How enterprise information management (EIM) differs from ECM

Enterprise information management (EIM) sounds very similar to enterprise content management (ECM). Are they just different names for the same technology, or is there a significant difference between the two?

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ECM is an enabling technology category for the capture, management, storage, delivery, discovery and disposition of unstructured content across an enterprise. That could include email, electronic files and documents, images, video, audio, Web content, metadata describing paper records, etc. ECM is just one of many possible technology enablers for unstructured data management.

An unstructured data management initiative – a component of EIM – establishes and manages the policies, procedures, standards, guidelines, taxonomies, metadata, business rules/schedules, organizational oversight and change management processes, and supporting technology for an organization’s unstructured information content. Unstructured data management integrates and aligns with the foundational EIM components of data governance and stewardship, metadata management and information architecture to provide comprehensive information management across the enterprise.

This was first published in September 2010