Enterprise content management systems, usually termed as ECM, refers to the combination of several web-based technologies, solutions and tools that can be used to catch, handle, store, and deliver huge contents and documents of an organization and its processes.

Due to crowded technology market and obscure real=deal CMS products makes Enterprises to baffle while choosing their CMS solutions. Though all CMS products tend to provide the usual web management CMS products, several major enterprises are in need of CMS products that focuses intranet services to employees (B2E), business to business (B2B), business to government (B2G), or government to business (G2B) and other unexplored domains. Nowadays, due to growth of storage enterprises, the demand for CMS is skyrocketing. The new world enterprises are struggling with document management ware and other CMS workflow solutions due to faulty choosing. A new concept like Digital asset management (DAM) is a real killer for enterprises, due to its larger storage form using digital electronic technology.

Before choosing a CMS solution for an enterprise, as defined by the AIIM, the most significant components to check are elements like

Capturing

Managing

Storing

Preserving

Delivering

Though all the above elements are important in picking out an ECM, the capturing and managing elements are considered as the core functionalities of a Content management system. Capturing (also termed as Input components) is the basic functionality to be checked before choosing an ECM. Since it contains the significant components for generation, preparation, process analog and other related electronic information, this functionality must be checked for exclusive requirements. In the "capturing" category, there are several levels and technologies, ranging from simple information capture to information preparation using automatic classification.

The "Managing" part is designed to manage five different crucial application sectors such as, workflow/ Business Process Management, collaboration (software or groupware), Document management , Information Records Management (based on storage media), and Web (including Portal) Content Management. This category helps in connecting the basic components like capture, store, preserve and deliver that can be used either compounded or separately. In this part, Records Management plays a vital role since it takes care of all the existing information. The best output of an ECM can be determined either through the independent clients of the Enterprise Content system components, or by engaging the existing applications, which could access the basic functionalities of the ECM services and the preserved information. Some of the important technologies managed by this process include optical character recognition (OCR), handprint character recognition (HCR, intelligent character recognition (ICR, optical mark recognition (OMR), barcode, Document imaging, Forms processing, paper forms and e-forms/web-forms

Under the "Manage" category, Document management (DM) controls the documents from their creation through to long-term archiving. This includes functions like check in/check out, checking existing information for consistency, version management, renditions, search and navigation to find information, showing information structures and other overview functions. At the same time, under this "Manage" category, Web content management plays vital role in Enterprise content management which is said to be the integrator factor in ECMs. However, information deployed on the Internet or Extranet or even on a portal must be an existing data, and its delivery is dealt by authorized access and storage. WCM includes functions like administration of information, creation of new information, editing existing information, controlled generation, delivery, automatic conversion, secure separation, and visualization for Internet presentation. Sometimes, in the industry, WCM is not consider as an integral component due to successful implementations of shared repository for documents while web content are managed together.

Before picking out an ECM system, make sure that it is more intuitive, and it can facilitate end-users with a wide range of features. Communicate existing end users and decide how the particular ECM system helps them in the processes more efficiently and effectively. System monitoring tools in an ECM assists in the increase in productivity, averting of system failures, and enhancing application’s management. Though every system faces problems like overloads, back-up failure, etc., the ECM system should render ways to identify those troubles before they happen. Also most of the ECMs are known for features like automated destruction of records and scheduled destructions. So an improved ECM should facilitate both purging features and migration options. Above all the others, basic things like indexing and retrieval play vital in determining a good ECM. Because, indexing your information in a purposeful way not only takes out the frustration related to an failed document retrieval; but it also checks that the ability to develop information on demand.