Let It Flow

"For 2011, you've got a blank check!" If this is you, then give me a call—I'll make you a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge. But if you're like the rest of us, then you're probably being told to find ways to get more work done with less money. ROI (return on investment) needs to be achieved in 18 months or less and the business case had better be compelling. And because that's not challenging enough, throw in some new compliance requirements in the healthcare and financial markets and add Intelligent Mail barcodes as icing on the cake.

This means your print-to-mail operations need to be less expensive to operate, more flexible, run on shorter deadlines and demonstrate proof for everything they do. You can invest in all kinds of hardware and software to help support this vision, but unless your workflow is interconnected, and data is well managed, it is all for nothing.

Let's take a step back and evaluate some of the top considerations for building a strong end-to-end workflow. Start by challenging assumptions. It may not be an easy task, but most people who have taken the time to do this find the financial and business rewards are worth the effort. By interconnecting your technologies, you'll achieve synergies—including cost savings and flexibility—that simply can't be addressed by point solution upgrades.

State of the State

First, you need to perform an existing state analysis—you need to know where you are to know where you need to be. You can start collecting this information no matter what your role might be. Document your major operational processes. Talk with your colleagues, and record the biggest problems they see. Then talk to vendors, solutions partners and industry colleagues and understand what they see as market drivers and challenges in the industry. People love to share information, so it likely won't be difficult to get this feedback from them. Changing behaviors is more of a struggle, so start by creating a list of everything you do today, why you do it and the pros and cons. Then create a "what-if" column and list a wild alternative, with the pros and cons to show the contrast (see chart).