Content Management Crucial to Entire Enterprise

ECM growing trend in business

As more and more business is done over the Internet, the necessity of managing Web site content continues to grow in importance. If people can't find it, they can't buy it, and sometimes a small change in terminology can make a big difference. What's a paper clip to one user is a Gem clip to another. Making sure purchasers can find what they need, regardless of language idiosyncrasies, is crucial to online buying.


AIIM International, an Enterprise Content Management industry association, believes that the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) market is gaining momentum as suppliers are pressured by customer demand to solve rising enterprise-wide content management issues. One sign of this growth is that both established and newer suppliers are classifying themselves within the ECM space, including Eastman Kodak Co., FileNET, IBM, Interwoven, Open Text, SER and Unisys.


Defined as the creation, capture, delivery, customization and management of content across an enterprise, ECM is the "glue" between front- and back-end applications. Organizations are faced with a content "crisis" as vast amounts of unstructured and often unmanaged information enter and leave organizations in a variety of formats such as text, Web HTML/XML pages, graphics, e-mail, video and audio clips. ECM Technologies include Web content management, document /image management, forms processing and e-process management.


"Managing content is on the short list of initiatives that many organizations have been wrestling with over the last few years," said John Mancini, president of AIIM International. "Last year, we recognized the need to develop an all-inclusive market term for creating, capturing, delivering, customizing and managing enterprise-wide content management. ECM is now the standard phrase used by many suppliers to describe their solution offerings."

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