Readers are crossing the digital divide, moving from printed materials to electronic content and e-books. How content gets created, distributed and consumed is vastly different than it was even a decade ago.

1. Close the Book on Manual Processes:
Automated Content Workflow Takes Publishing
to the Next Level
Author:
Shivaji Sengupta,
Vice President of Content Solutions
SourceHOV

2. CLOSE THE BOOK ON MANUAL PROCESSES:
AUTOMATED CONTENT WORKFLOW TAKES PUBLISHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL 1
Technology has altered how business gets At Issue: Process Inefficiencies and
done and the publishing sector is no exception. Increased Costs
The biggest impediments of manual processes are that
Independent book stores have given way to
they hinder publishers from executing their strategies
superstores and more recently to online and and responding quickly as business needs change. They
digital retailers. Merger and acquisition activity also inhibit the ability to share content across properties
has changed the structure of the industry with and optimize revenue.
smaller publishing houses disappearing and a
Publishing houses have typically grown through
few major publishers now dominating different acquisition of products or companies. While the impetus
industry segments. Readers are crossing the was often to bring broader content, additional properties
digital divide, moving from printed materials or advanced functionality and services to readers,
multiple independent workflows have contributed to
to electronic content and e-books. How
complexity, redundancies, legacy applications and other
content gets created, distributed and
inefficiencies.
consumed is vastly different than it was
even a decade ago. Publishing workflow is complex and efficiency can make
or break the organization. Most large-scale publishers
While the industry has been rife with change, many produce several newspapers and magazines, manage a
publishing houses are mired in a “that’s the way variety of Web sites and might possibly be involved in
things get done” mindset, electing to stay with manual radio or television broadcast. In an ideal world, every
processes for content management. Manual processes editorial team would work together to share information
contribute to a tremendous waste of financial resources and assets, including photos, articles, audio and videos.
and inefficiencies, especially when the flow of However, with manual processes, synchronizing content
information is curtailed as a result of an across multiple properties is not that easy.
unorganized system.
Publishers need to aggregate information from a wide
Publishers with outdated manual processes will be at a variety of sources such as authors, third-party content
disadvantage, operating with tactical inefficiencies at providers, syndicated services, scholarly journals and
best or leaving significant money on the table at worst. others. Without a standardized workflow process,
Effective document management and workflow can gathering content, editing and publishing is challenging,
reengineer processes, resulting in improvements in error prone and often sidelined with delays.
business productivity, customer service and profitability.
Much like print books have given way to e-books,
As the pace of publishing continues to dramatically manual processes belong to an earlier era. An automated
increase, and as digital content outpaces traditional workflow can streamline business processes, reduce
print, publishers need to rethink their business models errors, ease the process of gathering, editing and
and improve the way publishing and content publishing content while providing greater governance
management processes are executed to remain and cost reduction.
competitive. Working with the right content
management partner can streamline workflow, reduce Turning the Page on Manual Processes
costs and increase efficiencies across the entire Manual processes at every stage of the publishing
content supply chain. lifecycle contribute to inefficiencies and revenue leakage.
An automated system can improve all parts of the
publishing workflow process including content
www.SourceHOV.com 1.800.497.9527

