Enterprise content management

Enterprise content management (ECM) extends the concept of content management by adding a time line for each content item and possibly enforcing processes for the creation, approval and distribution of them. Systems that implement ECM generally provide a secure repository for managed items, be they analog or digital, that indexes them. They also include one or more methods for importing content to bring new items under management and several presentation methods to make items available for use.Enterprise content management is working properly when it is effectively 'invisible' to users. ECM technologies are infrastructures that support specialized applications as subordinate services. Enterprise content management (ECM) extends the concept of content management by adding a time line for each content item and possibly enforcing processes for the creation, approval and distribution of them. Systems that implement ECM generally provide a secure repository for managed items, be they analog or digital, that indexes them. They also include one or more methods for importing content to bring new items under management and several presentation methods to make items available for use. While it is possible that content in an ECM is protected by DRM it is not required. The key feature of ECM that distinguishes it from 'simple' content management is that an ECM is at least cognizant of the processes and procedures of the enterprise it is created for, and as such is particular to it. The latest definition encompasses areas that have traditionally been addressed by records management and by document management systems. It also implies the conversion of data between various digital and traditional forms, including paper and microfilm. ECM as an umbrella term covers document management, Web content management, search, collaboration, records management, digital asset management (DAM), workflow management, capture and scanning. ECM is primarily aimed at managing the life-cycle of information from initial publication or creation all the way through archival and eventual disposal. ECM applications are delivered in four ways: ECM aims to make the management of corporate information easier through simplifying storage, security, version control, process routing, and retention. The benefits to an organization include improved efficiency, better control, and reduced costs. For example, many banks have converted to storing copies of old cheques within ECM systems (ECMSs) as opposed to the older method of keeping physical cheques in massive paper warehouses. Under the old system, a customer request for a copy of a cheque might take weeks, as the bank employees had to contact the warehouse where the right box, file, and cheque, would need to be located. The cheque would then need to be pulled, a copy made and mailed to the bank where it would finally be mailed to the customer. With a suitable ECM system in place, the bank employee might simply query the system for the customer’s account number and the number of the requested cheque. When the image of the cheque appears on-screen, the bank can mail a copy immediately to the customer, usually while the customer is still on the phone. Enterprise content management, as a form of content management, combines the capture, search and networking of documents with digital archiving, document management and workflow. It specifically includes the special challenges involved in using and preserving a company's internal, often unstructured information, in all of its forms. Therefore, most ECM solutions focus on business-to-employee (B2E) systems. As ECM solutions have evolved, new components have emerged. For example, as content is checked in and out, each use generates new metadata about the content, to some extent automatically; information about how and when people use the content can allow the system to gradually acquire new filtering, routing and search pathways, corporate taxonomies and semantic networks, and retention-rule decisions. Email and instant messaging feature increasingly in decision-making processes; ECM can provide access to data about these communications, which can be used in business decisions. Solutions can provide intranet services to employees (B2E), and can also include enterprise portals for business-to-business (B2B), business-to-government (B2G), government-to-business (G2B), or other business relationships. This category includes most former document-management groupware and workflow solutions that have not yet fully converted their architecture to ECM, but provide a Web interface. Digital asset management is a form of ECM concerned with content stored using digital technology.