on the same page. After all, these investments will simply not function optimally when users either do not understand how to navigate them or are not leveraging the power of the tools to their utmost potential. 

FierceContentManagement recently reported that many companies have seemed to lag on calls to action from a variety of experts regarding the matter of extraneous data sets. According to the news provider, Judy Shelby and James Sherer, two attorneys who specialize in corporate law, have urged their clients and others to get their employees to delete all types of information that are no longer necessary or relevant. 

The reasons behind this recommendation are pretty straightforward, as businesses cannot expect to enjoy the highest returns on the relevant investments when a breadth of unnecessary data and files are being stored in the systems. Likewise, when there are no protocols in place regarding the destruction of information and files, the problem can transcend ROI and progress into regulatory risks. 

Still, this has been found to be a difficult task even for those companies that have made it a point to guide their staff members in these directions. FierceContentManagement noted that Shelby and Sherer believe business leaders should try several different tactics to get the job done in this regard, as employees will often have varying responsiveness to the responsibilities contained therein. 

Sometimes it will be best to make it clear just how inefficient and time-draining a lack of clean filing systems can be to the employees themselves. 

"Ask employees how much time they waste looking for the right content or information," Shelby and Sherer told the source. "Imagine how efficiencies would improve if a given search didn't require sorting through volumes of useless data in order to find an important record."

Opportunity is real
Business leaders should remember that there is plenty of evidence out there that clearly shows how valuable content management systems can be, as well as how high returns on investment will reach when properly handled. A report from Nucleus Research released earlier this month found that companies are enjoying an average of $7.50 in returns on each $1 invested into enterprise content management, and that this is 23 percent higher than the figures recorded in 2012. 

"ECM has come a long way from the costly, consulting-intensive deployments of the late 1990s," Nucleus Research VP Rebecca Wettemann affirmed. "With more sophisticated and demanding buyers and advances in application delivery and breadth of benefit, companies are simply getting more from their ECM investments."

At the end of the day, decision-makers who leverage proven solutions from reliable, experienced service providers will generally be best positioned to get the most out of content management and other automated solutions. Before data volumes become too much to handle, overhauling these frameworks for the modern era is critical.