The volume of content that enterprises produce and consume on an annual basis is growing exponentially. This growth is primarily driven by increased globalization and regulatory compliance. It is also fueled by the newer marketing and sales channels created over the past few decades including social media, websites, and mobile applications.
By 2020, the global amount of data created daily will reach 44 trillion gigabytes and most of this data will be unstructured.
It’s not enough to “manage” content. The ability to access the correct version of a document or record is important. Content must be managed so that it is used to achieve business goals.
An Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system is a strategic tool for many organizations that want to improve efficiencies and data security and reduce paperwork.
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.
- Capture boils down to entering content into the system.
- Manage is what you do next to it, so it can be found and used by whomsoever it is intended for.
- Storing it means finding it an appropriate home in your infrastructure, be it a formal content management system or other information solution.
- Preserve refers to long-term care – archiving – the practice of protecting it so it can be utilized however far into the future the organization needs it to be available.
- And deliver is all about putting the information in the right people’s hands right when they need it to be there.
Types of Documents created by Businesses
Forrester classifies content that organizations create into three main categories:
- Business
- Persuasive
- Transactional
Business content refers to content created by organizations through normal daily operations, such as documents and presentations.
Persuasive content refers to content designed to influence or persuade customers, such as marketing materials and websites.
Transactional content refers to content created by partners and customers through the execution of business transactions, such as purchases or sales.
The following diagram shows many examples of content created by different departments:
Some specific areas of business that particularly benefit from the use of ECM software include:
- Contracts Management – An ECM system will allow users to digitally collaborate and ensure contracts are reviewed, edited and approved on time by automatically routing and notifying the appropriate people when contracts need attention.
- Human resources (HR) automation – ECM systems can remove the need for paper-based employee files while also improving new hire processes, streamlining the organization of HR-related information and guaranteeing compliance with HR onboarding mandates.
- Accounts Payable automation – ECM systems enable users to accurately match, distribute and approve purchase orders, delivery tickets and invoices, thus reducing late fees and enhancing efficiency.
- Accounts Receivable automation – ECM systems provide users with immediate access to purchase orders, invoices and signed receipts, thus reducing the time for Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) by accelerating the speed of customer payments.
Components of ECM – Enterprise Content Management System
ECM can be broken down into five major components: capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver. The purpose of each component, as defined by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), is as follows:
- The Capture component involves creating information by converting paper documents into electronic formats, obtaining and collecting electronic files into a cohesive structure, and organizing information. Information can include content such as invoices, contracts and research reports.
- The Manage component connects, modifies and employs information through means such as document management, collaborative software, web content management and records management.
- The Store component temporarily backs up frequently changing information in the short term within flexible folder structures to allow users to view or edit information.
- The Preserve component backs up infrequently changing information in the medium and long term and is usually accomplished through records management features. It is commonly used to help organizations comply with government and other regulations.
- The Deliver component provides clients and end users with requested information.
How Enterprise Content Management ECM Works
Enterprise content management refers to the collection of strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver key organizational process information throughout its lifecycle.
The typical lifecycle of digital content follows these steps:
- Information is captured.
- Content is published on the company website or intranet.
- Content is archived and backed up in a secure repository to ensure it’s never lost.
- Old and unused content is deleted to create more storage space for relevant information.
When implementing an ECM system, the first step is to document all the types of content that the organization deals with, the business processes its part of and who handles the content. ECM software can be used to identify duplicate and near-duplicate content, allowing the organization to keep a few copies of a particular piece of content instead of hundreds. This variety of information will be organized in a central location with document metadata stored in folders, ensuring the content is available to the right people at the right time.
Approved users can find specific documents using full-text searches. The ECM system will retrieve the document and present it to the user, allowing them to read, edit or print a copy of the information, regardless of their location or the device they’re using. ECM systems will also allow users to look for specific words of phrases within the stored documents, decreasing the time spent scanning content and increasing productivity.
Regardless of the industry or department implementing ECM, users will have the same goals:
- Eliminate the dependency on paper
- Streamline all business processes
- Reduce organizational risk
- Optimize productivity
- Improve customer service
An effective enterprise content management system will provide everyone in the organization with easy access to all the information they need to make business decisions, complete projects, collaborate and perform with optimized efficiency.
