The five components and technologies of the DBMS ECM model were first defined as:

• Capture: The "Capture" category contains functionalities and components for generating, capturing, preparing and processing analog and electronic information.

• Manage: The "Manage" components are for the management, processing, and use of information. They incorporate databases for administration and retrieval, and access authorization systems.

• Store: The "Store" components are used for the temporary storage of information which it is not required or desired to archive. Even if it uses media that are suitable for long-term archiving, "Store" is still separate from "Preserve."

• Preserve: The "Preserve" components of DBMS ECM handle the long-term, safe storage and backup of static, unchanging information, as well as temporary storage of information that it is not desired or required to archive. This is sometimes called "electronic archiving", but that has substantially broader functionality than that of "Preserve".

• Deliver: The "Deliver" components of DBMS ECM are used to present information from the "Manage", "Store", and "Preserve" components. They also contain functions used to enter information in systems (such as information transfer to media or generation of formatted output files) or for readying (for example converting or compressing) information for the "Store" and "Preserve" components. Since the ECM component model is function-based and not to be regarded as architecture, we can assign these and other components here. The functionality in the "Deliver" category is also known as "output" and summarized under the term output management.