Why document management matters
Given the increasing awareness of environmental issues such as wastage and deforestation, it’s surprising that paper usage in business has risen by up to 126% over the past two decades. Many organisations still rely on paper-based media and physical filing systems for their document management.
However, this traditional approach has several significant drawbacks.
Firstly, creating documents involves considerable time, effort, and money for drafting, editing, sharing, and archiving. When these processes are manual, they are prone to human error, which can be costly.
For instance, a US study found that each misfiled document can cost around $120 to correct, and reproducing a lost document can cost approximately $220 in labour and processing fees.
To avoid these expensive practices and the risks associated with error-prone manual processes and physical storage, a more efficient solution is to implement 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 (DMS) is a comprehensive set of tools and processes designed to help organisations track, manage, and store documents, thereby reducing their dependence on paper and manual processes. Modern document management solutions are typically dedicated software applications, which can be available as standalone applications, integrated suites, or cloud-based platforms and services.
What are the benefits of document management software?
Document management systems come in various forms and offer a range of features and tools. The best DMS should include the functions illustrated in the graphic below.
Document management software provides several key benefits, including:
- Reduces the need for physical storage:
Storing paper documents requires space, physical infrastructure, labour, and maintenance. Document management solutions allow you to convert files and documents into digital formats that can be stored on-premises or in the cloud. This reduces reliance on physical real estate and office space, which is particularly relevant in the era of remote and hybrid working.
- Cost reduction:
In addition to reducing costs associated with physical storage, the best document management software can save on operational costs.
For example, document management systems with indexed file storage systems that use keywords and metadata can significantly reduce the time and effort needed for file searches and document retrieval.
Considering that employees typically spend eight to nine hours per week searching for and gathering information rather than creating it, using an enterprise document management solution can reduce this lost time, allowing workers to focus on more valuable tasks.
- Version Control:
A document management system typically includes tools for history tracking or version control of individual files and projects, often with automated generation of version numbers based on set conditions. Version control ensures clarity on the most up-to-date iteration of a document and allows for reverting to previous versions if needed.
This feature enables project managers and teams collaborating on a document to track who accessed the file and what actions were performed. A DMS may also provide tools for making comments or leaving notes.
Learn more about our docCentrum, our document management system
- Enhanced Security:
The best document management software offers tools for securing digital documents, such as watermarks, encryption, digital rights management, and access restrictions for authorised users only.
A robust DMS also enhances data security through features like centralised storage and digital archiving, which support the backup and recovery of documents in case of unexpected incidents.
Document management systems with version control provide administrators with an audit trail, recording how a document changes over time. This oversight is valuable for regulatory compliance, which may require periodic inspection of document audit trails.
- Optimising Daily Business Processes and Workflows:
A document management system handles all the documents generated in your daily business activities, filing them correctly in an electronic file cabinet. By searching for predefined index words or running a full-text search across all documents, you can get an overview of the entire process within seconds. A DMS can also help optimise your internal business processes and workflows.
- Facilitating Collaboration:
The ability to collaborate on files and projects is one of the most valuable features of document management software. Additionally, 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, it’s important to review your current practices to understand how you create and store various types of documents.
Consistency is crucial for effective file management, so you might want to consider an intranet cloud storage facility. This allows files to be uploaded remotely to a cloud-based intranet server, making them easily accessible to clients and employees with just a click.
One of the major benefits of cloud-based intranet solution is secure data archiving and storage. In the event of a data management issue, security breach, or computer malfunction, having a backup copy on the intranet cloud storage facility ensures peace of mind, as users can simply retrieve the recently uploaded document and continue working.
Another significant advantage of intranet cloud storage is the ability to customise access. Intranet administrators can tailor access to specific files, folders, or entire sections of information, ensuring that only certain team members can view them.
To learn more about how Intelligent Decisioning can meet your document management software needs, book a demo with our experts.
