TakingAIIM

Flipping Over Content Delivery

 
Readers of my work know that one of my more favorite aspects of ECM is content delivery. Along with mobility, the ability to re-purpose modular "chunks" of content in a variety of formats and contexts significantly enhances the value derived from ECM, increases the effectiveness of communication and quite frankly is just plain fun.

I have blogged about the concept often over the last few years, and originally began writing about it more than 15 years ago.  Many never seemed to quite get it - but slowly over the last few years more and more apps have emerged that clearly demonstrate the value of dynamic content delivery.  The latest is a free app known as Flipboard.

Flipboard  is a personalized digital magazine, created by culling social media and content pertinent to the reader.  This is the future of publishing, and it will take off - of that I am sure.  But do not just take my word for it.  Flipboard has received many great reviews, and commentary , that like this post, positions Flipboard not just as an iPad app, but another step forward in dynamic content delivery.  Initial reaction has been so positive that the provider had to ask for patience with potential early "blips in service."

- My point, I am not enamored with Flipboard per se - but am very excited to see yet another well done app come to the market that helps all of us experience the power of dynamic content delivery. Merge this with DAM and multimedia and the possibilities for new more effective ways to communicate are endless and the boundaries of ECM are stretched once again. 

Oh yeah, the ECM nerd in me is again having a very good day.

Do You Need to Pick Through Garbage to Find Valuable Content?

It has been weeks since I blogged, or even Tweeted on a regular basis. Where have I been? Dan and I are on the road, consulting on a very complex, grand and most interesting ECM project. A Fortune 100 company that remains successful and growing in spite of the economy, has managed to achieve such greatness without benefit of a formal Information Architecture and ECM strategy.  Some of the lessons learned there were recently echoed in the latest handing of the BP oil spill in the Gulf. Read on to find out why content authentication needs to be a fundamental component of virtually any ECM system.

2.0 is a Balancing Act, "Oh Really"

It's likely you have been following the pressure Facebook has been getting concerning its privacy policies. The pressure seems to be working, as Facebook recently announced it will change its approach to privacy and make it easier for users to protect their personal data. This has been an on going battle. I first commented on the need for better controls in Facebook 3 years ago, prompted by the then reaction of Facebook to privacy violations related to its Beacon advirtisements. At that time I commented that “mature” uses of 2.0 (especially those that take the form of Enterprise 2.0) have to address the issue of privacy and learn from established corporate practices concerning responsible content management.

Here it is  three years later and Facebook is in a similar situation, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is still resisting the demand to do the “right thing.” 

But enough critisism on that issue.  In this post, I want to focus on one of Zuckerman’s recent quotes in particular. In commenting on the struggle between social computing and privacy, Zuckerman stated,  “The company [Facebook] treads a delicate balance between protecting privacy rights and promoting social networking."  When I read this quote – I could not help but think of Seth Meyer and Amy Pohler on Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update: “Oh Really.”  Read on to find out why.

Context is King and ECM-based BI is the Keys to the Kingdom

Yesterday I tweeted (@carlfrappaolo) about a Boston Globe article on ECM search company, Endeca. I was going to let it go at that, but then this morning, serendipitously I heard a story on NPR about the dramatically changing world of television watching and the impact that is having on the services provided by Nielsen. ECM is at the foundation of great new opportunities and challenges for organizations. Read on

IT meets KM meets E2.0 meets Innovation in the Boston Subway

Yesterday I was preparing for an Innovation Management training session I will be doing later this week. The sponsor, after reviewing my credentials asked “How you make the leap from information and knowledge management to coaching/developing innovation
skills?  … Your background seems to be IT.”

I provided what I hope was not too lengthy a response. In essence it stated that I view Innovation management as a fully ingrained component of KM, and IT as a strategic facilitator of both. Its interesting, but to many friends, family and colleagues my background appears disjointed. To me it is completely synergistic and intertwined.

Well, this morning I saw an article that pulled it all together. (read on and access the article.)

