ECM in the palm of your hand

In 2008 I started every presentation and webinar the same way- "imagine every document your company has ever made, every email, eform, spreadsheet, PDF, photo, all in the palm of your hand; instantly searchable on any device with a web browser, or using an app." People looked at me like I had horns! Using a smart phone for ECM? Oh Dan, you so crazy!!!

Fist pump mobile ECM, from dream to reality

With the news that Apple is now larger than Microsoft, my dream is looking closer to reality. As NYT puts it, "The most important technology product no longer sits on your desk but rather fits in your hand." I TOTALLY agree. My iPhone is practically skin-grafted to me at this point, I even had to order a back up battery to charge on the go. And you know why? Because the user experience is so much better than a PC. There really is an app for everything.... everything BUT accessing internal company resources like a document or content management system.

LincDoc eForm on an iPhone.

So to vendors- what's up? The corporate approved Blackeberry or the new iPhone has built in WIFI and 3G, and a mobile web browser ready to go. Apps are icing on the cake. We built LincDoc with mobile in mind, with a virtually identical user experience to the desktop. Why? Because as consumers we expect that the technology at work to be as good as what we have at home. Crazy talk right?


With that in mind, here is the challenge I'll put to out to vendors. Feel free to post in the comments, or e-mail me.


Vendor scenario:

1) Create a document or content on a mobile device. Something like an eForm, spreadsheet, or e-mail or receipt for an expense report
2) Send the document through a workflow (BPM) for approval and processing
3) Dynamically fill out metadata, name, file, and route the document
4) Securely archive it in an ECM system
5) Allow content re-use
6) Go back and search for information in an ECM or DMS system using a mobile device


Anyone up for the challenge? I know of two vendors that can do this today, out of the box, but let's let them come and show us. No free passes. 

Tips to deliver funny and memorable ECM training

As some of you know, I regularly train resellers and customers on LincDoc, which we've built to make it easy to learn,and easy to use. One one recent live session, I had 15 students from all over the world, including Singapore, India, Canada, Panama, and the United States. The conference line sounded like the United Nations lobby, and trying to teach that kind of audience can be pretty crazy. Based on my experience, here are some tips for E-Learning that apply directly to ECM world.

An actual slide from my training presentation / portrait of me age 11

1. Know your audience - When planning your training sessions, know who you are presenting to, what their existing knowledge is, and what their learning objectives are. I normally research my audience, and learn as much about them as possible, so that the training fits. You might call it cyber-stalking, but whatever.
2. Cut out the jargon- ECM, ERP, CRM, DAM, ABC, 123, BBQ, WTF! Honestly, jargon and so many of the terms that have infected the marketplace were created by companies to serve as competitive marketing messages. In reality, all jargon does is serve to confuse attendees in a training session. Like capers in a sauce, use sparingly or not at all.
3. Use Humor when appropriate - When people are smiling, they are receptive and open to learning. Plus, training can be SO dry and boring, humor is the best way to keep everyone engaged. Anyone who has ever been trained by me can attest to my style of keeping things light. Personally, I use things like pictures of my Chihuahua, Mr. Pickles for my dog license demo, or use slides like the one above. 
4. More slides, less text - Guy Kawasaki has a great post that has become my main guide for slides- no font smaller than size 30, don't just read text, and consider the slides as a backdrop for the message you wish to convey. Steve Jobs is the king of this approach, go watch any of his keynotes on YouTube or iTunes and see for yourself.
5. Show examples - in the ECM world, concepts can be really hard to understand, so use real world examples that illustrate your point. When I teach people document assembly with LincDoc, I show the the process of creating contracts, or applying for an apartments lease. For electronic forms, I use things like employment applications, or vacation requests. Another awesome example is wine.com for Taxonomy (thanks to Theresa Regli for that idea)
6. Get users involved - personally, I use GoToMeeting, which has a great integrated chat feature, and most vendors have something similar. Regularly stop to ask open ended questions, solicit feedback, and regularly unmute the audience to ask questions about major points, and don't be afriad to ask individual questions. So, "John", please explain to everyone about the last concept. I'm so mean; but shame is a powerful motivator.
7. Homework - Like any good teacher, at the end of a training session, I assign homework with a deadline, and we track the results. It's nice to know that expectations are set and that the E-Learning portion will serve as a step on the patch to ECM mastery.