Goals of ECM
The critical goals of an ECM software include:
- Increasing customer satisfaction by making information readily available and easy to access.
- Decreasing storage and operational costs.
- Optimizing productivity by making the right information available to the appropriate people whenever they need it.
- Enhancing decision-making processes and improving the organization’s ability to efficiently take advantage of important opportunities.
- Guaranteeing the continuity of business operations through account backups, document version control, secure storage, archives and disaster recovery processes.
10 Reasons Why Enterprise Content Mangement (ECM) is Indispensable for Businesses Today
IDC has estimated that the typical enterprise with 1,000 knowledge workers wastes $2.5 million to $3.5 million per year searching for nonexistent information, failing to find existing information, or recreating information that can’t be found.
An Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system is a strategic tool for many organizations that want to improve efficiencies, data security and reduce paperwork. Once implemented, most companies experience benefits that reach far beyond the day-to-day process improvements, and they wonder how they ever operated without it.
Big or small, your business should strongly consider ECM as a vital part of its strategic initiatives considering the below factors:
1. Increased Productivity
On average, employees spend 1.8 hours a day searching for information in order to do their job effectively. Imagine the success of your company being able to work an equivalent of six days a week, while continuing to work five. With ECM, that’s a real possibility.
2. Improved Work/Life Balance
Along with spending almost a quarter of their day searching for information, employees that have the right tools to quickly and effectively do their job – like ECM – are less stressed and can spend more time with their families rather than at work. One way to do this is to compare the turnover rate and number of sick days taken prior to implementing ECM with those six months after.
3. Improved Compliance
With every document assigned the same naming conventions and filing patterns, you never have to worry about searching for a crucial document. With ECM, access to documents is limited to those who are specifically granted permission, and for those employees, the ease of finding information within those documents is a breeze.
4. Increased Customer Satisfaction
When employees are able to quickly answer customers’ questions without having to search for paperwork or spend precious time on data entry, there is a greater likelihood of retaining current customers. If your cost of customer acquisition is high, ECM has the added bonus of saving you money by helping to keep current customers satisfied.
5. Expiring Contracts Are No Longer Missed
ECM helps bring attention to any expiring contracts, ensuring you are able to re-sign customers and keep business steady. Instead of digging through filing cabinets and hundreds of documents looking for one vital sheet of paper, ECM allows quick access to reference the files you need.
6. Consistent Organization
With ECM, all of your documents will automatically be filed and organized. If you choose, every customer order can be processed with the name “Purchase Order [Number] for [Customer].” There is no need to worry about different naming conventions among employees, or misfiling a document. With ECM, ease of filing isn’t a bonus; it’s a given.
7. Cost Effective
With ECM, you only pay for the users that need access to the system. No more paying for software for every computer in the building when only two departments need it. ECM costs are based on how many users need ECM to efficiently perform their duties. Without requiring space for all those filing cabinets, your business may also benefit from saving space.
8. Exposed Inefficiencies
In the ECM design phase, an expert consultant will research your company’s needs and perform a detailed analysis. The goal is to reveal buried inefficiencies or extraneous processes during this ECM planning process and propose a customized solution. If you don’t have an exact idea of the vast number of ways in which your employees name, file and store documents, the analysis phase will serve as an eye-opener for just how time-saving and stress-reducing ECM can be.
9. Without It, Your Competitors Have An Advantage
In order to maintain a competitive advantage, your business needs to be aware of the tools your competitors may have access to. If they are using ECM and you are still filing papers the old-fashioned way, those filing cabinets are effectively giving that competitor the advantage of speed, efficiency and time savings, in addition to the other benefits noted above.
10. 360 Degree View Of Transactions
Often valuable information is scattered in different files leading to poor visibility. An ECM system has the capability to collate all this information against a unique parameter thereby minimizing the time and effort to unearth crucial information at the appropriate time.
Technology will only increase in the coming years, and your company will need to leverage its capabilities to stay on the leading edge of your industry. If you are interested in finding out if ECM is right for your business, reach out to us today.
Author
