Establish must-have ECM capabilities and features

If document management is a priority, these enterprise content management (ECM) platform capabilities should be on the list:

• provides a network-accessible content repository that accommodates large -- multi-terabytes and above -- data stores;
• supports the content lifecycle from information capture to organization, storage, retention and, finally, disposition (irreversible destruction);
• supports text, images, videos, compound documents, 3D objects and other content-oriented file types;
• provides seamless capabilities for managing email and incorporating special-purpose repositories as required;
• supports content capture from external systems, such as document scanners and syndicated feeds;
• supports file organization and mapping in ways that meet the business objectives of the organization -- traditionally, this includes a hierarchical file plan where files are stored within folders and based on predefined file naming conventions;
• takes stock of approaches to virtual filing -- consider when content is moved to and/or mapped within physical storage devices;
• supports access controls and permissions to create, read, update and delete files within the repository;
• supports library services for document checkout/check-in and procedures for resolving file update conflicts;
• provides metadata management capabilities to tag files by predefined keywords, as well as automatically generated attributes, such as date/time values;
• provides extensive and flexible security capabilities that utilize the existing enterprise security architecture of an organization wherever possible;
• provides easy interoperability between an ECM platform's other back-office systems, such as customer relationship management (CRM), ERP and sales force automation (SFA) applications; and
• provides capabilities to search content by keywords, document descriptors and other predefined attributes.

If records management is a priority, look for an ECM platform that:

• supports all relevant document security, governance and operational standards a company needs to adhere to, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for financial services or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for healthcare;
• manages content retention at the document level and, within a compound document, at the individual file (or section) level;
• maintains files within the ECM repository and/or moves them into a special-purpose records management repository;
• supports a rules engine for content distribution, archiving and disposition;
• includes an audit log to help verify document processing throughout its lifecycle;
• provides alerts that signals steps throughout the lifecycle of content;
• supports an enterprise search engine to enable content retrieval based on predefined keywords, tags and labels that describe individual files; and
• enables users to create metadata tags for records to be cataloged according to business rules.

If workflow is a priority, you need an ECM platform that:

• provides a workflow engine that pushes documents through a series of sequential steps designed to support formally defined business processes;
• provides capabilities for document review and approval and then passes off to the next step in the process -- this includes commenting capabilities to explain decisions, as well as routing steps when the document is not approved;
• presents workflow steps within the context of familiar work environments -- for example, approval requests may be presented in a web browser, within a Microsoft Office app, within email or within a desktop client experience;
• supports mobile experiences on smartphones and tablets;
• provides an administrative dashboard so that process owners can track the status of items within workflow processes; and
• provides a workflow design environment for specifying the steps and content sources when defining the business processes; wherever possible includes capabilities for nontechnical users -- those who are familiar with the application and can specify workflow steps without having programming skills.

If web publishing is a priority, you should expect ECM to:

• produce content for internal intranets or external (customer- and partner-facing) websites;
• provide capabilities to automatically convert files stored within the shared repository to native web-based formats, such as converting Word to HTML;
• ensure that content is rendered correctly and in its full fidelity when displayed within a web browser; and
• provide automated tools for publishing updates on a scheduled and/or event-based basis.

Integration requirements

If integration among ECM applications from multiple vendors and/or other enterprise applications is important, must-have capabilities should include:

• support for Content Management Interoperability Services for interconnecting ECM repositories from multiple vendors;
• application-level APIs for integrating the ECM repository within related enterprise applications, such as an organization's CRM, ERP or SFA application; and
• support for enterprise-wide single sign-on and access to enterprise directory services.

Finally, make a list of must-haves for deployment, performance and administration:

• provides the deployment capabilities to run either on premises or in the cloud, including public, private and hybrid cloud infrastructures;
• scales up or down to adjust to your changing business needs;
• enables automatic backup of content;
• provides a retrieval time that's suitable to company needs when it needs to restore backed-up content;
• includes scripting tools and enables scheduled execution of script;
• includes tools to monitor and manage disk space; and
• provides administration tools that make it easy to design and manage workflows, to configure content lifecycles and to define access control lists.

Once a company identifies a list of must-have features, the next step is to create an RFP and then look at the market-leading products to identify the ones that best meet the business's specific requirements.

Geoff Bock contributed to this report.