FileNet is a leading enterprise content management (ECM) system. An ECM system manages the life cycle of documents, from creation or capture to final disposition. An ECM system, such as FileNet, can include many components, such as document imaging, Web content management, electronic document management, digital asset management, and records management.

This breadth of functionality enables FileNet to address a wide range of content management requirements, but also requires an understanding of what each component does. An enterprise can select the functionality that best serves its needs. For example, one enterprise may need a document imaging system that changes analog documents into digital documents through a scanning process, whereas another enterprise may want a document management system where the documents are created in electronic form.

The focus of the book is on helping the reader understand FileNet at a high logical level. By better understanding what needs to be undertaken to implement selected FileNet components, enterprises should be able to better articulate their detailed requirements to implement what is needed, without incurring unnecessary expenses, and without adding unnecessary functionality that does not further the business interests of the enterprise. This means that the book is aimed at the level of an advisor or consultant, who is charged with the responsibility of recommending the direction that the system should take, rather than being an in-depth technical discussion that deals with specific implementation details.

That said, the book still focuses on FileNet. One chapter covers FileNet implementation issues, including project planning and project estimating requirements. Another chapter covers FileNet integration issues for integrating systems, applications, and processes. Microsoft Office, Web integration, enterprise resource planning integration, workflow analysis, and metadata issues are all key subjects that are discussed in this chapter. A third chapter discusses FileNet administrator duties. Those duties can include regulatory compliance, such as carrying out tasks related to ensuring compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Other administrative tasks include gathering system planning data, and designing the FileNet system configuration. FileNet is not a knowledge management system, but can be a component of, and used in, a knowledge management system. An in-depth section on comparing and contrasting document management and knowledge management systems reveals how FileNet can be used in a knowledge management environment.

Even though the book focuses on FileNet and its general characteristics, a reader interested in enterprise content management in general could extract general principles that would apply to any enterprise content management system.