About Content Management

A content management system is a powerful and comprehensive solution that combines processes and technologies to support digital information throughout its lifecycle. Content management systems can support a variety of content types including electronic documents, audio, video, and other multimedia files, Web pages, and more.

With a content management system, all workflows related to document creation, sharing, and management are streamlined and fully automated. Digital content, even files that exist in non-proprietary forms, can be logically stored and archived in a centralized repository. Additionally, information is made more readily available to authorized users, both inside and outside the enterprise, via a network or the Web.

Key Benefits for Your Company

Content management systems help companies control and administer all of their digital documents and files. By having everything in a central repository, documents can be easily found and edited by employees with the right permission levels. Other key benefits include:

• Improved content accuracy, consistency, and timeliness through the ability to more efficiently manage updates and changes.
• Enhanced collaboration through more rapid information accessibility and sharing.
• Reduced overhead costs through the elimination of paper waste, and a decrease in real estate required for file cabinets and other hard-copy storage.
• Increased efficiency through greater content re-usability.

A study by leading analyst firm Deloitte Consulting concluded that a content management system can cut labor costs by close to 50% by minimizing the time needed to author, design, and publish both online and printed documents.

What to Look for When Choosing a Content Management System

Security
A significant portion of corporate information is highly sensitive and confidential. Therefore, it is crucial to select a content management system that offers multiple levels of security to protect files from unauthorized access. Many content management systems offer role-based security, where access to content, as well as system functionality, is granted based on each user’s role in the content management process.

Robust Search
The point of having a content management system is to have a central repository for all documents. As this repository grows, companies will need a clear way to search for documents. Accordingly, a good content management system will provide extensive search capabilities to allow companies to easily find the document they are looking for.

Integration
In order to maximize the value of a content management system, it must be seamlessly linked to other content-related systems throughout an organization. For example, any Web publishing or graphic design software should be tightly integrated with the content management system, so files generated, updated, or consumed by these tools can be tracked by the content management system.