ECM Means Business

More than once I have blogged on the emergence of ECM as a specialized obscure practice within techno-geeks into the limelight of critical business applications. In my last blog post ("ECM It was the Best of Times, it Was the Worst of Times) I discussed how according to popular news sources, ECM was responsible for radically redefining entire industries such as newspaper publishing, leaving a wake of unemployed people and extinct businesses, but also at the same time promoting innovation and giving rise to new industries and burgeoning business models.

Today, in perusing The New York Times Business Section, I was again pleasantly impressed with the degree to which ECM makes business news. On page one (continued on pages 3 and 7) for example, the Times reports that Google is getting into the e-books business with a mission to take on Amazon and Kindle.

On page 4, The Times covers Google Wave, a "latest" Enterprise 2.0 application. (OK the Times may over state the value of Google Wave (see commentary on Dan Keldsen's blog), but ECM is nonetheless being covered in this reputable high profile business periodical. On the same page, Plastic Logic, a Kindle rival is also introduced, and e-heath records are positioned as a clear technology winner in the government's economic stimulus package.

Page 5, covers the Hearst Magazine's strategy for successfully balancing paper-based and web-based magazine publishing.

Page 6 includes an article about an author who used Twitter to test works in progress. Based on collaborative feed back the very first sentence of a novel was changed - amongst other edits. The eventual publication, was then specifically formatted for publishing on Kindle.

WOW - that's a lot of ink in one Business section devoted to ECM.  OK, maybe the articles do not directly draw the correlation to ECM, but the topics they discuss: e-publishing, dynamic content delivery, e-ink, digital paper, online collaboration - are topics ECM veterans such as myself are well familiar with, and have been heralding the power of for many years. With the broader business community now catching up, this should spell a bright future for ECM practitioners. Business executives hopefully will now better understand these concepts, and want to further explore the powers and capabilities of ECM technologies within their domain, to drive new business models, increase innovation, streamline costs and processes, increase effective communication ...

As I said in the last blog post, "this glimpse into what ECM can/will be is nothing short of amazing. I dare anyone to view this and tell me that we are not experiencing "the best of times." Indeed, to further quote Dickens, "we had everything before us..." 

But only those that "get it" will be able to leverage these capabilities before they morph from competitive advantage to simply a cost of doing business. Building such strategies is what we at Information Architected do with a passion - simply because it is so powerful and fun.

ECM - "It Was The Best of Times, It Was The Worst of Times"

Those that know me, as well as loyal readers of this blog, know that I am an ECM zealot – some say a nerd. So perhaps this post is just another ranting – but I felt compelled to reiterate myself because of certain current events.

I entitle this post with a familiar quote from Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities, in which he describes the state-of-the-world at the time of the French Revolution:  “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”  Turbulent, but ripe with opportunity.  That is exactly where we are today in the world of ECM.

Over the last few weeks I was struck by the degree to which ECM is being talked discussed within the context of   the best of times/worst of times.

Consider content publishing. It continues to undergo major, some might say revolutionary redefinition. The future of newspapers is a primary example.  In the past week, The Boston Globe, my own hometown newspaper, was threatened with extinction. Are we in danger of losing high quality press coverage and editorial?

Modes of communication are rapidly morphing. In an earlier post I referenced a New York Times article that reported paper consumption in the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Canada and Finland actually went down (between 2000 and 2005), for the first time in history. In a more recent article, Ruport Murdoch and Arianna Huffington debated the future of online news  and whether readers of the electronic news will be willing to pay for access. Are we redefining the meaning of the word “free’ in the phrase “the free press”?

Recently, a group of architects have started a project  collecting "unwanted" wrist watches, in an effort to preserve them in the Smithsonian Museum. Apparently, the advent of cellular communication devices is also changing the way we tell time.

But these same cellular devices and new approaches to communication, networking and publishing are fueling and facilitating innovation and entrepreneurship. It is truly the best of times as well. Another recent article reported that the effort and cost associated with starting a new company has never been lower. The entrepreneurial and innovative spirit is fueled by ECM.  Apparently over 100 million companies have signed up for free web-based tools, such as Google Apps to serve as their technical foundation. Networking and collaborating have never been easier, or more accessible. (I will confess that my company, Information Architected, is a subscriber to several Google apps.) In yet another recent article  the question, "Is working from home the next gold rush?" is asked. New business models made possible through online content may be eliminating some jobs and industries, but also serve as the genesis of countless others. 

