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September 21, 2005

Document Management vs. Content Management

To better understand the pros and cons of Document Management and Content Management, we must be able to identify what they are and what purpose each serves.

A DMS is concerned with a document in its entirety and less interested in what the document contains, while a CMS effectively manages on a more precise level individual pieces of information that comprise a document or web page.

Despite the vagueness of the word document, the industry of document management is quite well defined and has enjoyed considerable success. Document management systems seek to organize files and in return make them more accessible. The first thing to notice is that document management systems have little to do with the general definition of a document. While they may often be targeted toward word processing and other office files, they place no restrictions on the type of files you put in them. Thus, a much more accurate description would be file management systems.

As a whole, DM and CM are basically the same, just packaged differently. Both of these systems create the need for an environment to store and access files. When it comes to security, both address it. If we are talking about scalability, both support it. The main differences, however, are how they use these features. A CMS addresses security by needing more dynamic control over resources. Examples of this are watermarking, authenticity, and user's reaction found in content. A DMS is more concerned with the legality/permissions over reading, updating, and deleting information. In reference to scalability, both systems are continuing to fulfill their obligations to accomplish this task, but a DMS is focused on pushing more documents through, while a CMS is trying to expand its resources to capture a wider audience.

I cannot say which one is better since each serves a particular purpose, but I can say they are converging, which is what they should do. Having both should only help increase productivity, not hamper it.

Posted by Kenny on September 21, 2005 04:12 PM

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