THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ECM AND DMS

Enterprise Content Management is much more than just a means for storing and managing an organization’s documents. ECM also includes the tools, strategies, and processes used to capture, store, retain, and manage content. ECM appeals to those looking to manage and configure large volumes of structured and unstructured data, including:
- Images - Web content - Email - Video - Electronic documents - Other media
With its superior security features, ECM systems tend to appeal towards risk-driven consumers – such as healthcare professionals, universities, lawyers, etc.

Common ECM Features: - Digital asset management - Indexing - Document collaboration - Workflows - Audit trails - Business process management - Email management - Imaging In order to visualize ECM – image it as an Office Assistant, able to automatically recognize the content within a document and know who, where, and when to send it.

Document Management Systems are designed to control the life cycle of documents. This includes document creation, retention, and accessibility. Whereas an ECM system is your “Office Assistant”, a DMS is your digital “filing cabinet”. A DMS is at its core a simplified ECM system as it focuses on managing entities as a whole rather than the extensive functionality of content management.
Document management systems are technically a sub-category of ECM – as ECM could not exist without its ability to manage documents (the core function of a DMS).
Common DMS Features: - Workflows - Audit trails - Indexing - Versioning