What is enterprise content management? Guide to ECM

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. 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:

• Contracts management. ECM software allows users to digitally collaborate and ensure that contracts are reviewed, edited and approved on time by automatically routing the documents and notifying the appropriate people when contracts need attention.
• HR automation. ECM software can remove the need for paper-based employee files while also improving new hire processes, streamlining the organization of HR-related information and guaranteeing compliance with HR onboarding mandates.
• Accounts payable automation. ECM software enables users to accurately match, distribute and approve purchase orders, delivery tickets and invoices, resulting in reduced late fees and enhanced efficiency.
• Accounts receivable automation. ECM software provides users with immediate access to purchase orders, invoices and signed receipts, thus reducing the time for days sales outstanding (DSO) by accelerating the speed of customer payments.

How does ECM work?

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.

What are the benefits of ECM?

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:

• Minimizes compliance and regulatory risk. ECM provides a centralized platform where content can be held and disseminated in a manner that meets regulatory compliance requirements and risk management guidelines. An ECM achieves this by eliminating ad hoc processes that can expose an enterprise to regulatory compliance risks and other potential problems.
• Provides a single source of truth. ECM software can provide organizations with a single source of truth by structuring information so that it is only stored once — in a secure digital content repository. This reduces the risk of duplication and ensures the entire enterprise has access to a single, approved and authoritative piece of information.
  
  An ECM also enables effective knowledge management due to an organization’s ability to create, share and optimize the total knowledge and content held in the ECM platform.

• Reduces cost. ECM reduces costs across the organization by automating previously manual processes, reducing compliance penalties, minimizing storage needs and reducing postal requirements. It also reduces the cost of e-discovery in the event of a legal or compliance incident when lawyers or compliance officers would require access to the organization’s content.
• Improves customer satisfaction. When resolving customer issues, customer service representatives require access to the right content at the right time, which is one of the major goals of ECM. An ECM enables employees to help customers more quickly and efficiently, thus improving customer satisfaction.
• Provides business continuity. An ECM platform that is properly implemented enables a business to have high availability and uptime when it comes to content. ECM incorporates archives, disaster recovery and account backups.
• Increases productivity. Effective ECM can streamline access and business processes, eliminate bottlenecks by reducing storage as well as paper and mailing needs, optimize security, maintain integrity and minimize overhead. All of these can lead to increased productivity.
• Improves content accessibility. ECM provides data search and analytics tools, thus improving data mining. Users can set search ranges and parameters that allow them to narrow search results and find information more efficiently.

What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)? – Document Management 101

What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)