Enterprise Content Management System (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. 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:

• Structured content refers to data that is contained and defined, such as databases and code repositories.
• Unstructured content refers to information that doesn’t have a predefined format, and can include content such as Office documents, PDFs and emails.

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. 

Top 5 Elements of ECM

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:

• The capture component involves creating information by converting paper documents into electronic formats, obtaining and collecting electronic files into a cohesive structure, and organizing information. Information can include content like invoices, contracts and research reports.
• The manage component connects, modifies and employs information through means such as document management, collaborative software, web content management and records management.
• The store component temporarily backs up frequently changing information in the short term within flexible folder structures to allow users to view or edit information.
• The preserve component backs up infrequently changing information in the medium and long term, and is usually accomplished through records management. It is commonly used to help organizations comply with government and other regulations.
• The delivery component provides clients and end users with requested information.

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 are some examples of ECM?

An ECM can assist your organization in a variety of ways. Below are a few examples:

• Accounts payable: Capture information from invoices and purchase orders (POs), automate invoice matching and flag mismatches between invoices and POs.
• Customer and client services: Provide secure, anytime access to documents customers and clients need with online portals hosting digital documents.
• Remote and off-site work: Give those working from home or in the field the tools, content and services they need to do their jobs effectively.
• Staffing and recruiting: Streamline approvals, paperwork, and everything else involved in bringing in new talent to your organization.
• Information governance: Bolster your efforts to keep information secure and in compliance with a set of powerful records management tools.

As you can see, an ECM can help streamline a wide variety of processes.

What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM) | Buzzwords

Enterprise Content Management System – Uses, Scope & Benifits – MaxxCloud