Mco Blog Simple & Smart Isn't Easy but It's Achievable

Guest Blog: Christopher Wynder, OpenText, Product Marketing Manager - ApplicationXtenderInformation is a funny thing; in today's day and age, it has become both a business enabler and a anchor holding back a business. That is because information is not on their radar for many organizations. Oh sure, they want to manage documents but information is something slightly different.Documents are filetype. They can be managed simply by having any file repository from simply a network drive to even many of the consumer grade fileshare and "ECM" products.Information is the extraction of the valuable data from documents. Managing information requires a full function ECM system. It also requires thinking outside of the artifact of the document for how information is exchanged between two people.BUT...The ECM system itself is only a part the solution to your business problem, which is your real goal for purchasing ApplicationXtender! As I mentioned in my blog on the OpenText website - you need a plan that will ensure that as you implement ApplicationXtender, you are set-up for both quick wins and a long term plan that will continue to give you value in your purchase. There are a lot of moving pieces and frankly no single road to success.This is why we (OpenText) lean heavily on our partners, you need a local specialist who can help you craft a plan, let you know what has worked in the past and what has not. I have talked about this before (see here). The short version is; you don't know how your ECM can help you so you build the minimal viable product and hope you can revisit it late.You need a partner who can help translate your business needs into ApplicationXtender functions. You need a partner who knows the system well enough to know how you take advantage of its strengths to enable your vision.Each of these projects will look different, however the success of either of these implementations have common core elements that directly affect the success of the project.For most organizations they simply are not ready to succeed. They lack the in-depth knowledge of the best practices and the practical skill set to move each one of the six elements of success forward as a cohesive single organism. Fortunately, this is where our partners come into play, they have the deep knowledge of ApplicationXtender and how it can work for you business.As a former neuroscientist, I know how important and complex the brain is, yet how unaware people are of how much of their daily life that single organ controls. It is complex in its build but provides simple, unobtrusive control and coordination to the rest of the body. That is what a properly implemented ECM system should be; central to your information management but unobtrusive for day-to-day workers. This is what we believe our partners bring to the table- that local expertise and that in-depth training that comes from managing business focused implementations of ApplicationXtender. Further to that partnership, OpenText is committed to making sure that our partners have the training they need so that they have full understanding of the software as we expand and update its functionality.About the AuthorChris is the Product Marketing Manager for OpenText ApplicationXtender. He has a Ph.D in genetics from Rockefeller University, eventually taking a different road moving into consulting and eventually managed the ECM practice for an Information Management firm prior to joining OpenText. He has a wealth of information management knowledge, particularly in highly regulated industries.Contact us to learn more about ApplicationXtender (AX) 8.0