If you’re just getting started in our world of document management, we would first like to say that we’re glad you’re here. Companies everywhere are making the switch from paper to digital, and we hope you will, too.
But before you can make that decision, you’re probably wondering what all the terms you’ve been seeing mean. If you’ve done any research on document management, you’ve seen the acronyms BPM, ECM, and DMS… just to name a few.
In order to make this work, we’ve identified the few acronyms you need to know as you get started.
- DMS. This will likely be the one you see the most if you’re searching specifically for a document management. You can probably guess what it stands for — Document Management System. It’s a system used to manage, store, share and track documents. Historically, DMS has been mainly used to replace paper-based filing systems with a digital storage solution and is often referred to as a company’s “document repository”. Document management systems typically provide indexing, audit trails and basic workflow functionality for archiving and properly retaining documents.
- ECM. ECM or Enterprise Content Management is the next step up from a document management system. While both DMS and ECM store and manage documents, ECM focuses on managing all enterprise content and automating business processes with advanced workflows and direct integration into core line of business systems.
- BPM. Business Process Management is a methodology and discipline for analyzing and measuring an entire process or workflow from beginning to end, then optimizing it based on performance. In an ECM system, business process management can be achieved through automated workflows and workflow monitoring. Automated workflows standardize business processes by systematically dictating how each step should happen based on set policies and procedures. Workflow monitoring provides a graphical representation of each task and step in a business process allowing managers to quickly identify any bottlenecks and make adjustments as needed.
- OCR. Optical Character Recognition extracts every text word from your paper documents and stores it as data that can later be searched. OCR is used to create a searchable PDF.
- ERM. Electronic Records Management ensures your organization has all necessary records available at all times. In other words, it’s an efficient way to track and store your records.
If you’re still looking for more clarification, check out our FAQs page, or contact us. We’re here to share our industry experience and help you navigate your path to digital transformation.
