Businesses agree that linking their ERP systems — which contain much of a company’s structured data — and their enterprise content management (ECM) systems — which hold the company’s unstructured content — to create a centralized information interface would be largely beneficial. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by AIIM, the majority of all respondents (76%) said they believe that linking structured data to unstructured content would be useful. And, of course, while it’s quite common to see businesses leveraging analytical and data management tools to extract valuable insights from their structured data, only a few seem to have the capability to extract insights from their unstructured content. That’s why companies are now looking for the “killer app” that will allow them to link analytics from both structured and unstructured information to help them fuel superior decision making and enable them to rapidly adapt and capitalize on new business opportunities.

1. Enterprise Content Management
SPOTLIGHT ARTICLE
This article appeared in the Oct Nov Dec 2012 issue of
n n
SAPinsider (http://sapinsider.wispubs.com) and appears
here with permission from the publisher, WIS Publishing.
Cracking the Business Genome
How Information Shapes Your Business
by Bil Khan, SAP
Businesses agree that linking their ERP systems it runs its support services. Within the business
— which contain much of a company’s structured DNA, the genome is represented by the struc-
data — and their enterprise content management tured data and unstructured content that feed
(ECM) systems — which hold the company’s into the company’s business processes, support-
unstructured content — to create a centralized ing each area of the business.
information interface would be largely beneficial. As I mentioned earlier, right now, companies
In fact, in a recent survey conducted by AIIM, tend to use structured data when making business
the majority of all respondents (76%) said they decisions simply because this is the kind of data
believe that linking structured data to unstruc- that their analytics tools can easily access. However,
1
tured content would be useful. to fully exploit the business genome, companies
And, of course, while it’s quite common to see must tap into their unstructured content as well.
businesses leveraging analytical and data manage- Being able to analyze and report on unstructured Bil Khan (bil.khan@sap.com)
ment tools to extract valuable insights from their content can help maximize a company’s ability to is a marketing professional
with a record of driving prof-
structured data, only a few seem to have the capa- evolve and address new challenges. That’s why it’s itability, expanding market
bility to extract insights from their unstructured so important that, even in the absence of a “killer share, and spurring global
content. That’s why companies are now looking app,” businesses need to be able to systematically growth for high-tech enti-
ties. He received his MBA in
for the “killer app” that will allow them to link manage unstructured content and make it simple marketing from Pennsylvania
analytics from both structured and unstructured to find, govern, and share, while connecting this State University and earned
his bachelor’s degree in elec-
information to help them fuel superior decision content to the organization’s business processes.
trical engineering from the
making and enable them to rapidly adapt and Let’s look at some examples of how a complete University of Arkansas.
capitalize on new business opportunities. business genome can provide competitive advan-
Why is the ability to link structured data and tage to your business and help you innovate
unstructured content so important? It’s because faster and better than your competition.
this information makes up a very important part
of a business’s DNA. Improve Customer Relations
Companies are looking to increase revenue and
The DNA of the Business improve customer relationships by integrating
The DNA of a living organism determines vari- all customer content — from emails, faxes, PDFs,
ous characteristics. And encoded within this DNA and images, for instance — with SAP Business
is the genome — the entirety of the organism’s Suite software. The key is to provide a single
hereditary information. Similarly, every company point of access to all business information to
carries the DNA of its particular business in the improve process transparency and ensure that
form of its business processes. In essence, this your business users can concentrate on address-
“business DNA” shapes the way a company does ing customers’ concerns instead of searching for
business, how it responds to changing customer their information.
needs and adapts its internal operations, and how For instance, you can reduce call response time
AIIM, “Big Data — Extracting Value from Your Digital
1 when you have all customer information read-
Landfills” (2012). ily available and at a service rep’s fingertips. The
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2. SAP Document Access application by OpenText also enables the user to readily find the content
provides just such an information repository. associated with a customer, a supplier, an invoice,
And with a solution like the SAP Document a part, or equipment in SAP software. Addition-
Presentment application by OpenText, which ally, by scanning and digitizing paper documents,
allows you to create personalized campaigns and you can reduce reliance on manual paper pro-
generate proposals, offers, and letters on the fly, cesses and lower physical storage needs and costs.
you can also transform ordinary business docu- To help with this endeavor, SAP offers tools
ments into powerful communication channels. like the SAP Invoice Management application
By integrating document-related processes within by OpenText, the SAP Extended Enterprise Con-
SAP business processes, you can streamline your tent Management by OpenText, and the SAP
customer communications into timely, one-to- Document Access and Archiving application
one communications with marketing, sales, and by OpenText, which all tightly integrate with
distribution documents. SAP Business Suite. With these solutions work-
By using this application to enable proactive, ing independently or together, you can reduce
personalized communications, you achieve signif- invoice processing costs, mitigate compliance
icant cost savings, increase call center agent pro- risks with better records management and reten-
ductivity, reduce printing costs through the use tion policies, and improve supplier relationships
of e-documents, and improve efficiency by estab- by ensuring on-time payments.
lishing dynamic communication with customers.
Use Information to Gain the Upper Hand
To fully exploit the
Empower Your Employees Succeeding in today’s connected global environ-
business genome, To increase the operational efficiency and pro- ment means finding shrewd new ways to gain
companies must tap ductivity of the HR department, you’ll need competitive advantage. The ECM-focused solu-
to provide tools that empower employees to tion extensions from SAP can help you manage
into not just their manage their own workforce documents while your business genome and facilitate innovation
structured data, but requiring intervention from as few HR resources across your enterprise. With these tools, you can:
as possible. The SAP Employee File Management
their unstructured ■■ Increase efficiency by making unstructured
application by OpenText, the SAP Portal Content content available through a business user’s
content as well. Management application by OpenText, the SAP preferred interface
Portal Site Management application by Open-
■■ Boost productivity by shortening the time
Text, and the SAP Travel Receipts Management
needed to find or recreate unstructured con-
application by OpenText provide the necessary
tent and by streamlining content access
connections between SAP solution data and non-
SAP content. This kind of easy information access ■■ Minimize risks associated with unstructured
can help companies fully streamline internal HR content by controlling its complete life cycle
and employee self-service processes to provide ■■ Reduce costs by digitizing paper documents,
new efficiencies. reducing storage requirements, and consolidat-
ing content management systems
Strengthen Relationships with Partners, ■■ Enhance collaboration and increase communi-
Suppliers, and Government Agencies cations with project workspaces that centralize
You can reduce costs and legal exposure and project information and enable team members
improve collaboration and relationships with to efficiently work together
partners, suppliers, and government agencies by
■■ Control the growth of content repositories and
optimizing and automating your invoice manage-
minimize IT complexity
ment, asset management, and records manage-
■■ Mitigate project risk with records management
ment processes. These processes provide unified,
functionality that classifies and stores content
360-degree access to transactional and unstruc-
for compliance purposes
tured content in a choice of interfaces. Users can
gain access via standard SAP interfaces, making For more information on how these solutions
it easier for them to store content with an appro- can strengthen your business DNA, visit www.
priate structure and key metadata attributes. This sap.com/solutions/solutionextensions. n
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