What does the future hold for content management services?

For many years, organizations have relied on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems to help manage information in an efficient and secure fashion. However, with the advent of new content management technologies -- including cloud-based content management systems -- there are signs that the prominence of traditional ECMs is on the wane.

As the challenges faced by businesses continue to grow, achieving new standards of flexibility and efficiency when it comes to content management is key. This is why first-generation ECM systems -- built on decades-old technologies -- are not as effective as they once were.

A shift away from ECM

Despite some signs of decline, figures published by Fortune reveal that the ECM market is set to increase in size by 16.1 percent between 2023 and 2030, reaching an overall value of over $106 billion. It is clear, therefore, that ECM systems are by no means out for the count. Instead, we are in a transitional phase where the nature of content management systems is evolving.

Traditional ECMs have existed for a quarter of a century, improving over the years as more features and levels of functionality have been added. The downside to this is that systems have become increasingly complex and technical in nature, particularly as many organisations have had to incorporate more than one ECM, and sometimes even one per department.

Clustering layers of software in one monolithic system has proved fiendishly difficult for IT departments to manage, increasing the need for new methods to manage content. This is where cloud-based services and hybrid options are coming to the fore. 

The growth of cloud-based services

Data shows that adoption of cloud-based content management services are on the rise, particularly as part of hybrid arrangements where they are employed alongside on-premise services, A survey carried out by AIIM found that 15 percent of business leaders intend to adopt an on-premises content management solution, while 33 percent will opt for cloud-based and 51 percent are developing a hybrid solution.

This reflects ongoing adoption trends for cloud more generally: according to Gartner, two-thirds (65 percent) of spending on application software will be directed toward cloud technologies in 2025, increasing from 58 percent in 2022.

Flexibility and scalability

Cloud-based content services bring a number of advantages that help meet the complex information needs of modern businesses. Workers in remote locations, including in different time zones, can collaborate more easily by accessing documents in the cloud anywhere in the world and on multiple devices. Crucially, companies can scale up and take on additional storage or content management functions during times of expansion and can easily scale back down again if required.

Reducing costs, alleviating business pressures

Content management in the cloud helps liberate IT budgets, due to the reduction in capex spending on on-premises hardware in favour of software-based opex spending. IT departments also spend considerably less time on maintenance as the upkeep of the technology is managed by a third party. This saves the business huge amounts of money in the long term, while freeing up IT teams to focus on more innovative tasks.

The benefits of cloud-based content management also stretch beyond the IT department. Having this technology in place makes it easier to automate processes such as accounts payable, contracts management, correspondence management and invoice processing, while facilitating communication between various company departments more generally. 

Traditional ECM services will remain popular for the foreseeable future, but the transition to cloud-based alternatives is in full flow. The cloud’s capacity to streamline information management processes, accelerate collaboration and reduce costs mean it undoubtedly represents the future of content management. 

Image credit: Edgars Sermulis/Dreamstime.com

Simon Godfrey is Head of ECM, Business Solutions at Kyocera Document Solutions UK.