August 15, 2025
An enterprise content management system is a must-have for any business to properly handle data and organizational documents. They provide improved efficiency, increased productivity, and reduced organizational risk. The defined process, strategies, and tools they offer help businesses retain, organize, and store critical information.They also provide a way to share this information with internal and external employees as well as stakeholders. While you may have your ECM system in place, as the amount and variety of content changes, the way it is managed must as well. ECM systems take unstructured data and convert it in a structured, logical manner. They help businesses succeed by:
Outdated ECM systems can be detrimental to your organization. The architecture is not appropriate for the current needs of most businesses. The risks involved include increasing costs, delays, and setbacks.Half of the companies a survey conducted by the Association for Intelligent Information Management report that their content is now outside of their ECM system. According to the report, ECM system downtime causes serious business disruptions for 30% of those surveyed. Other complaints include inadequate cloud ECM system collaboration, cost, inability to easily share information, and lack of integration with core business applications.For many businesses, even those convinced that an upgrade is in order, the risks, costs, and time involved make it a scary endeavor. However, not modernizing your outdated ECM system can cost your organization more money and time using the system in daily operations at the cost of maintaining an old ECM system. Organizations around the world are overhauling their enterprise content management and we are here to help you consider these updates for your business.
Mobile phone manufacturers regularly send out updates that contain security updates and patches. Much like with those necessary updates, choosing not to update your ECM ecosystem could leave it exposed to known security risks. This is important for all businesses, especially those that hold sensitive personal information like banks and hospitals.Modern ECM systems offer a cloud-based solution. With industry regulations like FedRAMP, HIPPA, DoD 5015, and Veracode, software developers construct fully secure solutions. An ECM ecosystem can age, becoming vulnerable to hackers with more powerful breach technology. Data breaches cost businesses millions. An updated ECM ecosystem helps you to stay in compliance and avoid the costs of fines and lawsuits.
The world has gone mobile. While the beginning of mobile technology was mostly for handling personal affairs like communicating, banking, and browsing, businesses are now mobilized providing teams the ability to work anywhere and anytime.Some organizations are allowing employees to perform work-related tasks from their personal devices. This is known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). While it is a fairly new concept, it is reducing hardware costs and growing with an expected growth rate of 17% in the next four years. To accomplish this, businesses are automating business processes, codifying them, and extending their capabilities to mobile users.Hosted in the cloud, these offerings provide the same functionality, user experience, and are accessible on various mobile devices.
The ability to integrate with other systems can unlock countless new capabilities for your ECM ecosystem and business. Out-of-date ECM firmware can make it difficult to integrate with external software vital to your organization's growth. With various SaaS solutions taking organizations by storm the ability to integrate with a myriad of data sources (securely) seems imperative.The AIIM survey discussed earlier noted that 79.3% said that lack of integration between their current system and core business applications was an organizational hurdle. The capability to integrate with other tools/systems that can reduce complexity and simplify processes is integral. Niche software can handle data from multiple departments and help them all collaborate seamlessly.
We have discussed cost often throughout this piece, let us discuss it more in-depth. Costs include – fines from a data breach, the cost of maintaining an out-of-date ECM ecosystem, and more. Making the system you are currently using prove costly to maintain than updating.Administrative costs, fees for third-party services, and custom development expenses can increase the cost of ownership. Those costs without any added value make it easy to see why updating your ECM system is the only viable option.
Outdated ECM systems can also simplify the process of gathering information from documents. Once data is captured in your new ECM system the platform easily extracts and organizes the information. Finding documents/data you need is also an important part of the ECM ecosystem. Outdated systems do not support document search.Businesses need a solution that can index content making it accessible for your teams. Metadata management is another detail that can be handled by an updated ECM system. With this process searches are timely and easier for your staff.Business reporting and analytics are made simple with an updated ECM system. Predictive analytics can help find trends within the information. The new systems can also cluster documents, helping businesses understand similarities between documents and how the documents are related.
If your ECM system is not helping you boost productivity, increase your bottom line, and make processes easier it may be time to consider an update. Old systems can prevent you from achieving your business goals, put your business at risk, and cost more than upgrading.An outdated ECM system can cost your business and present the risks we have detailed here. We know that most businesses with legacy content management systems are aware of the risks of staying the course, but the barriers of re-platforming, modernizing, or upgrading can make it a difficult choice to make. But as we detailed, the cost of not making the transition could outweigh the cost of upgrading your ECM system.Often the costs are keeping businesses from making the move to a modern system. Upgrading your ECM system is not an easy feat, but it is with DAS. We have helped countless organizations with this, and DAS would love to discuss how we can help you!Contact us to discuss your specific needs. DAS has a proven track record of successful migrations, integrations, and custom development. We will get to know your business, clarify your needs, and recommend a solution that is right for your organization.
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