So Internet, what about you? If you have your own special tips and trick, please post in the comments, or post on Twitter.

Be a happy panda using social media to get your voice heard

This is directed RIGHT at end users (yes you, reading this at work), vendors please follow along, and be prepared. I really hope that you all have learned just how amazingly powerful your voice is as a single end user given social media. For the first time in history, you have platforms and a voice to broadcast your message to the entire world instantly, for free. 


Let me give you a personal example: About two months ago, a mechanical arm that lets people in and out of the parking lot was stuck in the up position, and I was stranded  in the parking lot of the Long Beach airport for nearly an hour, longer than my actual flight from Oakland back home. They wouldn't let anyone leave or pay cash, and the natives were growing restless. I contemplated walking home, begged them to take my money, pleaded for escape, offered them my organs etc.


As the ever-growing line of cars waited, I hopped on my iPhone and researched the company who managed the lot, called my city council member who oversees the airport, called the company, and e-mailed the local office. As an angry, tired Irishman, it was hard to keep my cool, but I left confident that the wrong would be righted. Once home, I tweeted some pics, posted a Yelp review, let my 600 friends on Facebook know that they should rethink parking at the Long Beach airport, and posted on their Yahoo stock page. (Overkill yes, but I was pissed).


By noon the next day, I had received an e-mail and a phone call from an Executive Vice President at the parking company about my barrage of complaints. Note, this is a multi-billion dollar company, and he sounded panicked. What happened? How can we make this right? Do you want a refund? Can you retract your posts? Do you want a hug?


WOW! 12 hours before, his company was holding me and about two-dozen other people hostage, and now they wanted to be my best friend. Being a semi-reasonable guy, I accepted their indemnification, and wrote a letter commending them for good customer service. Seriously, they did a good job making things right.


Welcome friends to the power of social media.

A few years ago, getting this kind of bend over backwards response was impossible. Given a few well placed messages, I went from angry customer to happy panda. Think about it, by 10am the very next day, this problem was totally resolved. 


So here it what you need to learn from this experience- you can use this power for your own benefit. Tools like Twitter and LinkedIn allow a 1 to many communication, and the organization you mention, other current and potential customers and their competitors can all see the messages you broadcast. You wield tremendous power to share your experiences- good and bad with the world. Examples like the United Airlines guitar guy are perfect examples of your power as a consumer.


Spiderman put it best, with great power comes great responsibility. I firmly believe that as an end user, you have a duty to be heard, and to air your legitimate complaints for the world to see. Likewise, if you have a GOOD experience with a vendor, please share it. Places like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social networks are a powerful platform to express yourself.


I would love to hear other people's experiences with using social media to resolve issues, or your experiences with Pandas. Pandas are AWESOME. 

I just saved 223 lbs. of CO2 with Granola

Not sure if you all have seen Granola, I heard about it last month over at Lifehacker. It reduces your computer's energy consumption without any impact on performance, and it's totally free. The company released this consumer version to help get the word out about their pay for enterprise versions for the data center.

If you are like me, and are interested in reducing your energy usage and have 2 min. to install it, do it now! Here is my estimated savings on my laptop, and I even get better battery life. Get it at http://grano.la/ 

Fast Forward forms development using LincDoc

Have you ever seen a credit application? I built one in about 15 minutes using LincDoc. Check it out for yourself over at our site. Start to finish, this was a fun way to show the design process that goes into making an easy to use eForm, and I picked some crazy techno music.





Demo form used in the video: http://bit.ly/ckXg4f

Post and share you pricing if you trust your customers

Disclaimer: To not appear hypocritical, my company's pricing is generally free for the customer using a convenience feel model, or runs $99 per month. It's readily available, and a main selling point for our product.

