Content management technologies advance so quickly that it is hard to maintain. From enterprise content management (ECM) to electronic document management (EDM), business process management (BPM), business intelligence (BI), EDRM (electronic document and records management), records and information management (RIM) and more, technology increasingly resembles a bowl of alphabet soup. So many acronyms are floating around that it's hard to learn what order to put the letters in and what they're likely to spell.Whether you're scanning files for historical reference, providing information access via a customer portal, or come in the midst of enterprise-wide process automation, there are standard steps you need to take that will help to succeed. Regardless of what acronym your solution spells or what your targets are, these 26 steps should be applied and revisited during your project implementation. If you miss one, your project might turn out a little differently from everything you are longing for. How and when you use each tip is your decision, but make sure to use them all!Align your business also it goals. A number of the greatest project failures derive from a mismatch. IT's role would be to support business objectives, but IT resources are often stretched. Educate each other. Negotiate.Budget carefully. Software and hardware alone don't represent Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Customizations, disaster recovery planning, training, and testing carry costs. Plan accordingly.Collaborate with all your department managers. Set enterprise goals even if you're starting with a departmental project. Think globally. Otherwise, you'll find yourself reworking projects unnecessarily.Document your business processes carefully. Diagram the steps in each process. Know where processes and documents intersect. Look for duplication that may be streamlined or eliminated.Evaluate project goals against your company's 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year vision. Know where your company and your department want to be in the foreseeable future. Does your project support those goals?Fight to accomplish things right the very first time. It's better to undertake an inferior project and take action well than to neglect to meet end goals. Select a painful process first, or one where automation will produce substantial ROI.Gauge employee readiness for change. Resistance can result in sabotage. Don't keep your employees in the dark about your goals. Show your employees the method that you intend to help them succeed.Hire outside services wherever you lack time, skills, or resources. If there are too many slowdowns, hiccups or delays, your project will miss deadlines, won't be taken seriously, and may risk irrelevancy.Involve your staff. Understanding, improving, and automating processes requires knowing every part of your business. Addressing underneath of how things really work requires everyone's help.Judge no one. You can't embrace every scheme for improvement, but you need creative ideas. If you squash a few, you might silence the voices you have to reach your potential. Be considered a good listener.Keep nothing that isn't essential. If there isn't a regulation requiring you keep a document-and you know it isn't very important to legal, historical, or business reference-get gone it. No more clutter!Learn what you can from peers and colleagues. Talk with others who have implemented similar solutions. What advice do they will have from their experiences? What would they do differently?Maximize efficiency whenever we can. Is similar information collected for multiple departments? Are more people involved in a process than necessary? Can forms or steps be condensed or eliminated?Notify your vendor immediately when expectations aren't being met. Most problems result from miscommunication, not poor technology. Address issues while they're small. Don't allow them fester.Orchestrate efficiency with smart integration. To recycle meaningful information wherever it has value, information technologies should be connected. Otherwise, you're underutilizing your data.Prepare staff for change. Be sure to not only have an exercise program set up; communicate early and often with employees to allay concerns. Remember, you need them to succeed. Help them to accomplish it.Question how things are done and make improvements. Because you've done something a certain method for years doesn't mean it's still relevant. Automating poor processes makes them faster, not better.Review goals regularly and make adjustments. Despite the fact that it's important to adhere to your vision, sometimes things are discovered mid-way that demand rethinking. Schedule periodic reviews.Start small (but think big). Despite the fact that technology projects should be made with enterprise goals in mind, start small and build on each success. Set realistic, achievable goals. Employees will value that.Test, test, test. Whether you're scanning documents, automating routine processes, or mechanizing your retention program, make certain it works. Testing is relatively cheap. Fixing things later is costly.Understand the needs of everyone on your own team. Encourage ideas for ongoing improvements. Plan face time as a group so diverse needs and possible solutions can be discussed. Keep an open mind.Verify everything you think you understand. Restate goals along with next steps. Clarify who's responsible for what, where time, and required resources. Put expectations and deliverables on paper.Work diligently toward your targets. Internal demands can distract staff from project goals. Give staff enough time and resources they need to stay focused. If you cannot, hire your vendor or other qualified help.Xerox no more. Capture information in the very beginning of the information cycle-upon creation or receipt-not at the end of one's processes. Otherwise you're extra cash unnecessarily and losing efficiency.Yield to cost cutting with great caution. If you budget your hardware, software, integration, upgrades, and staffing needs carefully, and put all expectations on paper, you shouldn't need to cut.Zero in on success. Mark milestones. Frame your first shredded file. Give away t-shirts when ROI is achieved. Give a pat on the trunk. Show appreciation to encourage repeat performance. Celebrate!*****Optical Image Technology offers an integrated suite of imaging, document management, and workflow software, including document archiving, lifecycle management, electronic forms, and email management products. For more information about our products and services visit our website at http://www.docfinity.com, email info@docfinity.com, or give us a call at 800-678-3241.Laurel Sanders joined OIT as the Director of Marketing in August, 2004 and was named Director of PR and Communications in January of 2008. Business articles by Laurel have already been featured regularly in imageSource, Office World News, Today, and ECM Connection.