Are you Monetizing your content to its fullest potential?

If you haven't seen yet, Open Text has launched its latest integrated ECM software release #ECMSuite2010. While there are many great features added to the products and the seamless navigation between browsing records to creating new documents, process workflows on mobile devices and ultimately embrace an engaging online experience via Web and Social facets, the real story lies in the ability to elevate existing information to more eyes and minds than ever before.

When I first use this term Monetization (or even specific terms like Social Capital, Consumerization of the Enterprise or even Online Channel Optimization) I often get a frown or furrowed brow as different organizations tend to think I am not referring to their business - convinced I must be referring to the retailer who wants to sell their products over the Web. But that is not the whole story. Every organization can embrace the online world (Web, mobile, digital signage, podcasts, video, etc.) to share their stored intelligence and use the Web as a means of processing tasks, finding that important nugget of information, and engaging experts in a new medium. Unlocking the hidden potential of content (any digitized document, file, image, recordings...) for the purpose of increasing revenue and reducing costs - simple but true.

There are many interpretations of Monetization in Web 2.0 applications. One example is in government agencies for their initiative to engage constituents in e-gov or online resource sites. The critical factor in this project is to ensure that secured documents remain secured and that any new user generated content follows the same rigor to compliance and governance policies as established by the agency. This is where Open Text has a firm handhold on the importance of combining the rich experience of the online channel with the transactional and compliant content lifecycle demanded by organizations across the world.

Question to ponder: How well is your organization exposing its content to enrich the customer experience, make it easier to find what they are looking for without tripping over corporate policies and incurring overwhelming IT costs to get there?

Monetization of content is not just about adding links to documents or showing web reports of the most popular downloads. It is fundamentally about using the tools at hand to make our lives easier, learn from each other and share information in an exciting preferred way. This means embracing process valued applications like case management, social media tools like wikis and giving the end user control of their own content views via a personalized presentation portal. Together these applications can extrapolate value of content once thought lost or not important.

Remember the value of content is in the eye of the beholder - so embrace their desire to engage with you whether on your Website or mobile devices.

To read more about this topic, check out the new book by Tom Jenkins, "Managing Content in the Cloud". It has many examples of how organizations have embraced this new paradigm and taken the next step in their journey to monetize the assets they have and expand their usage of the online world in their favor.