In a challenging labor market, automation is a key strategy for survival and growth.

Companies generating high volumes of customer-facing printed and electronic documents have traditionally relied upon on-premise solutions that require trained individuals to handle the customer communications management (CCM) production workflow. With many people retiring or leaving the industry, a new generation of workers with large system on-premise skills and experience is proving more difficult to find.

Switching to a CCM Software as a Service (SaaS) platform can allow for the automation of some processes formerly performed by these employees. Sometimes called web-based, on-demand, or hosted software, SaaS applications (apps) run on a provider’s servers and are delivered over the Internet. Rather than having to install and maintain software, user companies simply access the service via the worldwide web — freeing companies from complex software and hardware management. The SaaS provider manages access to the app, including security, availability, and performance.

Business users can assume the remaining manual tasks. “The goal is to free up your smart people to do the exception handling work,” says Pat McGrew, managing director of consultancy McGrewGroup, Inc. Firms that jumped on the cloud-computing bandwagon before the COVID-19 pandemic have realized the labor benefits of automating their systems, notes McGrew who has covered production software and workflow for market research firm Keypoint Intelligence/InfoTrends.

Nearly Everyone is Contemplating Automation

Some people contend the inevitability of on-premise solutions fading away. However, to date, “There are companies at every stage of the journey,” McGrew observes. “Some embraced cloud technology five years ago and built the necessary security and encryption measures.” Then, on the other side of the spectrum, are those who are comfortable with the status quo and have a difficult time surrendering control of on-premise security, servers and costs.

“And, some companies represent the hybrid model,” she acknowledges, managing a balancing act of both on-premise and cloud solutions.

There’s No “Switch” to Flip

Updating and automating legacy document production systems “will always save you people and time,” notes McGrew, but it does require practice. The biggest challenge, she says, is bringing knowledge into your team of what a cloud implementation means for you and for your clients.

Technology providers like Quickcoms can supply guidance and advice to organizations as they transition from on-premise CCM systems to an SaaS platform.

Transition to SaaS is a Process

“You have to define a lot of business rules,” McGrew explains. “Processes need to be documented and tasks need to be defined so that automation can happen. It’s a big list. Remember, you don’t want manual intervention. An ad hoc approach never works,” she warns.

Citing security concerns, one industry insider believes that hackers are going after on-premise clients with ransom attacks that encrypt data. “They’re targeting everybody,” counters McGrew, “whether on prem or not. Even in SaaS environments, data can rest on site for a time. Any data coming in or out can be under attack.”

Quickcoms was built with security and compliance at the core. All processes and procedures are geared towards strict adherence to several compliance and privacy standards, like HIPAA, SOX, and GDPR. The platform runs in a highly secured and redundant cloud environment in total compliance with security standards such as ISO 27K, ITIL, SOC 1 & 2, COBIT, HiTRUST, PCI DSS, PII, and several others.

Data-centric operations, such as customer communications and relationship management systems, have always been more susceptible to security breaches. “Cyber-security insurance rates keep rising,” McGrew concludes. “Hackers are looking for open doors, which include any on-premise servers.”

Labor shortages are prevalent when searching for information technology professionals who can develop and maintain on-premise CCM solutions. Migrating to an SaaS platform could reduce the risk of running on-premise software with an understaffed support structure.