Implementing an Enterprise Content Management system (ECM) or a Document Management System (DMS) can positively change your organisation in several ways. However, without proper planning, strategy and guidance, the risk of a long, painful and ultimately failed implementation is high. Which in turn leads to additional training, help and costs. This is why many organisations choose to partner when implementing an ECM or DMS solution.

But how do you choose the best DMS partner for your organisation with its own specific needs? These five factors will help you increase the chances of a successful match.

1. Information management experience

When you have a garden laid out, you don't hire a painter. You look for a landscaper who is experienced in laying out a garden as you envisage it. The same thinking applies when looking for a DMS partner. To provide the best implementation for your organisation, a partner should have domain-specific knowledge, expertise and experience in your sector or for your use case. The partner should have the following attributes:

• Being able to evaluate your current ECM systems and processes and determine the best course of action based on experience.
• Communicate with decision-makers at every level on objectives and strategies for your specific sector.
• Provide creative and innovative solutions and integrations that can be adapted to current and future needs and trends in your industry and organisation.
• Anticipating challenges specific to your industry. Thereby being able to show patience and perseverance in solving problems.
• Presenting ECM examples of previous projects within your industry delivered using proven methods.

A good partner should have experience implementing ECM systems in your sector. It is important that this partner can also demonstrate this, so ask questions such as:

• Does the partner have relationships and previous clients in your sector?
• Do individual consultants have knowledge of your sector?
• Check that the partner is not bluffing and attempting to implement a DMS solution in your organisation for the first time. This carries great risks for your organisation, avoid using your organisation as a guinea pig.

2. Knowledge of products and applications

To provide a scalable and complete solution, the partner must offer a platform tailored to your organisation. He should not arrive with a 'one-size-fits-all' solution that does not fit and does not offer flexibility.

Most organisations struggle to standardise their IT systems and run multiple applications, systems and locations from different vendors to meet their organisation's needs. Your DMS partner should therefore have extensive experience with different applications, storage locations, ECM systems and/or Content Services Platforms.

An additional benefit of experience with many different systems is dealing with silos. Many organisations face content silos, where information is scattered across the company in multiple, isolated repositories. Modern ECM solutions solve this dilemma by using connected content, which connects all systems within an organisation into a user-friendly, comprehensive platform. With connected content, users can access information from any repository as if they were working within a single system. To create this holistic ecosystem, the partner must have knowledge of your systems, applications and how they are combined using integrations.

Knowledge and expertise of the various systems as well as of integrations are therefore key to a successful implementation.

Ultimately, the partner should create a roadmap detailing where your organisation is currently, where you want to go strategically, and what technology can help you achieve this. This includes understanding existing systems, but also how the organisation is thinking about moving to the cloud, using AI, remote working, and so on. By mapping the organisation's application landscape, all stakeholders clearly understand the strategic direction and tactical approach to get there.

3. Reputation and track record in your sector

Avoid the butcher judging his own meat and look in the market for proven services. Always try to answer the following four questions:

• Are the partner's customers publicly visible?
• Are there any publications on previously completed projects?
• Are there any substantive experiences of customers from your sector?
• Are there any awards the partner has won?

The answer to these questions is often found with a few Google searches.

4. Heart for the cause

To build a solid long-term relationship, the right partner needs to fully understand your organisation's vision and current circumstances to provide the strategy that best suits your needs. Therefore, it is important to know whether the partner is asking you the right questions needed to achieve real results. It should be about your result and way of working and not the solution or product. Therefore, pay attention to the following:

• Does the partner check whether the objectives of the decision-makers are aligned
• Does the partner understand current IT challenges and dare to be critical of them
• Informs partner about your organisation's long-term goals, strategic vision, IT strategy, overall architecture principles and investment priorities

5. Attention to user adoption

With the right experience, knowledge and reputation, the intended partner will go a long way, but that leaves one important factor unaddressed: user adoption. Sharp objectives, a solid strategy and a suitable solution alone are not enough for a successful implementation. This is the case when the end users, the employees in your organisation, do not use the solution or when there is resistance about the usefulness of the solution.

To achieve successful user adoption, the partner should pay clear attention to this. Therefore, ask the following questions:

• Does the partner have a clear methodology for implementing the solution?
• Does this method focus on the way your organisation and employees work and not the solution?
• Is this method iterative? In other words, are there repeated moments of feedback
• Does the partner work with prototypes? So that you see the solution in practice and not on the drawing board

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