Image by: Mary Wandler, ©2018 Getty Images

    This week, M-Files announced the availability of its M-Files Online solution, positioning it as a way to “future-proof” information management with a single user license.

    According to the announcement, M-Files Online leverages artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enable organizations to rapidly create hybrid cloud and on-premise information management environments that extend to existing systems, repositories, enterprise resource planning solutions, customer relationship management platforms, file shares, and even SharePoint without the need for data migration.

    With this latest offering, the implication is that organizations can quickly create an interoperable information ecosystem that incorporates and unifies information, policies, and processes across the enterprise.

    M-Files Online is offered on a subscription basis and offers automatic updates.

    The concept of “future-proofing” an information management environment is the idea of designing and creating an information ecosystem that is flexible enough to incorporate changes with minimal or no disruption to the business itself.

    Many vendors have worked to help their clients prepare for anticipated changes in technology, business landscapes, and regulatory constraints through joint efforts to establish interoperability standards, like the Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS), where content management vendors develop their products to those standards, enabling interoperability between their products.

    Of course, this requires all vendors to participate in order to truly be effective and often does not address the full spectrum of systems across an enterprise.

    This announcement by M-Files also aligns with research data from AIIM, which found that “more than 80% of information management professionals are planning solutions that are at least partly cloud-based.”

    While “future-proofing” may be a concept for many organizations, the approach M-Files presents with their latest release certainly does bring this concept closer to reality and should be considered when thinking about a hybrid information management environment.

    Bob Larrivee is a recognized expert in the application of advanced technologies and process improvement to solve business problems and enhance business operations. He reports on the latest information management technologies for DOCUMENT Strategy. Follow him on Twitter @BobLarrivee or visit boblarriveeconsulting.com.