The modern business environment is highly competitive and focused on digital processes. The development of machine learning, cloud technology, automation, and improved mobile capabilities has brought about changes and created new opportunities.
When you have an Enterprise Content Management System, you can cope with the changes effectively and organize the information, reducing errors and improving performance.
So, if you think it’s high time your business needs to be more competitive and faster, you need enterprise content management (ECM). But before that, you should learn about ECM, its various components, and what these can mean for your firm.
What are ECM and its components?
ECM is a formal way of grouping and storing contents and documents of an establishment that relate to its processes. The five components of ECM are:
- Capture
- Manage
- Store
- Preserve
- Delivery
What are the functions of each component of ECM?
Each component of ECM handles information management at different stages in an organization. They are:
Capture
An Enterprise Content Management System that has scanning capabilities to capture print and digital information. You can even use handprint recognition technology to capture and interpret a hand-printed text.
This way, you can convert unstructured and unorganized data into structured data and create metadata for future searches and information retrieval. Further, automating data entry can reduce errors and allow tracking of large volumes of data. The component of capture may include:
- Optical Mark Recognition
- Optical Character Recognition
- Intelligent Character Recognition
- Barcode Recognition
2. Manage
Manage refers to managing all the captured documents throughout all the data lifecycle stages. So, managing content includes automation of retention policies, business process management (BPM), document management, digital collaboration, and more.
The use of management tools depends on the requirements of a business. It may include:
- Content collaboration tools
- Workflow tools for BPM
- File and archive management tools for simplifying purging, retention, and indexing.
3. Store
Storing information is crucial in protecting the interest of the employees, partners, customers, and the business. When you use ECM, you store all your digitized documents in a digital repository that is only accessible to a few permitted users.
The three elements in an ECMs storage solution are:
- A repository for file collection
- A library tool for picking up files
- The hardware, like optical disks, cloud storage, and servers, stores files and enables retrieval.
4. Preserve
While the store component deals with storing information for the short-term, preservation ensures the long-term storage of critical files. You may have many media choices for appropriate archival. However, you must check that the media is compatible with new technologies so you can use it in the long term.
5. Deliver
You need middleware to move information from one application to another within your system. The delivery component includes media distribution and its access by end users through printed documents, intranet, social media, and websites.
Security is a vital part of this process so that you can prohibit unauthorized access and edits while moving the data. The three groups of this final component include:
- Distribution
- Security technologies
- Transformation technologies
How is each component of ECM interrelated?
The components of ECM work together to organize and disseminate vital business process information during the data’s life cycle. It includes:
- Capturing data
- Publishing information on the company website or internally
- Archiving information
- Periodically deleting outdated information to save space
So, before using ECM, you need to identify the content type and assign a business process. Your ECM software will then target duplicate content to reduce redundancies and organize information in a repository for quick access by approved users.
ECM can significantly boost organizational productivity by reducing document search and retrieval time. You can deploy ECM for contract management, streamlining HR workflow, and even automating accounts receivable and payable. When you can access information quickly, you make better decisions, increase collaboration and complete the projects much faster.
