What is enterprise content management? Guide to ECM – TechTarget
Enterprise content management is a set of defined processes, strategies and tools that allows a business to effectively obtain, organize, store and deliver critical information to its employees, business stakeholders and customers. ECM has rapidly evolved as different forms of content have been introduced to the work environment. However, these tools continue to focus on digitally managing a company’s information in a centralized repository and using the digital content to support business processes and help achieve goals.
Enterprise content management does not refer to a single technology or process. It is an umbrella term that describes the combination of methods, tools and strategies that support capturing and managing content, as well as the storage, preservation and delivery of information throughout its lifecycle.
The definition of content can range significantly, but it generally refers to any information that employees use to do their work. In the context of traditional ECM, content often took the form of paper documents such as invoices, resumes and contracts. As technology has advanced, the definition of content has broadened to include video and audio files, social media posts, email, web content and more. ECM can handle both unstructured and structured content:
ECM software helps streamline the lifecycle of information with document management and the automation of process workflows. It is critical for any organization with large volumes of content to define an ECM plan to eliminate operational inefficiencies, reduce costs and adhere to regulatory compliance mandates.
Some specific areas of business that benefit from the use of ECM software include the following:
Enterprise content management refers to the collection of strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver key organizational process information throughout its lifecycle.
Organizations can use ECM software to identify duplicate and near-duplicate content, allowing the organization to keep a few copies of a particular piece of content instead of hundreds. This variety of information will be organized in a central location with document metadata stored in folders, ensuring the content is available to the right people at the right time.
Approved users can find specific documents using full-text searches. The ECM platform retrieves the document and presents it to the user, allowing them to read, edit or print a copy of the information regardless of their location or the device they’re using. ECM software also lets users to look for specific words or phrases within the stored documents, decreasing the time spent scanning content and increasing productivity.
ECM has become increasingly important and complex in recent years for various reasons. Financial fraud and data breaches — and the regulations designed to prevent them — have made effective information governance essential not only for compliance reasons, but also to help protect the organization’s reputation. Organizations also need to manage content effectively for integration with business intelligence/business analytics (BI/BA) applications that help them to use the available information to guide business decisions.
Furthermore, productivity and efficiency within companies increase when they reduce their dependence on paper documents and create an organized, secure repository of unstructured information that considers business needs. Companies that don’t implement ECM risk losing time and productivity as well as potential noncompliance with corporate policies and regulations. If disaster strikes, companies that don’t securely store content can lose that information, leading to significant business interruptions.
Technological advancements are also making enterprise content management systems more important than ever. The proliferation of remote work has necessitated the business continuity and collaboration features that ECM provides. Advancements in machine learning, mobile and cloud technology are creating new opportunities for businesses. New types of content are also emerging in the form of social media, video and audio. ECM software must continue to adapt with these new forms of unstructured information so they can continue to organize data and optimize business performance.
ECM can be broken down into five major components: capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver. The purpose of each component, as defined by the Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM), is as follows:
An effective enterprise content management system provides everyone in the organization with easy access to all the information they need to make business decisions, complete projects, collaborate and perform their jobs with efficiency.
In addition to the obvious benefits of organization and efficiency, ECM provides a wealth of other benefits:
ECM software provides several capabilities, but companies that want more flexibility in choosing content management tools or don’t need all of the components of an ECM suite can purchase one-off applications from software providers to meet their needs. This approach to managing enterprise content — which includes content services applications, platforms and components — falls into the content services classification Gartner created in 2016.
At a high level, key elements of ECM incorporate the following:
Robust ECM software includes these features:
Some ECM software products include Alfresco Software, Box Platform, Hyland OnBase, IBM Cloud Pak for Automation, iManage, Microsoft SharePoint, Nuxeo Content Services, OpenText, Newgen and SER Group’s Doxis4.
Organizations can deploy ECM software on premises or in the cloud. Benefits of cloud-based ECM include flexible licensing models, easier remote and mobile access, and integration with other cloud services.
An ECM implementation is often a complex process that involves a variety of stakeholders and departments. Before implementing ECM, it’s important for organizations to develop an ECM roadmap or strategy to identify the priorities of the ECM implementation and get clarity on the necessary procedures and technologies it entails.
The first step of creating an ECM strategy is to perform a content audit by documenting all the types of content that the organization deals with, the business processes it’s part of and who handles the content.
Once an organization clearly understands the ECM strategy, the next step is implementation. Other steps to successfully implement an ECM system include the following:
In 2016, Gartner declared that enterprise content management had been replaced by content services — the strategic concept that involves content services applications, platforms and components, but is less concerned with centralizing all information into one enterprise-wide platform. As a part of that initiative, Gartner replaced the ECM Magic Quadrant with a content services Magic Quadrant in 2017. However, organizations still frequently use ECM to organize their information and achieve goals faster.
Content services platforms (CSPs) and ECM are not equivalent terms, and one will not likely replace the other. A CSP focuses on managing transactional content in the context of solving a particular problem. ECM is more broad; it seeks to manage all forms of content within the enterprise, regardless of its type or where it resides.
ECM has also evolved to become an approach rather than a single technology. In the future, enterprise content management strategies and tools will continue to change to adapt to the demands of organizations looking for more agility and integration. As technology evolves, ECM vendors add more features.
More organizations are incorporating team collaboration tools into their ECM approach. Plus, constant advancements in cloud, mobile and analytics technology continue to increase users’ expectations of ECM capabilities. Automation and machine learning are becoming key complements to ECM, and it is becoming more and more likely that cloud deployment will be the key to maximizing an ECM system’s effectiveness.
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