I have to say that, I for one am most happy and excited to be part of this revolutionary time.  It is the worst of times;  layoffs and the possible demise of entire industries is scary and unfortunate. But on the other hand, the amazingly fertile potential for new businesses, new industries and new business models seems virtually infinite.  I stare at the future with wide-open eyes, amazed at the possibilities.

If you do not agree, or simply want to further fuel you own enthusiasm, then view this presentation and demonstration at this year's TED.  This glimpse into what ECM can/will be is nothing short of amazing. I dare anyone to view this and tell me that we are not experiencing "the best of times." Indeed, to further quote Dickens, "we had everything before us..."

Enterprise 2.0 - The Other Side of Governance

The intersection of Enterprise 2.0 and governance is not a new topic to this blog. Typically, however, I focus on the need to impose some control (i.e. security, records management, publishing controls) on the otherwise open approach to Enterprise 2.0-based communication (e.g. micro-blogging, wikis, blogs).  Governance and Enterprise 2.0 go hand-in-hand, in my opinion, for the responsible business practitioner. (For example, comments to this blog, while "open" are monitored by yours truly.  All comments are posted - if after my review they are deemed as not offensive in language or message.)

Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing lunch and experiences with a bunch of very clever people from VOXmarketing, a firm whose core competency is branding campaigns. It did not take long for our conversation to come to a common interest.  You guessed it - the governance of Enterprise 2.0 content. I have always been aware, and indeed have written and spoken about the need to control branding of wikis and blogs, but it was nonetheless powerful to hear similar opinion coming from the mirror perspective; i.e. from marketing/branding to content management. We shared stories of respective clients who had minimized the impact of Enterprise 2.0 tools by failing to brand them and thus align them into an overall enterprise communication strategy.  We also shared stories regarding the potential power of Enterprise 2.0 tools, when they are governed holistically, and diligently.

It was reassuring to hear this message from someone outside of the records management and content security worlds. We agreed, one of the most powerful strengths of Enterprise 2.0 tools is their openess and ease of use, but that this is also potentially one of its shortcomings.  A little bit of structure (governance) can go a long way - not only in minimizing risk, but also accelerating adoption and increasing the effectivness of communication.

Intelligent Content Delivery will Take more "Time"

Last month I blogged on the fact that I had subscribed to Mine Magazine - a dynamic personalized online periodical. I promised in the previous blog to keep readers posted on my experience with Mine.

Well, today I received the following e-mail:

Dear Carl,

Thank you for subscribing to mine magazine. We want to let you know that a computer error may have affected the first issue you received this week. It's possible that this issue did not contain the combination of magazine content you selected. Please know that the problem has been resolved, and that each of your subsequent issues will reflect the exact content you originally requested.

In appreciation of your support, we have extended your five-issue subscription to include a sixth free issue of mine. You can also access real-time mine content through your smartphone device at http://mine.mwap.at.

We apologize for the inconvenience and, again, thank you for being among the very first to experience mine.

Best regards,

Wayne Powers
President, Time Inc. Media Group

So - my somewhat dubious  tone in the previous blog appears to be warranted.  I am, however, still curious and excited enough to let me subscription stand and see what I get.  But my doubts grow.  In the e-mail message it states that I should have received my first issue already (flawed though it may be).   I have not received an issue of Mine.  Apparently the software has more than just problems gathering the right content. Stay tuned...

E-medical records: Follow Prescription to Avoid Potential Side Effects

Earlier this week in the Boston Globe, there was a front-page article that focused on a subset of ECM, electronic medical records. As I read the article I wondered if its author knew how much was being said "between the lines"?  While the focus was on e-records, it spoke volumes beyond that to me.

OK - lets start with the focus of the article.  Apparently, a Mr. Dave deBronkart, a "tech-savvy kidney cancer survivor", accessed his online medical records from Beth Israel Hospital, and transferred them to Google Health.  This Google App, allows users to centrally store their e- medical records to facilitate  sharing.  The  Google App also provides related services, and in the case of Mr. deBronkart, it went perhaps one step too far.  It provided an automated diagnosis, informing Mr. deBronkart that his cancer had spread to either his brain or spine.  WRONG.

