Enterprise Content Management Definitions

This glossary explains the meaning of key words and phrases that information technology (IT) and business professionals use when discussing content management and related software products. You can find additional definitions by visiting WhatIs.com or using the search box below.

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  • A

    Adobe Sign

    Adobe Sign is a cloud-based service that lets an individual or organization send, secure, track and manage e-signature processes.

  • C

    content aggregator

    A content aggregator is an individual, organization or tool that gathers web content and applications from different online sources for reuse.

  • content analytics

    Content analytics is the act of applying business intelligence (BI) and business analytics (BA) practices to digital content. Companies use content analytics software to provide visibility into the amount of content that is being created, the nature of that content and how it is used. 

  • content management (CM)

    Content management (CM) is the process for collection, delivery, retrieval, governance and overall management of information in any format.

  • Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS)

    Content Management Interoperability Services (CMIS) is a specification for allowing users to share and access data across multiple content management (ECM) systems. 

  • content management system (CMS)

    A content management system (CMS) is a software application or set of related programs that help create and manage digital content.

  • content services platform

    A content services platform is cloud-based SaaS software that enables users to create, share, collaborate on and store text, audio and video content.

  • content sprawl

    Content sprawl is a condition of an organization's content assets in which proliferation and unmanaged growth have led to an unwieldy mass that is difficult to manage.

  • D

    digital asset management (DAM)

    Digital asset management (DAM) is a business process for organizing, storing and retrieving rich media and managing digital rights and permissions.

  • digital experience (DX)

    Digital experience (DX), also known as digital user experience (digital UX), is the take-away feeling an end user has after an experience in a digital environment or with a digital technology or device.

  • E

    e-signature (electronic signature)

    An e-signature (electronic signature) is a digital version of a traditional pen and ink signature.

  • enterprise document management (EDM)

    Enterprise document management (EDM) is a strategy for overseeing an organization's paper and electronic documents so they can be easily retrieved in the event of a compliance audit or subpoena.

  • enterprise information management (EIM)

    Enterprise information management (EIM) is the set of business processes, disciplines and practices used to manage the information created from an organization's data as an enterprise asset.

  • What is enterprise content management? Guide to ECM

    Enterprise content management (ECM) is a set of defined processes, strategies and tools that allows a business to effectively obtain, organize, store and deliver critical information to its employees, business stakeholders and customers.

  • H

    headless content management system (headless CMS)

    A headless content management system (CMS) delivers back-end capabilities for editing, organizing and storing all types of digital information, without regard to how that content is published, displayed or used.

  • Hootsuite

    Hootsuite is a social media management system that gives users an integrated user interface from which to manage their social interactions.

  • I

    information rights management (IRM)

    Information rights management (IRM) is a discipline that involves managing, controlling and securing content from unwanted access.

  • K

    Klout score

    A Klout score is a measure of a social influence that aggregates one's reach on various social media platforms.

  • knowledge management (KM)

    Knowledge management is the process by which an enterprise gathers, organizes, shares and analyzes its knowledge in a way that is easily accessible to employees.

  • M

    Microsoft FAST Search

    Microsoft FAST Search is the search engine for Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration platform.

  • Microsoft MyAnalytics

    Microsoft MyAnalytics is a personal analytics application in Office 365 that enables employees to gain insights into how they spend their time at work and how they can work smarter.

  • Microsoft Office Delve

    Microsoft Office Delve is a search engine and discovery tool for the Microsoft Office 365 productivity suite.

  • Microsoft Planner

    Microsoft Planner is a web-based visual task management application that enables enterprise teams to create, assign and organize work in order to execute projects.

  • Microsoft Power Apps

    Power Apps is a suite of Microsoft products that enable both developers and nontechnical users to build custom applications to fulfill various business needs.

  • Microsoft Power Automate

    Microsoft Power Automate, formerly called Microsoft Flow, is cloud-based software that allows employees to create and automate workflows and tasks across multiple applications and services without help from developers.

  • Microsoft Power BI

    Microsoft Power BI is a business intelligence platform that provides nontechnical business users with tools for aggregating, analyzing, visualizing and sharing data.

  • Microsoft SharePoint

    Microsoft SharePoint is a document management and collaboration platform that helps a company manage archives, documents, reports and other content that is vital to its business processes.

  • O

    OCR (optical character recognition)

    OCR (optical character recognition) is the use of technology to distinguish printed or handwritten text characters inside digital images of physical documents, such as a scanned paper document.

  • P

    paperless office

    The paperless office is an umbrella term for business practices that improve the workplace by reducing reliance on paper.

  • Power Platform

    Power Platform is an intuitive and collaborative platform from Microsoft.

  • R

    records information management (RIM)

    Records information management (RIM) is a corporate area of endeavor involving the administration of all business records through their life cycle.

  • records management

    Records management (RM) is the administration of records and documented information for the entirety of its lifecycle, which includes creation, maintenance, use, storage, retrieval and disposal.

  • records retention schedule

    A records retention schedule is a policy that depicts how long data items must be kept, as well as the disposal guidelines for these data items.

  • S

    search engine marketing (SEM)

    Search engine marketing (SEM) is a method of promotion and advertising to help companies' content rank higher among search engine traffic.

  • Secure File Transfer Protocol (SSH File Transfer Protocol)

    SFTP is a term that refers to either Secure File Transfer Protocol or SSH File Transfer Protocol, and is a computing network protocol for accessing and managing files on remote systems.

  • semantic network (knowledge graph)

    A semantic network is a knowledge structure that illustrates how concepts are related to one another and how they interconnect.

  • SharePoint administrator

    A SharePoint administrator manages an organization's installation of the Microsoft SharePoint collaboration and content management platform.

  • SharePoint farm

    A SharePoint farm is a collection of servers that work in concert to provide a set of basic SharePoint services to support a single site.

  • Slack software

    Slack software is a cloud-based collaboration software suite. Originally founded in 2009 as a chat tool for a now-defunct gaming technology, Slack has gained currency among enterprises and is broadening into a collaboration platform with capabilities beyond just messaging.

  • social media metrics

    Social media metrics refer to the measurements that companies use to gauge the impact of their efforts on social media platforms, and the impact of social media activity on a company’s revenue.

  • social media ROI

    Social media ROI refers to the return on investment a company can expect to make from its investment in social media technologies.

  • T

    takedown request

    A takedown request, also called a DMCA takedown or a notice and take down request, is a procedure for asking an internet service provider (ISP) or search engine to remove or disable access to illegal, irrelevant or outdated information.

  • taxonomy

    Taxonomy is the science of classification according to a predetermined system, with the resulting catalog being used to provide a conceptual framework for discussion or analysis.

  • V

    vanity URL (vanity uniform resource locator)

    A vanity uniform resource locator is a truncated URL that extends an organization's brand.

  • W

    web content management system (WCMS)

    A web content management system (WCMS) is a type of content management system (CMS) that provides an organization with a way to manage digital information on a website through creating and maintaining content without prior knowledge of web programming or markup languages.

  • web development framework (WDF)

    A web development framework is a set of resources and tools for software developers to build and manage web applications, web services and websites, as well as to develop application programming interfaces (APIs).

  • white hat link building

    White hat link building strives to drive traffic to a website through search engine optimization techniques, such as relevant linking to other, relevant content that enhances users' experience, generation of quality content and more.

  • WordPress

    WordPress is free, open source publishing software that can be installed locally on a web server and viewed on a proprietary web site or hosted in the cloud and viewed on the WordPress web site.

  • workflow automation

    Workflow automation is an approach to making the flow of tasks, documents and information across work-related activities perform independently in accordance with defined business rules.

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