What is an Enterprise Content Management System?

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a term bandied about in the information technology industry that results in some confusion. After all, there’s also pure ‘content management’ and don’t enterprises use that too?

They do. But while content management typically applies to web content, an enterprise content management (ECM) system is broader and encompasses company documents such as application forms, emails, faxes, invoices, medical records, shipping receipts, and purchase orders. It’s an umbrella that brings document management and content management together into a finely organized system. Beyond that, ECM incorporates strategies for managing content.

By definition, enterprise content management (ECM) is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other data, that relate to the organization's processes. Overall, it encompasses strategies, processes, data, and tools used throughout every department of a company.

The SharePoint Enterprise Content Management System

You can use SharePoint to create an enterprise content management system that organizes company information for increased employee efficiency. In addition, SharePoint is used by companies and government entities to ensure legal, regulatory, and industry compliance by automating retention and compliance policies.

SharePoint assures:

• There is a uniform labeling system for all documents, pictures, and videos, so they are easy to find. Simply using the document label feature will assign a unique label to content based on the metadata entered. For example, you might want to generate a label for proposals based on the client’s name, subject and date. Simply enter the required metadata and put your labeling system on autopilot.
• Automatic implementation of archiving policies. SharePoint automatically puts your plan in action, after initial set up of the rules that determine when content should be archived—based, perhaps, on a certain time period from when it was created or modified. Associates never again have to dig through piles of old information to unearth what they need.
• Version control runs itself so you can identify the latest document version, and changes made along the way.
• Workflows you create assure documents are reviewed and approved as necessary.
• More complex search capabilities are possible with ECM than with regular content management, which enables enormous scalability and sophisticated records management.

Is SharePoint the Right Solution for Enterprise Content Management?

SharePoint is an excellent solution for many companies because while some customization may be necessary, it can be simple for non-developers to point and click their way through implementation.

Call us at 484-892-5713 or Contact Us today for a free consultation on using SharePoint for document and enterprise content management.