The Situation

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) can be confusing for the best of us, although this one minute video is pretty good.

When I describe what ECM is to someone there’s a good chance I’ll get a glazed over look. I may get that smile that says “I’m listening and being polite but shouldn’t this ECM thing be a lot simpler to understand?”

Well, maybe talking about ECM during a hockey game or a barbecue isn’t the best time or place, but even when sitting in front of a business leader it’s a big concept to wrap one’s head around.

In fact even Wikipedia is having problems defining what ECM is!

As you can see above, Wikipedia flags the article with the following issues:

• • Its quality may be compromised by peacock (marketing fluff) terms
  • It is written like an advertisement (biased) and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view
  • It may be confusing or unclear for some readers
  • It is in need of attention from an expert on the subject
  • It may need copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone or spelling
  • It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards

So, while ECM is not the easiest thing to explain, let alone implement, organizations like AIIM and others in the industry are stepping up by offering free research, establishing standards like CMIS, sharing information and expertise through discussion forums, social networks and on blogs. And we must continue to do this!

Our blog and our ECM 101 series is one place, we hope, you can turn to get answers and ask questions. So let’s take a high level look at the ECM process.

How AIIM Defines the ECM Process

There are two diagrams that we use to explain how ECM works. The first is AIIM’s “What in the World is ECM?” It’s a definition and graphic that helps outline the ECM process.

AIIM defines ECM as “Strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver content and documents related to key organizational processes

This chevron diagram breaks down the ECM process into these five simple to remember phases. In upcoming posts we’ll cover each one. Next, let's see ECM in action. Here’s a simple scenario of how it would work.

Yakidoo’s Follow the Content Process

This diagram shows you how content flows through your business when an ECM system is in place.

Unstructured data includes:

• • Physical Content - faxes, invoices, way bills, letters from customers, government, etc.
  • Digital Content - along with digital content including videos, photos, emails, spreadsheets, CAD drawings, word documents, etc.

Do you have a simple and effective way to define what ECM is? Feel free to add a comment or question below.

About the Author

Victor Bensusan is CEO of Yakidoo. He has 20 years experience in Finance and Information Technology primarily in the area of process automation, information management and business performance improvement.