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5 drivers for modernizing ECM in a digital era 

Content is high on the digital agenda and is central to almost all business processes. Can your enterprise content management (ECM) system keep up?

Person in office discovers digital government insights on their laptop computer.

Top considerations for users of legacy systems

Why is enterprise content management modernization important?

  • Content fuels digital operations
  • Nimble is the new normal
  • Modern experiences matter
  • The need for speed
  • Budget pressures persist

New demands in the digital era

To win in the digital era, companies need to move fast, adapt quickly and innovate continuously.

They must also digitize operations, deliver new digital services and satisfy the demands of a modern workforce and technically savvy customer base.

But legacy enterprise content management (ECM) systems were architected for a different time. Many are too inflexible and technically limited for today’s dynamic business and computing environments.

Perhaps you’ve experienced:

  • New ECM projects that can’t seem to get off the ground
  • No single source of truth for digital operations
  • Modern users avoid outdated ECM experiences
  • The advantages of ECM in the cloud feel out of reach
  • Your last major ECM upgrade was late and over budget

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A modern approach to ECM

Fortunately, there is a fresh new approach to content management that frees you from the limitations of traditional ECM systems.

Next-generation content services platforms are now purpose-built for the digital age. They are modular, open, flexible and cloud native.

And they allow you to address rapidly evolving business needs with engaging user experiences.

“Content services enable decision- makers to reclaim their confidence and future-proof their operations.”

Prepare For The Next Business Stress-Test With Content Services, Forrester, March 2021

1. Content fuels digital operations

Content is a rich — and largely untapped — source of value-adding insights.

With digital operations a priority, it’s time to ask whether existing ECM systems help or hurt your ability to innovate.

The opportunity to advance a digital strategy is exciting. But it’s tough to deliver game- changing solutions with silos of content trapped in closed repositories. And it’s harder still when you can’t leverage the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to unlock and amplify the value of content.

According to the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Content Services Platforms, 2020, integrated, intelligent content services, repository federation and cloud readiness are now driving differentiation and disruption in a long-established market.

Digitize operations with content services

Modern content services have the flexibility and openness that is needed to integrate content into new digital experiences and services.

Platforms that bring together content + governance + AI/ ML services are even more powerful. Together, these services give you a complete digital business platform.

AI services, which extract insights from content, and ML services, which improve insights over time, open a world of possibilities.

You can use text and image analytics to mine, enrich, and act on the data in enterprise content. And you can deploy content in ways that are much more intelligent, efficient, and compliant — facilitating digital operations across your business. A platform that natively integrates AI and ML services from leading cloud providers lets you get started right away.

2. Nimble is the new normal

It’s a volatile business world, with digital upstarts, disruptive technologies and connected consumers shaking up the status quo. Your company must change course quickly to stay ahead of competitors.

The pressure is on IT to meet fast-changing business needs. And that’s hard with a rigid ECM system based on a decades-old monolithic architecture.

Does your ECM platform give you the flexibility to deliver what’s right for the business today, and then evolve it tomorrow?

The enterprise content management (ECM) market continues its evolution to cloud-first, flexible, extensible platforms. Modern content platforms now dominate the vendor landscape, and customers continue a steady pace of migration to these platforms — away from aging, on-premises repositories.

— The Forrester Wave: Content Platforms, Q2 2021