3. CLOSE THE BOOK ON MANUAL PROCESSES:
AUTOMATED CONTENT WORKFLOW TAKES PUBLISHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL 2
aggregation, authoring and publishing. Companies Automated Content Management: The Next Chapter
seeking to streamline relationships with advertising Automated content management and enterprise-wide
agencies, writers and editors, freelance art directors, workflow removes the bottlenecks in existing workflows
printers and other suppliers can enhance and offers additional functionality unobtainable through
communications and add speed to their publishing pace. manual processes. Rather than every publication
operating in a silo and having independent editorial
A paper-based method for aggregating information workflow production tools, everything is streamlined in a
elongates the time it takes to get information from start consolidated system.
to finish in the publishing process and increases the rate
of error. Information may come in on paper, electronically With electronic workflow, content is efficiently managed
or via the Web, but paper processes can be costly. between internal and external stakeholders. Editorial
Data entry needs to be done manually before content group members can share information and assets and
is scanned and digitized, taking resources away from understand in real-time what other members of the
more strategic activities. group are working on. The right technology adds speed
and clarity to the publishing process, helping to control
Without a centralized content repository, manual costs and optimize information flow.
authoring also contributes to inefficiencies and errors.
Key challenges include synchronizing content and version A content management system can also eliminate
control. While some organizations may have “home manual processes and duplication of effort. With a
grown” or legacy systems in place, these are typically system in place, publishers can better execute cross-
cumbersome, outdated or expensive to maintain. media strategies and electronically share content across
its properties. This increases efficiencies, cuts costs,
Manual processes also prohibit publishers from having enhances productivity and frees resources to work on
visibility across the entire publishing lifecycle. When more strategic areas of business.
content is centralized, editors can view all activity such
as when copy is transmitted to the production As publishers explore new publishing formats and create
department, which editors or writers are working on content across multiple mediums, including print, Web,
what stories and where they are in the review and mobile and electronic devices, an automated content
approval process or if jackets have been proofread before management platform brings significant scalability to
they go to press. content operations. Large publishing houses create an
enormous quantity of content, and as the organization or
Successful publishing operations require careful amount of content grows, tracking different versions of
coordination between internal and external constituents, documents, accessing multiple documents related to a
including authors, freelancers, editorial staff, advertising specific project or locating specific content becomes
agencies, production departments, graphic designers, increasingly challenging – especially when there are
finance professionals, legal counsel and others. Without hundreds of thousands of documents in a data
a unified workflow, publishers need additional resources repository. An electronic workflow that is tailored to the
to manage processes and ensure production schedules organization’s requirements can support large quantities
are executed on time to control costs – and may risk of content and a high volume of users, increasing
paying unnecessary overtime to meet deadlines. capacity and visibility.
With needs evolving rapidly and changing publishing The right content management partner also helps
models, organizations need to look at automated alleviate the need for additional infrastructure and
strategies that improve workflow. The right content operational management. A unified workflow
management partner and electronic workflow can deliver automatically routes content to the right individuals and
new ways of providing information and streamline the departments and provides visibility into the entire
publishing process. process. Organizations are able to be nimble and flexible,
www.SourceHOV.com 1.800.497.9527

4. CLOSE THE BOOK ON MANUAL PROCESSES:
AUTOMATED CONTENT WORKFLOW TAKES PUBLISHING TO THE NEXT LEVEL 3
especially as they adapt to new consumption patterns By closing the book on manual processes, publishers
and explore new publishing formats. can meet today’s editorial challenges, transform their
operations and leverage best practices to maximize
A unified workflow provides better governance, their efforts.
tracking and cost control while enabling publishers to
standardize processes for every project. A centralized About the Author - Shivaji Sengupta is the Vice President of
Content Solutions for SourceHOV. Sengupta has more than
approach enables organizations to maximize cost seventeen years experience leading large scale technology-
savings by helping teams avoid duplicating efforts enabled content driven programs and products for multinational
and streamline content development and distribution. corporations in the publishing, manufacturing, food, retail, energy
and consumer business industries. He has worked in North
An end-to-end unified content management platform
America, Europe and Asia extensively to provide Information
can also potentially increase revenue by enabling Technology and Content Enabled Solutions to Fortune 100
enterprise-level use of content for marketing, customers. SourceHOV is one of the largest end-to-end Business
Process Solutions companies, providing healthcare, finance and
promotional and production purposes.
accounting, e-content management, document lifecycle,
presentment, HR Assist and strategic consulting services across
Moving away from silos and stand-alone systems is a key verticals such as BFSI, healthcare, government, publishing,
necessity for publishers that want to survive, thrive and retail, commercial and industrial manufacturing industries. For
more information, email shivaji.sengupta@sourcehov.com or
keep pace with emerging publishing channels. visit www.sourcehov.com.
Interactivity among departments and media properties
via a unified workflow and content management system
can improve processes, control costs and ensure rapid
time-to-market for content and competitive advantage.
Working with the right content management partner can
increase productivity, enhance revenue and reduce costs.
www.SourceHOV.com 1.800.497.9527