This is the process for purchasing virtually all software:

1. Please call for pricing or turn over your personal information- name, e-mail address, phone number, dog's name, blood type, and IT budget
2. Not only will they call you repeatedly and put you on their e-mail list, but you won't get pricing until you sit through a time share presentation, I mean demo with one of their high pressure salesmen
3. Whatever price they quote? Forget about it. The cost overruns on consulting and professional services will kill whatever ROI you were promised. You didn't fall for it, did you?

If Billy Mays can do it, 
so can you Mr. Software Executive

Now, imagine if you went out to a movie, and had to give the ticket collector your driver's license for admission, and had to sit through the previews and the first act before being told what the ticket price was. Would you EVER see a movie there again? NO. 

What about going out to dinner- whenever you see a menu without prices, you know that it's going to be incredibly expensive. I can never recall a time where I had a meal without posted prices and thought, "WOW, what a bargain."

As individuals, we would never tolerate this type of treatment, yet as vendors or customers, we expect and prepare for this type of treatment, creating a hostile relationship, making for a painful sales and consulting process. The reason products on infomercials sell so well is their hook; just 2 easy payments of $19.95. There is a reason people buy them, it's simple. 

For business and organizations- you have a right to know the price up front of the products you are investigating. You must stop contributing to the feedback loop by purchasing anything from vendors that abuse you, and disrespect you by hiding pricing from you. Buying software should be as easy as buying a stick of chewing gum, or ordering a Slap-Chop from a TV infomercial. 

As vendors, you have a duty to provide pricing and information to your customers and prospects before the first meeting. In fact, I firmly believe that every vendor's pricing should be publicly available on your website. If you value and trust your prospects, then treat them with the same respect that you as an individual expect. 

Going paperless means not making paper, eForms can help

With tax day come and gone, you probably used a program like Turbo Tax to complete the dreaded process of documenting your income for the government. Programs like Turbo Tax are just another way of doing dynamic document creation, where you are guided through the process of filling out a complex form like the 1040EZ by being asked simple, logical questions that guide you through filling out your taxes.

When the team at LincWare approaches E2.0, and ERM, we look at how we can bring this same thought process to completing electronic forms. When I say forms, I mean things like dog licenses, insurance enrollments, vacation requests, college applications, patient histories, and building permits. They all vary in style and complexity, but the same process of a dynamic, user guided experience works particularly well.

Instead of attaching pages of instructions that have to be printed out and read through, a solution should conditionally display only the proper questions for someone to answer based on what they want to accomplish. For example, when you request personal time off, you are asked different questions that if you wanted to attend a conference.

To make the process comply with your organizations existing records management plan, an eForms solution must utilize things like drop-downs, check boxes and date fields to enforce a controlled vocabulary on the person filling it out. It also makes the form easier to complete, since users simply select the answer they want, versus typing it in. There also need to be constraints on things like zip codes, states, phone numbers, account numbers, and e-mail addresses to make sure they contain all the right information before a form can be submitted.

So how can you make this process simple? To that end, I prefer to utilize customer's existing paper forms and electronic documents to make this happen. Nothing to redesign, rebuild, or to rework. That means that the forms you generate with your eForms solution should look identical to the ones you already have. Just like Turbo Tax, we fill out very complex forms placing all the data in the right location, and make them easy to read. Other vendors do it differently, so be sure to ask if you will have to redesign your forms.

To drive maximum value for customers that have already deployed an ECM platform, a solution should be able to connect the forms bi-directionally with existing applications. In English, that means eForms can pull data from an application, and send the data from the form back once it is complete. Let me give you an example- let’s say you have a HR database with all of your employee’s information. When you fill out a leave of absence request using a LincDoc eForm, you simply type in your employee number, hit ‘search’, and all of your information will be pre-filled. When you submit it, e-mail notifications are sent to your boss for approval, and routed using your BPM suite.


I'd be happy to answer any additional questions about the products and processes that underly this technology. The best way to reach me is on Twitter or at my website.