Guest Column: SharePoint: A Different Kind Of ECM

What do you think when I say ECM? Industry insiders, consultants, and implementers of ECM systems have developed an understanding of the tools as process enablers. Whether it's recording and filing invoices, contracts, or packing slips, ECM systems have typically been implemented in places where the number of documents is large and the findability problem for those documents is great.

It's not hard for most folks to imagine rows and rows of file cabinets overflowing with paper. Locating a document in these rows and rows of file cabinets was a task that was done very rarely because the cost to retrieve the paper was so high. However, this meant that important checks to see whether the invoice had been previously paid, or if the work was being double billed was skipped and organizations were losing millions of dollars each year. ECM systems, some of which quite literally cost millions of dollars to implement were put in to improve the speed of retrieval, the speed of filing, and reduce the amount of physical space required to maintain the records.