Industry Analysts estimate that the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Market was valued at USD 47.29 billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD 105.56 billion by 2026 and grow at a CAGR of 25.7% over the forecast period (2021 – 2026). These are some exciting numbers and made me think about how ECM will evolve over the next few years. Here are some of my predictions:
ECM will be customized to suit your needs- Being able to modify features and functionality to specific organizational workflows will help onboard users and allows IT to control the UX. The ability to change the ECM platform to best meet users’ needs is a great way to wring more ROI from enterprise content management.
The democratization of data- Nien-Ling Wacker often spoke about if not created the idea of ECM democratizing data. In 2021, organizations will continue to structure their systems to provide access to information to different levels of staff and clients, this includes workflows that start outside systems (with clients or partners) that trigger workflows to capture the information provided.
Robust security is more important than ever- Breaches are every IT Director’s worst nightmare (one client calls it the “Channel Four Moment”), second only to non-compliance to regulatory requirements. Many live the paradox, they must both safeguard content and allow accessibility. ECM allows data compliance while protecting against data security issues.
AI and machine learning- Many organizations have brought data analysts and BI specialists in order to design ways to mine data for relevant insights. Thanks to AI being incorporated into ECM, organizations of all sizes can benefit from business intelligence by applying techniques to enhance decision-making.
Ability to scale will be a priority- Any organization that is undergoing a digital transformation or an emergency (such as COVID) encounters the need to quickly scale up or scale back. The ability to grow users and functionality without disrupting business operations is critical for all organizations.
RPA- Robotic process automation can automate business processes that are structured and repetitive. This allows staff to work on valuable, strategic work. Rather than work with multiple product’s workflow tools, RPA gives developers tools that allow this to work effortlessly. The Laserfiche blog explains, “RPA has evolved beyond these solutions. For example, while macros follow a predetermined script of fixed, linear commands, bots have the flexibility to learn over time and intuitively respond to changes in a business process. Also, in cases where you need multiple tools to run scripts for each business application, RPA can simplify the way users automate tasks by interacting with multiple applications at once.”
