1.3 CMS, DMS & RMS

1.3 CMS, DMS & RMS

Before taking a deep dive in SharePoint technology, let us understand the three key systems content management system, Document management system and Record management system. Most of the abilities of these systems have been incorporated in SharePoint.

Content Management System: Content is a piece of digital data, which becomes information, for various users according to their needs. Content can be in any form document, images, pictures, sound, video, email, Web Pages, websites, etc. Content management system enables the flow and editing of the content in user-friendly approach.

In precise “Content management system enables to create, edit and publish data, constrained with a set of rules, validations and workflow that ensure validated content”.

Key Features of CMS are:

1.       WYSIWYG [What you see is what you get]: The editor displays the content as the final output, being viewed by the user.

2.       Customization: CMS enables to customize the user requirements and accommodate them rather than using the default settings.

3.       Rich Multimedia Support: Support various types of files, web pages, web content to be published.

4.       Search: Search for various data types and content types on the basis of  keywords

5.       Workflow: approving and authorizing the content in user defined steps.

Document Management System: Document is the digital data stored in the form of word, excel, PowerPoint, PDF format. DMS enables users to create, store, manages expiry and retrieval of documents with ease.

Key Features of DMS are:

1.       Metadata: The documents are being stored with keywords, which enable searching the documents easily.

2.       Capture: Enable to store the scanned documents in the form of images /documents.

3.       Security: Documents being created are secured on the basis of user roles and rights

4.       Integration: Integrating various external systems to document management system, so that documents can be shared easily.

5.       Workflow: approving and authorizing the document in user defined steps.

Record Management System: Record is the set of interrelated piece of information related to the entity. Record management system enables creation and editing of records from its origination until its disposal. Simple example of records in an organization could be employee information, personal details, Birth Certificate, etc. 

Key Features of RMS are:

1.       Sorting/Indexing: The Records being stored are arranged in ascending or descending order.

2.       Normalization: Removing redundant records and storing unique information

3.       Security: Providing the secure user roles and rights for the records to be viewed and created

4.       Workflow: Defining the flow of records on the basis of users rights

5.       Notification: sending alerts to users, when the records are being created, stored, archived, or deleted.

It is very difficult to provide the exact distinction between all three systems, as there exists a very thin line between all three.

A table given below provides the key features

Features	CMS	DMS	RMS
Security	Yes	Yes	Yes
Metadata	Yes	Yes	Yes
Search	Yes	Yes	Yes
Workflow	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple website Support	Yes	No	No
Versioning	Yes	Yes	Yes
Content Type Management	Yes	Yes	No
Publishing	Yes	Yes	No
Multilingual	Yes	Yes	No
User Interaction	Yes	Yes	Yes
Content Page Creation\Edit\Delete	Yes	No	No
Folder Structure	No	Yes	No

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