Developing an ECM strategy

An enterprise content management (ECM) strategy is an organization’s approach to storing, centralizing and sharing its documents and other assets. It includes the use of tools that enable the origination, creation, editing, management, review, publishing, search, retrieval and applied use of information regardless of the initial source or format.

An ECM strategy typically addresses:

• Content capture and indexing

• Asset repository management

• Accessibility and availability

• Security

• Lifecycle management

• Systems integrations

• Scalability

• Ease of use

Why organizations need enterprise content management strategies

The proliferation of information stored in disparate forms and locations — photos and videos on smartphones and connected devices, instant messages and emails on work PCs, spreadsheets and documents in the cloud, etc. — makes consolidation a necessary but challenging endeavor.

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• Case management

• Enterprise search

• Records management

The goal of an ECM strategy is to organize this data for ease of access.

Whether implementing an ECM system for the first time or upgrading to a new system, a knowledge-based organization needs a formal plan to ensure that program requirements are met and end users’ needs are addressed. An enterprise approach to content management should enable the streamlining of business processes, eliminating bottlenecks.

Ultimately, an ECM solution provides knowledge workers the information they need to make the best possible business decisions.

Including ECM in your overall enterprise information management framework

An enterprise information platform with ECM support solves issues of paper overload, unstructured information and delays when trying to process, access, and store information.

A centralized ECM solution as part of an information management solution can:

• Facilitate audits and track compliance

• Track every action taken regarding information, whether user- or system-originated

• Deal with different document versions

• Integrate with core business apps

• Increase employee productivity

• Speed up business processes

• Limit paper usage

• Provide access to content for viewing, editing, or collaboration wherever it is needed, including offline and via mobile devices