Feature
It’s a given by now that generative AI is going to shake up all kinds of technology markets and the technologies themselves. Content services and collaboration (CSC) solutions are no exception.
What Are Content Services and Collaboration Solutions?
CSC offer a unified suite of cloud-based solutions designed to capture, organize, process, store, analyze and deliver digital content across an organization. These services centralize essential functions on a single platform, bringing together content management, process automation, and internal and external collaboration.
A recent report from Nucleus Research anticipates that new functionalities in the CSC space will drive organizations still using on-premises deployments to transition to the cloud, with many vendors providing migration services to facilitate this shift.
In fact, the 2024 CSC Technology Value Matrix Leaders report shows CSC market leaders continuing to invest in AI and machine learning, with many partnering with major providers like Google and Microsoft.
While adoption of new technology has lagged across several SaaS markets due to security concerns, the report states the emphasis CSC providers have historically placed on compliance and data protection has given organizations higher levels of confidence in adopting these solutions.
The Nucleus matrix breaks the CSC vendors into four categories:
Leaders: Deliver functionality without sacrificing ease-of-use at scale. Leaders include Box, Epicor ECM (DocStar), Laserfiche, M-Files and Zoho.
Experts: Manage complex use cases through deep functionality and industry-specific capabilities. Experts include DocuWare, Hyland and OpenText.
Accelerators: Offer greater ease of use and quick implementation. These include IBM Content Services and NewGen Software.
Core capabilities: Those in this group offer faster and less expensive adoption. These include AODocs, Digitech Systems and Microsoft SharePoint.
Related Article: Content Services Come in 3 Flavors
GenAI and Content Services and Collaboration
Nucleus research manager Evelyn McMullen told Reworked that the entry of generative AI into a relatively untapped market has given certain providers a competitive edge. Companies are eager to distinguish themselves by investing in the technology, whether through partnerships, acquisitions or in-house development.
Vendors must showcase the practical value of the technology, maintain strong security measures and facilitate a smooth transition to the cloud for customers still using on-premises systems to encourage customers to adopt and benefit from generative AI, she continued.
Those vendors making marked investments in AI now are showing customers that they are at pace with innovation, McMullen said. Companies looking for a long-term vendor partner want to ensure that they will not fall behind from a functionality perspective, which could force them to move to another provider or deploy standalone tools to fill in the gaps.
“Vendors that are investing in Gen AI now will be best positioned to differentiate and minimize customer churn caused by the “grass is greener” mentality. Those that fail to invest at all could fall victim to this,” she said.
She added that, as with automation, GenAI will eventually become table-stakes functionality across all SaaS areas as it demonstrates its value in applications.
In terms of key technologies, she believes that the most up-to-date security and compliance measures are the most relevant push factor for cloud migration to CSC now. Vendors are also advancing their respective cloud products in areas such as workflow automation that on-premises customers want to take advantage of. On-premises users are slower to gain access to new features in general, and cloud customers can take advantage of these capabilities almost instantly.
The Final Straw for On-Premises Holdouts?
The long-term effect of all these changes is that ultimately, on-premises holdouts could disappear, even if that will take some time, said McMullen.
Vendors have been good about offering migration support and services without pushing customers before they are ready. The biggest hurdles now are the costs and internal burdens associated with migration.
“However, the more vendors can demonstrate benefits that drive the ROI of moving to the cloud (avoided server and maintenance costs, improved security and compliance, better integrations, reduced downtime, and ease of end-user access), the more success they will have in transitioning remaining on-prem customers to cloud infrastructures,” she said.
Related Article: Don't Let Information Debt Drag Your Digital Transformation Down
GenAI's Potential and Some Cautionary Notes
Although AI has long been a part of CSC platforms, the introduction of large language models opens up new capabilities, specifically in terms of speeding the findability and relevance of search results, CGI Federal's Director of Consulting Services Laurence Hart told Reworked via email. But while he recognizes the potential generative AI brings to content services, he suggests companies looking to invest in the technology examine where that potential can meet their specific business needs.
"The key is to not rush in blindly and ask, 'Where can we use GenAI,'" he said. "As with any new technology, it is best to understand the capabilities and flaws in order to ask, 'Which of our long-standing challenges can we now solve thanks to GenAI?'"
Hart agrees with the Nucleus Research assessment that CSC providers are in a strong starting position when it comes to security, and hopes they continue to invest in the area as the increasingly incorporate GenAI into their platforms. "CSC platform vendors have been building security into their search algorithms for decades. They understand the security structures that work for large organizations that need to keep things simple for people to use and granular enough to protect everything that needs protecting."
He shares a final note of caution when it comes to the content fed into these genAI-powered tools. If companies do not perform due diligence to ensure the content introduced is free of bias, they can open their organization up to legal repercussions: "Careful consideration needs to be taken before making any GenAI tool a core piece of any process as any decision or published content is still the legal responsibility of the organization."
GenAI and Collaboration
Generative AI is for more than creating content — it is also transforming how we work together, Technology Rivers founder and CEO Ghazenfer Monsoor told Reworked. Old tools for collaboration mainly help with meeting and sharing files, but generative AI goes much further than that. Platforms powered by AI can make short versions of meeting notes, suggest ideas for changes in shared documents, and even forecast project results using existing data.
Of course, as with any new technology, there are problems. A major worry is how to use AI-generated content in an ethical way, he said. It is important to make sure AI answers are correct, unbiased and respect copyrights. Keeping data safe is also a big concern, as in cases when private information is used for teaching AI model.
“We are only beginning to see what generative AI can achieve for content services and teamwork. As this technology keeps improving, we should anticipate even more advanced uses. Businesses that accept generative AI now will put themselves in a good position to lead their industries later,” he said.
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The Content Creation Factor
GenAI isn’t a mere fad, but a fundamental transformation of CSC and the methods used to form, control and cooperate on content, said Erik Severinghaus, CEO of Bloomfilter.
In the past, producing content required hours of writing, editing and refining. It demanded a lot of time and human effort to complete, he said. Now GenAI can automate a significant portion of this work. These tools can produce articles, reports and creative writing in a very short time frame, frequently requiring low human input.
“Imagine being able to increase your content production without a corresponding increase in effort. This is the power of generative AI: it allows companies to create personalized content for different audiences with ease,” he said.
While many organizations and workplace will welcome these changes, there are major issues to manage. One main challenge is the danger of bias in AI-created content. These systems acquire knowledge from existing data, and this can have natural biases present within it.
There is also a different worry is about job displacement. When AI starts doing repetitive tasks, there is a concern that certain roles could become unnecessary. “But for me, I view generative AI more as an enabler than a substitute. AI's capability to carry out repetitive and routine tasks allows humans to concentrate on intricate, imaginative, and strategic work. This fosters innovation and expansion,” he added.