The article critiques the accuracy and viability of e-medical records. WRONG. Once again technology is being blamed for poorly thought out processes, lack of a complete strategy and misappropriation of technology. Yes, I am a bigot - I am a firm believer in e-medical records (just about e- anything actually), but only with the caveat that implementation needs to be preceded with a well thought out strategy, careful roll out and governance.  

If you want to better understand how Google Health did what it did, read the article. Whether you read the article for details or not, realize that what went wrong here was Google taking technology too far, without a strategy or governance, and boldly going where Google has never gone before - and perhaps is not qualified to - dispensing medical advise - which is a far cry from collecting and making available medical records. Sure, the two services are related/complementary, but the credentials and skills to do one do not directly map to the other.  This isn't the first time Google has overstepped its core competencies - see my earlier post. In their enthusiasm and rush to provide SaaS-based/Web 2.0 business apps, many providers, in this case Google, often step too far. The article, in my opinion does not point to the shortcomings of e-medical records, but rather the mistake Google made in trying to mashup medical billing data with automated diagnosis. Google is NOT a medical expert, and thus should not be dispensing medical diagnosis or advice, not without the proper partnerships/expertise, governance and testing. Although the risk of what Google has done in Google Health is more profound,the cause and effect is the same as the company that allows "any user" to mashup billing data and customer support databases, automates processes without taking a deep look into how the current process really works (as opposed to is supposed to work), or enables the use of blogs and twitter without "aligning" the usage with marketing, branding, records management, security and other related business practices.  As technology such as mashups make it easier for "lay people" to create applications and create or expose content, the tendency is to think that strategy, vetting, testing and alignment are no longer necessary. Build it (its easy) - they will come - and if it breaks - fix it.  In some cases, as this article illustrates, this "new" approach to real-time beta testing can be far more costly in the long run.

That said, I also believe that some blame lies with the consumer.  I recall debating with colleagues during the advent of the Web, the risk that was posed by enabling virtually anyone to be a "published authority".  A common topic, interestingly enough related to the Globe article, was, "What if a web site dispensed medical advice (from an undisclosed 10 year old),  which proved wrong and detrimental to the user.  Who, if anyone is liable of "malpractice?"  Web users need to be more diligent in verifying the source and credentials of web content.  Some of my readers may recall a blog post I made 2 years ago entitled "Are You for Real?", that explored this issue in greater detail, and used as an example a website that appeared to be an authoritative source on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but upon diligent investigation was uncovered as providing content originally created by a white supremacy group. 

Is Google really the place to go for medical advice?  A place to store records - maybe (if they can get the security right, an issue also under debate),  a pointer (i.e. query tool) to potential medical advice yes, but "the source" of medical advice - no - not yet.

Lastly, I should mention, in case you missed it, that last week I blogged about a debate between Dr. Jonathan Oberlander and Dr. John Halamka , the latter an e-records practitioner and the CIO of Beth Israel Hospital ( the original source of the patient's e-medical records).  Dr. Halamka is quoted in the Globe article, and he blogged on it (worth a read).  Dr. Halamka states that " I'm working with Google to evaluate the impact of sending our existing free text problem lists instead of billing codes. It will reduce the number of features available to patients, since Google's educational materials are based on billing codes, but it may be more informative to patients to see the text their clinician wrote, not the diagnosis on the bill. Showing problem lists is what we've done in Patientsite for 10 years." - Exactly - Google through ignorance of medical billing versus diagnosis, and lack of planning and strategy, is responsible for this unfortunate event, not e-medical records created at Beth Israel.

As I stated in my last blog post, KM, Enterprise 2.0, collaboration - no matter the focus, there has to be a strategy in place or the risk of getting it wrong is too high. While the focus of the last post was on potentially getting the business model wrong and underestimating the required effort, in this post, I broaden the risk associated with poor planning and lack of strategy to include potentially rendering a most erroneous end state.

Most infrequently is technology to blame for failed KM, collabortion and ECM projects, yet it is all too often the focus of the blame.  The blame lies not with the technology but the lack of strategy, planning and misappropriation of technology.