The implementation of enterprise content management systems in SMEs

Electronic records management – a state of the art review

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the state of the art in electronic records management (ERM) with the goal of identifying the prevailing research topics, gaps and issues in the field.

Design/methodology/approach

First, a wide search was performed on academic research databases, limited to the period between 2008–2018. Second, the search results were reviewed for relevance and duplicates. Finally, the study sources were checked against the list of journals and conferences ranked by computing research and education and JourQual. The final sample of 55 selected studies was analyzed in depth.

Findings

ERM has lost some research momentum due to being deeply embedded in affiliate information systems areas and the changing records management landscape. Additionally, the requirement models specified by Governmental/National Archives might have constrained technology innovation in ERM. A lack of application was identified for the social media research area.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations were encountered in available search tool functionality and keyword confusion leading to inflated search results. While effort has been made to obtain optimal search results, some relevant articles may have been omitted.

Originality/value

The last ERM state-of-the-art review was in 1997. A lot has changed since then. This paper will help researchers understand the current state of ERM research, its understudied areas and identify gaps for future studies.

ECM implementations in practice: objectives, processes, and technologies

Purpose

Enterprise content management (ECM) is an important topic in information management, but researchers have long had difficulty developing a consistent definition. The purpose of this paper is to analyze ECM case reports from practice to identify ECM’s objectives, processes and technologies and to provide a foundation on which ECM can be conceptualized and defined.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper assembles more than 1,200 case reports on industrial ECM implementations in order to characterize the ECM concept from a practitioner’s viewpoint. The paper provides a descriptive overview and historical examination of ECM implementations over time and across countries and industries, grounded in a structured content analysis.

Findings

Even though the case reports share some commonalities, their ECM projects differ considerably in terms of their objectives, processes and technologies, and vary widely across countries and industries. In addition, ECM implementations are much broader today than they once were, so the scope and boundaries of the ECM concept are increasingly blurred in practice.

Originality/value

While several researchers have characterized the ECM concept based on literature reviews, only a few have approached the definition problem from a practical viewpoint. This paper provides a foundation from which to evaluate how well researchers’ conceptualizations of ECM match current business practice.

Factors Impacting the Implementation of Enterprise Content Management Systems

Enterprise content management (ECM) is a new and fast growing area. It is still undergoing the same defining process as predecessor systems such as decision support and enterprise resource systems. A qualitative case study was conducted to identify key factors that impact the success of ECM systems implementations. A theoretical framework was developed from the information systems (ISs) literature resulting in a research model defining five categories of factors that impact ECM implementation success with these questions: Are there managerial, user, task, technological and content related factors that impact ECM implementation success? The research model was tested using a mix methods approach. Content analysis of the project documentations and interviews of 15 team leads and members that implemented ECM systems within their departments in their organization. The results included 12 factors that were supported by the interview data as well as the content analysis of related project documents.