Elcom Content Manager (ECM): overview

Elcom Content Manager (ECM) is an electronic catalogue management solution for the public sector in Scotland.

The ECM tool replaced the Pecos Content Management (PCM) system in November 2025 and allows users to create, validate, approve, receive and share electronic catalogues. 

Key functionality includes:

• content validation and approval workflow with full audit trail
• ability to export catalog files in an output format compliant for P2P and finance systems for example, PECOS, CIVICA and Parabilis
• reporting and archiving

Buyers should consider ECM during the invitation to tender stage by specifying in the instructions to tenderers that the successful supplier should be prepared to work with the buying organisation to create, validate and publish a catalogue list of items where applicable.

Buyers benefits of ECM

• encourages compliance to contracts
• enables application of consistent and efficient business processes
• interfaces to PECOS and can be used to upload into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) organisations system
• allows a sub-set of items from a catalogue to be selected into a tailored selection based on ends user business
• facilitates more robust purchase to pay processes
• reduces maverick spend
• build a catalogue once and use many times
• ensures order accuracy and prevents invoice mismatching
• coverage - open to all public sector bodies
• enhancing collaboration through a standardised approach

ECM is offered as part of the Scottish Government eProcurement shared service and is available for use by all public sector organisations, regardless of what systems they have in place. As a public body, you can register your interest in using ECM by contacting the eProcurement mailbox (see contact details below for more information).

Further information

If you are a public sector buying organisation and would like information in relation to training requirements, please contact the Scottish Government eProcurement team at the email address below who will advise you on the most appropriate point of contact to take this forward.

There is a suite of online training material available to support all learning aspects of ECM for public sector bodies as well as a variety of useful step by step videos which will assist users with all key functionality in ECM. To request these videos, please contact the mailbox below and ask for an account to be created on Objective Connect.