Your workplace’s processes might need revamping: Here’s how intelligent content management adapts

An intelligent content management (ICM) platform is expected to handle the processing of sheer volumes of data, organizing it and producing intelligible insights no matter the depth or width of the industry or department it’s being used for.

However, a “one-size-fits-all” narrative doesn’t exactly fit what an ICM platform like Zoho WorkDrive is. While, an ICM solution can do multiple things related to your content, not everything it does is needed by everyone. Figuring out what it can provide and optimizing those specifically for your workflows can improve productivity and this is a key aspect for utilizing your ICM platform completely.

When it comes to improving your collaboration stack, figuring out which parts of the stack need improving based on what department the tools are handling and prioritizing which roles need more functionality based on requirements becomes crucial.

Research: Evaluating what’s needed in your stack

Before we begin, there are multiple things within a company’s ecosystem that can be clumped together into a stack, and it can get confusing when we are defining the term. A tech stack is the collection of software, programming languages, frameworks, and tools used to build and run a software application or website. An enterprise stack is a combination of software that handle the development of an ecommerce site as well as the frontend UI/UX.

A collaboration (tech) stack covers all the necessary applications for communication, project management, and data management to ensure a smooth workflow for the user’s productivity while also keeping the chain of communication active with peers. This is what we’re going to cover.

You’ll notice that an intelligent content management system can generally cover all the things required for a fully functioning collaboration stack, but to what extent the specific tools are optimized for depends on the platform used. This is where you evaluate what tools are required for your most important work processes, what can be ignored, and what can be replaced.

Recognizing these details establishes the start of refining your collaboration stack and paves the way to figuring out what works best and how to implement them while also avoiding going for solutions that would drag down the whole process unintentionally or otherwise.

Implementation: Putting in the right integrations and add-ons to improve performance

ICM platforms come with a host of features, but with it comes a host of indecisive users and a lot more questions than it has answers for. Between security and compliance issues, app implementation difficulties, and user adoption, it all boils down to one big question: Are you paying for the right solution?

Let’s frame the question differently here: Is your ICM platform a complete solution or does it need to be adjusted and updated along its lifespan to cater to differing needs in the stack?

Usually, the latter question is applicable. So, are you paying for the right solution? In both money and time spent?

Most, if not all ICM systems are a sandbox—platforms with pre-established tools such as the ones mentioned before, as well as the ability to add other apps into the mix to create different connections and interactions, creating an ever-evolving ecosystem.

While ICM focuses on cleaning up and organizing unstructured data to derive insights with AI. Integrations and webhooks help create links that connect your work processes to tools and functionalities that an ICM system lacks so data finally gets to be represented and utilized in manners that are beneficial for the team’s productivity.

Integrations and webhooks aren’t just for speeding up the collaboration stack but could also add new ways to interact with your data and enhance said collaboration, be it with simple graphical updates such as data visualization or full-on automation of repetitive tasks.

You can look up our list of WD integrations here.

Education and follow-up: Getting collaboration done right

You have gotten the ICM solution that benefits you and your company’s productivity and enhances the established collaboration stack so, finally, the last question stands: Is there enough time and resources being spent to educate users on how to use and run things on this stack optimally?

Here’s an exercise in both maintaining tight collaboration with peers as well as educating them. Just implementing and running your stack isn’t enough. You’ll have to ensure proper maintenance is being done and users are aware of how to use the stack to the fullest.

Training resources such as demo videos, help documentation, checklists and so on stored within your ICM platform forms a smart, self-serving cycle where the user learns about the platform and its many interactions using the platform itself. They can also prod its AI further for insights into what to do next.

Such things grow gradually with constant addition of content and use and require vigilant maintenance to ensure no outdated materials stay for too long. Once again, you use the ICM platform to maintain the same platform, this time with specific time-gated security functions and review systems in place.

Collaboration doesn’t need to be complicated to make sense in a workplace. It should be simple, efficient, and quick with the way it interacts with both human and technological elements to get the job done at the highest quality.