So what is ECM?

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a combination of methods, tools and technologies that enable an organisation to manage, process and deliver content across the enterprise.

Within the definition above there is flow and meaning. The flow of methods, tools and technologies indicates that the organisation must approach ECM in a structured way and that methodology comes first.

Methods or methodology gives the organisation a structured process that can be followed to help the organisation understand what processes are important and what content is necessary to be managed relative to the key business processes. It also delivers the high level framework under which all the other activities are delivered.

Tools such as information audits, information strategy, classification structures, metadata structures and controlled vocabularies are used throughout you methodology to bring to life the key areas of content management and will provide a bridge so that when you come to select and deploy ECM technologies you are able to do so within a defined context.