Enterprise Solution

Enterprise Content Management is the systematic collection and organization of information that is to be used by a designated audience – business executives, customers, etc. Neither a single technology nor a methodology nor a process, it is a dynamic combination of strategies, methods, and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver information supporting key organizational processes through its entire lifecycle.

DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT

Document management eventually was subsumed into content management in no small measure because there is more information available to us today than ever before, and most of it is not being created by us.

Structured information is information that is highly defined and not only is intended to be processed by a computer program but readily can be – like most of the information held in relational databases and acted upon by line-of-business solutions.

Unstructured information is, well, information that does not have a fully defined structure and most likely will be read and used by humans. As examples, think of most of the information produced by common office applications (word processors, presentation programs).

Semi-structured information is information that lies somewhere in between, like invoices, purchase orders, and receipts, which contain data to be computer-processed but which come in formats and layouts that first need to be identified and classified – a task that often is handled by humans but increasingly is being automated as the tools improve.

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

Effectiveness, efficiency, compliance, and continuity all combine, in different proportions, to drive the business case for content management in most organizations.

Transactional content management targets processes that focus on enacting business or bringing about a decision or end-result. These processes are not focused on creating content but using content to help drive actions and decisions.

Examples include invoice processing, application processing, employee onboarding, accounts payable, insurance claims, patient charts, and the processing of permits and loans.

ECM is an ongoing and evolving strategy for maximizing how your content is to be used.