When it comes to content management solutions, organizations can agree on one thing: cloud is the way to go. A survey by Foundry Research found that 96% of technology decision-makers rated the importance of the availability of a SaaS option as a “7” or above (on a 10-point scale), with 61% rating the availability as “critical.”
The search for the right cloud content management solution is underway, with 74% of organizations currently in the market. What’s most appealing about moving content management to the cloud depends on who you ask. Line of business owners and departments cite efficiency and productivity improvements, such as improving customer experiences and boosting collaboration. And for IT, the motivation stems from cost efficiency (62%) and ease of management and maintenance (52%).
With cloud content management platforms continuing to evolve and become more intelligent, it’s important to keep pace with the latest stand-out features and compelling business drivers to select a solution that fits your organization. To help solidify a must-have requirement checklist, below are six questions to consider.
#1: Will a single vendor meet your needs?
When evaluating cloud content management systems, it’s important to think about the entire content lifecycle and what capabilities are built in versus sold separately or may require a separate solution. Some platforms require add-on solutions to address various use cases, line of business needs, or industry-specific content requirements, leading to multiple products from multiple vendors, which adds complexity and offsets the desired cloud benefits of IT ease and efficiency. Partnering with a single cloud content management vendor allows you to scale with ease, tapping into additional capabilities to manage business processes end-to-end in the cloud.
#2: Will the entire content lifecycle be supported?
Content management platforms simplify users’ interactions with content, yet the lifecycle of content—from creation through to archiving or disposition —can be quite complex. In addition to managing how information is distributed, used, and analyzed across the organization, a comprehensive cloud content management approach brings the same level of intelligence, automation, and control to the entire content lifecycle. Some questions to ask vendors: Can we unify content capture across departments and locations? Can we securely store all content in the cloud? Do we have the flexibility to add capabilities to existing business workflows, such as digital signatures?
#3: Is metadata consistently applied to cloud-based content?
When considering moving content management to the cloud, determine whether metadata is a native capability within the platform. Why does this matter? The ability to automatically identify and extract metadata from content increases its usability, making it easier to capture, process, organize, and find—providing much-needed structure and control. In addition, a platform using multiple classification technologies to enrich content leverages metadata tags to identify the right information within unstructured content and enable AI-powered analysis and summarization.
#4: Is the platform GenAI-ready?
The Foundry Research survey revealed that 98% of decision-makers want to leverage GenAI with a cloud content management solution. Ask vendors whether they offer out-of-the-box functionality to make GenAI available to users from day one? And consider whether they use a built-in GenAI assistant to help with tasks like search and content discovery. Plus, ask about the evolution of AI capabilities and roadmap plans for new ways to visualize, understand, and utilize data, such as chart creation and agentic AI.
#5: What pre-built and custom integrations are available?
Foundry Research found that the top concern holding companies back from adopting cloud content management solutions is technology integrations. With enterprise processes spanning multiple business systems, like CRM and ERP, integrating cloud content management with leading apps is a must. Ideally, content services solutions integrate with the applications users are already working in, such as Salesforce, SAP, and Microsoft—surfacing content in context. Ask vendors about prebuilt integrations for common business applications, as well as custom connector options via APIs. The focus should be on deepening integrations to make day-to-day work simpler and more efficient, bringing together all aspects of content management (user experience, data, content, roles/permissions, and change events,) with a real-time and bidirectional flow.
#6: Is governance automated and defensible?
For your organization’s content, robust security and information governance are non-negotiable—requiring data protection from document generation and capture through to long-term storage. A cloud content management solution should deliver comprehensive content lifecycle management for all corporate records while ensuring transparent governance. Plus, to leverage GenAI to the fullest, well-managed content services and information management should properly classify content and apply policy and permissions controls for secure GenAI access.
A content management leader
OpenText was recently recognized for innovation in content platforms, named a Leader in TheForrester Wave™: Content Platforms, Q1 2025, with the report stating, “Customers seeking a robust set of AI-enhanced content governance and automation capabilities with flexible cloud deployment options should consider OpenText.”
Discover how OpenText™ Core Content Management helps organizations stop information chaos and secure information across its lifecycle to address even the most complex use cases.
Give it a try with a 30-day free trial
