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The top 7 enterprise content management certifications

These enterprise content management certifications can help business and IT professionals advance their careers and get more out of their company's content systems.

Regulatory requirements and ever-increasing volumes of information mean organizations need enterprise content management systems.

Modern ECM systems capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver information, often with newer features such as AI and automation to categorize data and improve metadata. An enterprise content management certification can help IT professionals and content managers effectively implement and use an ECM system in their own organizations, train other users and get the most out of their company's investment.

In addition to properly using these systems, an enterprise content management certification can help content and IT professionals gain professional credibility, career advancement and networking opportunities through some of the programs.

Explore these top enterprise content management certifications, listed in no particular order, and how each could benefit business and technology professionals in any stage of their careers.

1. The Art of Service: Master Data Management Complete Certification Kit

As part of its Core Series for IT courses, The Art of Service -- a company that offers various courses and risk assessment tools -- offers a Master Data Management Complete Certification Kit.

This certification focuses on master data management (MDM), a subset of enterprise content management. It covers how to implement MDM in an organization, its different types, its building blocks and the MDM component model, among other topics.

Students who enroll have 90 days to complete the certification and take the exam, which The Art of Service estimates takes 18 hours. The modules combine prerecorded presentations and audio with quizzes and exercises, and students can learn at their own pace. This certification is geared more toward the IT side of ECM.

The certification costs $50.90.

2. Oxford Management Centre: Enterprise Content Management

Oxford Management Centre's Enterprise Content Management certification is a five-day intensive training course delivered online or in person, depending on the student's location and preference.

The course covers ECM strategy and how it applies to records management and information security, architecture, legal and regulatory requirements, and metadata creation and importance. At the end of the training, the students can do the following:

  • Create their own information and documentation policies and procedures.
  • Understand ECM structures and architectures.
  • Prepare for ECM implementation related to the content lifecycle.
  • Prepare for change management.

This certification is geared more toward professionals working in nontechnical teams, including administrators, marketing and campaign managers, project managers and business development managers.

Pricing is $3,950 for online sessions and $5,950 for in-person classroom sessions in London or Dubai.

3. LinkedIn Learning: Foundations of Enterprise Content Management

Geared toward beginners, LinkedIn Learning's Foundations of Enterprise Content Management certification provides an overview of the tools, procedures, workflows and best practices to ensure effective ECM.

Students learn the fundamentals of content management, the difference between document management and content management, how it all ties into the modern workplace and how to choose a content management system. The course also covers best practices for ECM.

LinkedIn Learning offers the course in video segments on the LinkedIn platform. These segments total a little over an hour.

A LinkedIn Premium subscription includes all LinkedIn Learning courses, including Foundations of Enterprise Content Management. Pricing starts at $29.99 per month.

4. Oracle: Content Management Implementation Professional

For professionals whose organizations plan to use or already use Oracle for ECM, the vendor offers its own training and certification program.

The Content Management Implementation Essentials course is a six-hour program for users with comprehensive Oracle Content Management knowledge. It teaches students the technical aspects of provisioning, security, architecture and content modeling, as well as best practices for use cases such as digital asset management and headless CMS.

Pricing for the course is available upon request.

5. BMC: Enterprise Content Management Masterclass Course

U.K. training provider BMC offers an Enterprise Content Management Masterclass Course that consists of 154 training sessions designed for business professionals.

This in-person, weeklong class is held in various locations, such as Kuala Lumpur, Rome, London, New York and Dubai. Students learn the following:

  • The basics of ECM systems.
  • How to examine ECM processes.
  • How to design and implement an ECM system.
  • Information modeling.
  • Classification schemes.
  • Metadata tagging.
  • Governance and information security.

Pricing varies by city. For instance, the New York course costs approximately $14,000, while the London version costs approximately $6,500.

6. Mercury: Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Training

Mercury Training Center offers its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Training course for professionals seeking an ECM certification that adheres to ISO standards.

This course is geared toward nontechnical professionals, such as administrators, project managers and business development managers. It has five modules, which include context on the ECM lifecycle, related standards, project planning, content control and the future of ECM, such as big data, IoT and AI applications.

The course is held both online and in person, with locations including Barcelona, Istanbul, Cairo, Rome and London. Pricing starts at approximately $1,600 for online training.

7. GLOMACS: Enterprise Content Management

GLOMACS Training and Consultancy gears its Enterprise Content Management certification, subtitled "Managing Records on the Enterprise Level," toward data analysis, presentation and design professionals.

Nontechnical professionals enrolled in the course will learn the following:

  • Legal requirements and best practices for content management.
  • How to create information management policies and procedures.
  • Regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, and how they apply to information management.
  • E-discovery principles.
  • Metadata and other business classification schemes.
  • ECM software.
  • Change management practices.

The course is a five-day interactive training that students can complete online or in person in Dubai or London. Upon completion, students receive a certificate. Pricing is $3,950 for the online version and $5,950 for in-person sessions.

How to choose an enterprise content management certification

Before ECM professionals choose a class or certification, they should consider the following points:

  • What skills they need. Some certifications focus on a product, while others take a broader view of processes and software. Some are geared toward business professionals, while others are more suited for IT professionals working directly with ECM systems.
  • Additional resources. Some certifications might end after the final exam when the certificate is sent. In contrast, others might include access to other professionals through a community network who can provide support after the coursework is finished.
  • Pricing and length. Determine how much time and money to invest in the coursework and certification.

Christine Campbell is a freelance writer specializing in business and B2B technology.

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