Definition of the term (“What is ECM?”) 

ECM is the ab­bre­via­ti­on of En­ter­pri­se Con­tent Ma­nage­ment. This is the ma­nage­ment of all data and in­for­ma­ti­on ge­ne­ra­ted in an or­ga­niz­a­ti­on. ECM is also of­ten used as a syn­onym for DMS (do­cu­ment ma­nage­ment sys­tem) and vice versa.

What is ECM use/used for? 

It is used to com­bi­ne struc­tu­red in­for­ma­ti­on (e.g. in­vo­ces, con­tracts, per­son­nel files, less struc­tu­red in­for­ma­ti­on (e.g. e‑mails, writ­ten cor­re­spon­dence) and un­st­ruc­tu­red in­for­ma­ti­on (e.g. mi­nu­tes). ECM uses va­rious tech­no­lo­gi­cal ele­ments for this ef­fect. This in­clu­des the cap­tu­ring, ma­nage­ment, sto­rage, pre­ser­va­ti­on and pro­vi­si­on of ana­log and di­gi­tal con­tent in an organization.

An ECM so­lu­ti­on is thus de­si­gned to de­fi­ne pro­ce­du­res for the cap­tu­ring, pro­ces­sing, ma­nage­ment and sto­rage of do­cu­ments. In the end, the ECM sys­tem de­picts the struc­tures and pro­ces­ses as a so­lu­ti­on across the organization.

Which advantages does an ECM have? 

Using an ECM sys­tem with a soft­ware al­lows an or­ga­niz­a­ti­on to be­ne­fit from many ad­van­ta­ges su­cih as si­gni­fi­cant cost sa­vings. Eli­mi­na­ting do­cu­ment cha­os frees more re­sour­ces to con­cen­tra­te on the es­sen­ti­als more efficiently.
Using an in­no­va­ti­ve do­cu­ment ma­nage­ment sys­tem or en­ter­pri­se con­tent ma­na­ga­ment sys­tem, you di­gi­ti­ze your exis­ting pa­pa­er do­cu­ments and let un­st­ruc­tu­red pa­per fol­ders be­co­me a re­lic of the past. Thus, your work be­co­mes trans­pa­rent and au­dit-com­pli­ant. The cen­tral sto­rage of all in­for­ma­ti­on and do­cu­ments in the com­pa­ny fa­ci­li­ta­tes a fast ex­chan­ge wi­t­hin the or­ga­niz­a­ti­on and thus ge­ne­ra­tes com­pe­ti­ti­ve advantages.

What is the difference between ECM and DMS? 

In con­trast to a Do­cu­ment Ma­nage­ment Sys­tem (DMS), no Ger­man trans­la­ti­on exists for the term ECM. Thus the Eng­lish term took hold in Ger­man as well.