Information is an organization's most valuable asset. It includes everything from company records to interactions with customers and partners and all intellectual property created within enterprise. Most information is now digital, and benefits of this transition come in many forms. Digital media is easier to capture, store, share and dispose of when needed. However, most of it is isolated and accessible only within application or process that created it. In addition, it is difficult to access, largely unregulated, and difficult to distribute to people and processes in enterprise who can benefit most from it.

As volumes increase and formats diversify, it becomes increasingly difficult for businesses to manage and benefit from this information. Changing demographics and business models require new ways of interacting, sharing information and collaborating. To meet growing competition, regulatory and customer service requirements, Content Services extends traditional organizational and managerial strengths of ECM platforms to deeper use of information sources. By integrating content services into leading applications, content is analyzed as soon as it is created. Metadata classification and management policies are set and applied automatically. Most importantly, content services generate dynamic connections that allow content to be accepted and shared throughout enterprise based on metadata dependencies.

Users can get information they need in context of a task rather than through laborious searches—often in their preferred interface or dedicated workspace. Better results, smarter decisions, faster. This approach to connecting content to digital business is cornerstone of Smart Connected Enterprise. Read on to explore real-life examples of these content services to better understand their capabilities.

The Evolution of Digital WorkplaceAs businesses undergo digital transformation and information silos become unacceptable, content management needs are constantly changing. Seamless access to and sharing of information is critical to managing and extracting value from large amounts of data.

In addition, technology is evolving rapidly. Content services were a new concept a few years ago, but today they are part of any information architecture. Now same applies to cloud computing, artificial intelligence, capture and automation technologies. Where is an organization like yours in this process? What are their priorities? What do they think is achievable and what is wishful thinking?

Status of intelligent information management in AIIM (Association of Artificial Intelligence andsmart manufacturing) gives you insight into your enterprise benchmarking. It covers:• Transforming business models and evolving technologies that are changing way companies manage information• New ways to drive business success

Real life examplesBuilding an intelligent connected enterprise. Systematically link key business data to business systems to revolutionize business processes. As enterprise technologies (such as drones and robots) are adopted and adopted, connected systems and processes are helping to elevate role of these machines. The introduction of content services allows customers to integrate new types of content into core business processes and better manage risk and control costs.

Four ways content services make businesses smarter and more connected

1. Improving Efficiency of Core Business ApplicationsThe core application is software that most users interact with on a daily basis. They are central nodes for many business processes - tools for paying bills, managing clients, and communicating with colleagues. This is how SAP®, Oracle®, Microsoft®, Salesforce® and others support major operating systems such as CRM, ERP, HCM and more. By design, they do very well with very narrow tasks. But they have traditionally functioned as isolated islands, accessible only to a select few. Content services open door to this data, allowing businesses to seamlessly manage, organize, and make it available to knowledge workers in enterprise who have access to it. Providing information when and where it's needed most can improve performance of business systems by better optimizing supply chains, developing successful products, optimizing asset performance, or improving customer interactions. Content services enable key applications to reach their full potential as professional enterprise resources and ensure organizations realize their full investment.

2. Optimize business processesBusiness processes are lifeblood of an enterprise, but no process can exist in a vacuum. Efficient and accurate operation requires information from other systems and processes. For example, ticket fulfillment requires content to be transferred between field workers, account agents, vendors, invoice processors, and others. In addition, all new information created during these processes must be tagged and quickly available for another important process: regulatory disclosure. Extend business processes with key content information to maximize overall process outcomes. Konthe tent is embedded in business process model, and when content is created and connected to search engine, additional information is stored with it to describe element. This is called metadata. This makes content more intelligent and provides context as it links correct information during application's main process. Metadata also allows previously unstructured content to become exponentially smarter and more connected to key business processes. Now process operators can see big picture without leaving their familiar application or interface.

3. Increasing Employee ProductivityTraditionally, user experience has been a neglected element of universal information management platforms. Integrating content services with leading business systems is making a difference. Designed for specific purposes, it makes it easy to customize a role-based interface that reflects what users want to see—how, when, and where they want. Invisible automation eliminates confusing categorization and classification rules. Content Services also reflect corporate governance policies that apply to central ECM platform. Acceptance increases while risk decreases. When individuals and teams have information they need, they make smarter and faster decisions and can focus on task at hand. They know, they see and they can do more. Content Services remove barriers to performance, enabling flexibility and innovation while improving security and compliance.

4. Provide a Single Source of Trusted InformationInformation flows into your company from multiple sources at an ever-increasing rate. Regulatory and legal requirements are constantly escalating, and customers refuse to accept uninformed answers. Most businesses are stuck with content management infrastructure that is outdated five years ago. There is still hope. Build on existing ECM platforms using content services to solve performance issues and extend management best practices to processes, step by step. Creating a shared “single source of truth” is a journey in which each step allows you to control more information, making it available to drive innovation, improve customer experience, and mitigate risk.

Conclusion. What's next and how to achieve it? The cost of abandoning a new approach to information management is easily quantifiable. The digital transformation of consumers, businesses and entire industries means that for most organizations, survival depends on effective management and extracting additional value from their most valuable asset (information). Fortunately, foundations have already been laid for becoming a smart, connected enterprise. Existing platformThe enterprise ECM form is its main foundation, and next development step is to expand content services. It becomes flexible and comprehensive, getting more value out of business processes by providing content information. People and processes are becoming more connected and efficient in a way that suits them, while increasing amount of information under management's control. It becomes flexible and comprehensive, getting more value out of business processes by providing content information. People and processes are becoming more connected and efficient in way they want to be, while increasing amount of information that needs to be managed. The secret of success lies in small steps, not giant leaps. Identify specific issues or opportunities within a function or process and work with reputable vendors to find and implement solutions. Then move on to next step.

Partnering with an industry leader in content servicesOpenText is an industry leader in content services solutions. The OpenText™ Extended ECM platform allows you to:• Integrate with key applications that underpin key processes• Connect disparate structures and facilitate enterprise-wide information flow• Create simple, intuitive user interfaces for efficient processing more and more diverse content;• Expanding reach of robust information management and security features;• Launch anywhere with cloud-based technologies that make it much easier to deploy, update, and implement new features.