Why document management matters
Despite increased sensitivity to environmental issues such as wastage and the depletion of forests, actual paper usage in business has risen by up to 126% for the past two decades. As such, for their document management, many organizations are still using paper-based media and physical filing systems.
However, this approach has distinct disadvantages.
Firstly, the document creation process itself consumes a lot of time, effort and money in the drafting, editing, sharing and archiving of files. What’s more, if these processes are largely manual, they are prone to human error – and there are considerable costs associated with such mistakes.
For example, according to a US study, each misfiled document can cost roughly $120 to correct, while it takes $220 to reproduce a lost document, in terms of labor and processing fees.
To avoid these costly practices and the business risks associated with error-prone manual processes and physical storage media, a better approach is to adopt a comprehensive document management system built on a stable and well-integrated digital workspace platform.
What is a document management system?
A document management system or DMS is an integrated set of tools and processes that enable organizations to track, manage and store documents, while reducing their reliance on paper and manual processes. Today, a document management solution will typically be a dedicated piece of software, which may be available as a standalone application, an integrated suite, or a cloud-based platform and set of services.
What are the benefits of document management software?
Document management systems come in a variety of forms and can offer a selection of different features and tools. The best DMS should come with a feature set that includes the functions illustrated in the graphic below.
Document management software provides a number of key benefits, which include the following.
1. Reduces the need for physical storage
Storing paper documents requires space, physical infrastructure, labor, and maintenance. DMS solutions enable you to convert files and documents into a digital form that you can store in on-premise file servers or in the cloud. This helps reduce your reliance on physical real estate and office space – which is particularly relevant in this new era of remote and hybrid working.
2. Cost reduction
Besides the reduction in costs associated with physical storage, the best document management software can provide savings in operational costs.
For example, DMS solutions with indexed file storage systems that take keywords and metadata into account, can significantly reduce the time and effort needed for file searches and document retrieval.
Considering that employees may typically spend eight to nine hours per week searching and gathering information, rather than creating it, using an enterprise document management solution can reduce this lost time, freeing workers to concentrate on more valuable tasks.
3. Version control
A document management system will usually include tools for history tracking or version control of individual files and projects – often with the automated generation of version numbers based on conditions that you set. Version control makes it clear which is the most up to date iteration of a document, and also makes it possible to revert back to a previous iteration, as needed.
Learn more about our industry strength, enterprise level document management software
This feature enables project managers and teams collaborating on a particular document to monitor who obtained the file and what actions they performed. A DMS may also provide tools for making comments or leaving notes.
4. Enhanced security
The best document management software will provide tools for securing digital documents. These may include watermarks, encryption, digital rights management, or the ability to restrict access to only authorized users.
A good DMS will also provide data security through features such as centralized storage and digital archiving, which can aid the backup and recovery of documents in the event of unanticipated incidents.
Document management systems with version control provide administrators with an audit trail, which gives management a record of how a document alters over time. This oversight also has value in the context of regulatory compliance demands, which may require the periodic inspection of document audit trails.
5. Optimizing daily business processes and workflows
A document management system manages all the documents that accumulate in your daily business and files them correctly in an electronic file cabinet. By searching for pre-defined index words or running a full-text search across all documents, you can have an overview of the whole process within a matter of seconds. A DMS can also help you to optimize your internal business processes or workflows.
6. Facilitating collaboration
The ability to collaborate on files and projects is one of the most valuable document management software features. In addition, a DMS may allow file sharing and integration with popular business services and systems, such as email platforms for automatic document archiving.
Choosing the right document management platform
Before selecting a document management solution, you should first take an inventory of your existing practices to identify how you create various types of documents, and how you intend to store them.
Since consistency is key to success in managing files, you may want to consider an intranet cloud storage facility. Here, files can be uploaded remotely to a cloud-based intranet server and can be freely accessed by clients and employees at the click of a button.
One of the biggest benefits of cloud-based intranet software is the ability to archive and store data securely. So if there is a data management problem, a security breach, or computer malfunction, instead of the data being stored locally and lost irretrievably, a backup copy on the intranet cloud storage facility allows peace of mind, as users can simply draw from the recently uploaded document and continue working.
Another significant advantage of using intranet cloud storage is the ability to customize usage. Intranet administrators can tailor certain files, folders and even whole sections of information so only certain team members can access it.
Our intranet and mobile app work in harmony with our e-learning, e-forms, workflows and project management features, providing teams with an integrated digital workplace to call home.
To find out more about how Claromentis can meet your document management software needs, book a demo with our experts.
