What is Enterprise Content Management?

ECM Market Trend AttributesEnterprise content management (ECM) is a type of software that helps organizations capture, store, activate, analyze, and automate unstructured business data into valuable information. ECM solutions can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid deployment.

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Enterprise content management (ECM) is a type of software that helps organizations capture, store, activate, analyze, and automate unstructured business data into valuable information. ECM solutions can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid deployment. An enterprise content management solution includes features such as file storage/sharing, document workflow, records retention policies, and security including all sorts of organization’s information in Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, PDF files and scanned images.  It allows organizations to take the best out of its customer’s and company’s information embedded in its content. When information is effectively managed throughout the organization, it can be used to automate business workflows, engage customers, and eliminate siloed functions.

This blog post will explain what you should know about an ECM solution before you choose one for your organization.

What is the ECM Market Trend?

The global enterprise content management market size is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.8% during the forecast period, to reach USD 37.7 billion by 2026 from USD 23.6 billion in 2021, according to a report published by Markets and Markets. The growth of this industry can be attributed mainly to the rising demand to meet regulatory compliance standards and audit management with improved visibility and control to strengthen content governance, improve security and optimize business workflows.

ECM Market Trend Attributes

What Should I Know About an Enterprise Content Management?

There are three main types of ECM solutions: on-premises software, cloud-based software, and hybrid deployments.

On-premises software is installed on your organization’s servers, which you manage internally. On-premises ECM solutions are more customizable than their cloud counterparts so they can be tailored to fit the needs of specific organizations or departments within an organization depending on whether they will be used for individual workflows or across the entire company.

Cloud based software is hosted on a third-party provider’s servers which you access over the internet. Cloud ECM solutions are more cost effective than their on-premises counterparts because your organization does not need to purchase or manage any hardware or network equipment. They also have lower implementation costs, as most providers offer free trials and no upfront licensing fees.

Hybrid deployments are a combination of on-premises software and cloud-based software that give you the best of both worlds. Your organization would have some data stored on your internal servers while other data is hosted with a third-party provider, which gives you more flexibility in terms of where information can be accessed from. This option also allows for easier integration of on premise and cloud-based software.

How Does Enterprise Content Management Benefit Your Organization?

Increasing productivity and efficiency is the main objective of every organization particularly when managing critical information. ECM technology is perhaps the best tool to help you out with your organizational goals. The primary function of an ECM is to increase business efficiency, reduce costs and increase employee and customer satisfaction.

  1. Keep track of all your information.

    The ability to manage documents from creation to destruction. This includes being able to track who has viewed, edited, or deleted a document at any given time. Accurately track who is doing what and when by reviewing any given file’s audit trail.

  2. Minimize risk.

    Securely share information with anyone inside or outside your organization while having full control over how that information is managed and accessed. Protect files with security features such as authentication, access control, and encryption.

  3. Reduce operating costs while increasing efficiency.

    ECM XD simplifies your business processes that will lead to cost reductions across your organization. Streamline collaboration, create content, and transmit and assure compliance across all departments of the business.

What Should I Look for When Choosing an ECM Solution?

An effective Enterprise Content Management software should give your organization with a tailored solution that suits and integrates well with your business core applications to deliver improved business processes. Look for an all-in-one cloud-based digital ECM provider that provides a single, out-of-the-box, yet highly configurable solution to holistically manage all your information, documents, and images in a single digital environment.

  1. Capture documents digitally.

    Your organization can seamlessly capture, share, and store data and critical information in a secured and centralized digital repository. It transforms your electronic and paper documents into digital content that reduces cost, accelerates processes, and improves regulatory compliance.

  2. Secure documents and reduce organizational risk.

    Store sensitive information with extra security that offers full encryption of data in transit between their servers and organizations’ end users (in motion) as well as at rest on their servers (at rest).

  3. A scalable ECM solution.

    If your organization is planning to store large quantities of data, you will want to choose a provider that offers scalable ECM solutions such as Xybion. Regulated industries looking for an enterprise content management system should consider utilizing ECM XD which is built specifically for regulated content with storage requirements of terabytes and petabytes.

  4. Promotes collaboration between stakeholders.

    External and internal stakeholders can connect and communicate with full transparency of critical information and audit information.

  5. Enterprise content and data migration.

    An essential element of an effective enterprise content management strategy is the ability to consolidate, migrate, and securely deliver enterprise information.

An ECM software can be implemented and managed in house if your organization has the technical capabilities and resources, but it is much more common for organizations to outsource enterprise content management and data storage to a third-party provider that specializes in cloud ECM implementation such as Xybion. ECM XD enables collaboration with all stakeholders and derives insights and intelligence from digital documents and metadata. ECM XD’s built-in regulatory controls enable holistic management of compliance that will help your organization improve its business processes.

Benefits and important considerations for Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

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