Madrid, 16th January 2023 – An Output Management system is basically software that improves the composition, delivery, storage, and retrieval of outbound communications from other business systems such as ERP or CRM. Gartner has expanded this basic definition and considers Output Management platforms to be both a strategy and a market, which highlights the importance and complexity of these systems, understanding complexity as the ability to perform numerous functions.
Output Management platforms integrate a wide range of applications for designing, composing, transforming, and analyzing business content and messages. They also help customize messages, design workflows using a rules engine, distribute content through various channels and, finally, store it for later retrieval. And the target audience can be very varied: current and potential customers, suppliers, subcontractors, and other business partners, not forgetting internal users.
That is why it is critical to know how to manage this complexity and implement state-of-the-art Output Management systems. Not just any system can extract all the optimization potential that this software offers. Remember that outbound communications, including physical mail, generate an enormous volume of content. In companies of a certain size, millions of documents are created, half of them manually, and outgoing emails and printed pages are also counted by the millions. Everyone is aware of this. But not everyone knows that implementing a cutting-edge Output Management platform can increase customer satisfaction and boost efficiency. Let’s see how.
The most advanced Output Management systems offer three clear advantages with a corresponding impact. First, they reduce manual interventions by streamlining the technical processes required to enter data. This alone leads to significant savings in personnel costs, which is no small feat. Second, they improve information processing by automating the extraction of key data from documents, which enhances the synchronization of input and output data. Finally, Output Management platforms help reduce costs when simple, repetitive activities, such as manual data entry, are outsourced.
These three advantages can be gained, but some challenges need to be addressed first.
- There is widespread use of obsolete software versions that require extra maintenance efforts and high operating costs.
- Customer requests need to be harmonized with complex GDPR regulations to deliver documents digitally.
- Mailing companies apply different discount scales that cannot be used optimally.
- KPIs are not properly tracked and communicated sufficiently; there is hardly any quantitative or constant monitoring to optimize results.
- Finally, the management tasks related to Output Management systems are located in different areas of responsibility, which means that the level of integration across processes and systems is very low.
Consequently, in order to take full advantage of the latest Output Management systems:
- The company’s architecture and operating model must be analyzed, and its level of digitalization determined.
- It must also be considered that these systems are part of a comprehensive customer service process in which the preparation of customer communications must be digitized and structured, covering five functions: from document creation and print management to delivery channel management, post-processing, and effective delivery of communications.
- Within delivery channels, the degree of complexity has increased considerably in recent times, as customer communication is now ubiquitous and constant: they can receive content by letter, email, apps, online portals, social media, WhatsApp, etc.
Documents must be created centrally, integrated with other departments in the company and based on templates. To this end, a process must be designed to manage templates, including text modules, variables, fonts and font sizes, logos, forms, and signatures.
With regard to print management, it is vital to monitor and report on the process, including the assignment and bundling of print jobs, and control the status of prints and resources.
In relation to the management of delivery channels, downstream processes must be established, such as order adjustments, file format conversions, classification criteria and indexes for archiving and digital signature generation. Channels must be selected according to user preferences, physical and electronic postage optimized, and documents must be combined, separated, sorted, converted, and modified.
Post-processing involves a process that generates a final document from previously structured elements in a format suitable for printing or electronic delivery. In this regard, the most sophisticated Output Management systems allow documents to be customized with logos and signatures, and then incorporate QR and barcodes to finally convert the format for delivery.
Content can be distributed through numerous channels, whether analog or digital. In the latter case, interfaces must be created with the web portal, social media and document archives, and comprehensive rules-based encryption must be performed to ensure the secure transmission of emails and digital messages.
State-of-the-art Output Management solutions meet all the functional and technical requirements mentioned above, as well as other non-functional, but no less important, requirements. In particular, there are six non-functional requirements:
- Administration and validation of all system settings
- Speed to create and manage documents quickly
- Ergonomic use of the system regardless of the type of hardware, operating system and user interface
- Security to ensure the confidentiality accessibility and integrity of documents
- Integration and connection with other systems to exchange information based on SOA principles
- And finally, a platform that meets infrastructure requirements.
For more information about DocPath’s Output Management systems….or other Document products and solutions
About DocPath
DocPath is a leading enterprise document software company that offers its international customers the technology that allows them to complement their ERP and implement advanced Document Output Management, Customer Communications Management and document software pooling processes.
Founded in 1993, DocPath is based in Europe, USA and Latin America and is present with its Solutions in companies around the world. Among its customers there are prestigious banks and top-tier corporations, facilitating the difficult and complex task of designing, generating and distributing their business-critical documents. DocPath keeps a strong commitment to R+D+i, an area to which it allocates a large part of its revenues, and in which lies one of the keys to its success.
For more information, visit: www.docpath.com.
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