ECM Briefs

Santee Cooper, South Carolina's state-owned electric and water utility, generates power for more than two million South Carolinians. Their property management department dealt with stacks of information regularly, which opened the door to multiple content problems. Technology was changing, the company was growing, and their content was escalating fast.

To tackle this problem head on, Santee Cooper employees from various user areas formed the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Project team, to assess the pros and cons of electronic document management. They needed to streamline administrative processes, improve customer service, comply with federal and state rules and regulations, and retain knowledge from a retiring workforce.

The utilities provider chose Open Text for the user-friendly nature and functionality of the company's records management product. IT liked that it was simple to implement. The records management department liked the ease of inheriting records classifications and retention periods, as well as the one folder structure of both physical and e-records. Project teams liked how well the ability to work with the vendor played out, and all users loved the search and add documents functions.

Together with Santee Cooper's ECM project and ECM technical teams, Open Text Global Services gathered information about the document and records processes, and mapped it out for the records management solution. After the system was fully implemented-out-of-the-box, with some process improvements added by the IT team-users were trained in various scenarios to ensure user confidence.

Now, each form has a barcode for convenient electronic filing. Using Kofax® Capture, all of the property management departments' documents were scanned into the system, receiving the correct classifications according to the folders they were placed in. The records management system is also linked to Santee Cooper's Oracle Property Manager, to manage the company's leasing data.

The application of the records management offering has enabled the streamlining of large projects, higher efficiency, improvement in customer service response time (from 34 minutes to six), and even the recovery of costly floor space now that Santee Cooper no longer needs filing cabinets! Misfiling is also a non-issue thanks to the ability to search for documents, and aging paper documents are now electronically preserved.

After the triumph within their property management department, Santee Cooper anticipates making the records management solution an enterprise-wide choice.

Read more about Santee Cooper's success with records management here.

Ensuring that 44,000 students in 120 schools - and their parents and teachers - get the information they need from their school system is no easy task. Now, the District of Columbia Public Schools has aced this test with the launch of its new Web site - http://dcps.dc.gov. (Read the press release here.)

The Web site, powered by Vignette Content Management from Open Text and implemented by partner RCK Corp., is the first in a series of planned Web site upgrades. Implemented in 90 days, the solution allows DCPS to edit and publish more efficiently, reducing its reliance on technical support.

The launch complements Chancellor Michelle Rhee's initiative to give faculties and families the tools they need for a supportive environment. According to the Chancellor, "... I expect that this Web site ─ and the way we use it to inform, communicate with and listen to our communities in order to support student achievement ─ will set a standard for other school districts."

The Web site offers easier navigation (think three clicks to get your information) and superior access to information such as vision, enrollment, community involvement and events.

In addition to providing valuable information, the DCPS site also showcases the talents of its students. Check out these links to see the galleries of Student Writing, Art and Videos.

This week, we're in Gatineau, Quebec networking with more than 500 government workers as part of our annual Canadian Public Sector Days. This morning, I'm opening up day two of the event with my thoughts on "The Next Big Thing."

To sum it up; we live in a world where billions of people are using trillions of devices to create digital content.

After 125+ years of telephony, 50+ years into the computer era and after 20+ years of the internet age, all organizations, governments and enterprises are seeking ways to be effective and efficient in this digital world.

Open Text was founded at the beginning of the Internet age by two Canadian professors who invented the first Internet search engine. From this beginning, the company has pioneered many advances in developing tools to help governments and enterprises store, retrieve and usefully manage ever-increasing volumes of structured and unstructured information.

The fast rising Digital Content World is the next big thing. The challenge for leaders and knowledge workers is to implement digital frameworks that effectively "control" critical information, while also turbo charging your organization's ability to utilize advances in information management to improve organizational capability while keeping costs and benefits aligned.

We'll be speaking more about this digital revolution over the next little while... Stay tuned.

Eugene Roman is CIO of Open Text

Canadian Public Sector Content Days Kicks Off Next Week

If you have a yearning to visit Quebec next week, why not stop in to see what the Canadian Public Sector is up to in the ECM Space? Canadian Public Sector Content Days are being held at the Palais des Congrès in Gatineau, Québec on September 15 and September 16.

We'll let you in on a little secret... the Canadian Public Sector is up to some pretty cool stuff and you can hear all about it from our very own, Tom Jenkins in addition to a whole list of great keynote and session speakers at the event.

Here's a list of some of the topics that will be discussed over the course of the two days:

• Canada 3.0: Defining Canada's Digital Future - Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer, Open Text
• Implementing Enterprise Information Management: Preparing for and Managing the Journey:
Mark Vale, Chief Information and Privacy Officer, Ministry of Government Services (Ontario)
• Essential Steps to Reduce eDiscovery Costs and Risks: Stephen Ludlow, Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Open Text
• From Records to Documents to ECM and Beyond: Breaking Down the Silos: Gordon Briscoe, G. Briscoe & Associations; Jeff Lamirande, Director, IM Program Agri-Foods Canada & Brian Towers, Executive Director, IM, CORADIX Technology Consulting Ltd.
• Social Media in the Enterprise: Sean Murphy, Senior Manager, Open Text Public Sector Practice Lead, Deloitte
• BlackBerry Beyond Email: Nick Dawson, Manager, Public Sector, Research IN Motion
• Interaction 3.0: Anthony Gallo, VP Digital Media Experiences, Open Text
• Meeting New Demands of Media Management: Boris Langer, Solutions Consultant, Open Text
• How Social Media Can Enable Better Teamwork, Faster Information Sharing and Smarter Decision-Making: John Myers, VP and General Manager, Open Text

...and many more!

Interested? Get more info here and while you're at it hit the "register now" button...