No matter the size of your organization, you’re always seeking ways to do more with less. Getting more done faster and in fewer labor hours translates into a stronger bottom line, but discovering efficiencies to make this speed and profitability a reality can be difficult. This is where document management systems come in.
A document management system is a digital solution that centralizes and secures your company’s documentation. If you’re using paper, you can say goodbye to physical filing cabinets that take up space and time when employees need to find the right files. Even if you have already gone digital with much of your documentation, you may still suffer from disorganization with files living on personal computers, local hard drives, or non-centralized storage. The right document management system introduces a single repository for all files that also ensures your data’s security and compliance.
A document management system improves efficiencies in a business in many ways to help you do more with less. Read on for the main three.
Leverage Automation
Document management takes manual labor out of many aspects of operation across your organization. With your files stored in a digital, central place, employees no longer have to physically search and retrieve them. Document management solutions can also streamline the process through which you will convert your paper files into digital formats, so moving to a digital system won’t disrupt your business.
You’ll no longer need to manually track documents as they move among employees and stakeholders for approval, changes, and review. The document management system ensures documents follow intended workflows — tracing their paths as they go and speeding up approvals. Employees no longer have to manually follow up with people to ensure their review/approval so the document can continue its journey.
Ensure Security
No organization can be truly efficient without proper security. Vulnerabilities and points of exposure can cause delays and bottlenecked workflows for employees who must scramble to close these loopholes. And in the worst-case scenario, if that sensitive information is exposed, your entire business operation could stagnate during the process of getting the data leak under control.
Paper-based processes open your business to these risks. Paper can get lost, stolen, or damaged. There’s little-to-no traceability, and files can still get corrupted even in an electronic format. Document management offers data security and will store your documents in a secure infrastructure. The solution will also automate document backup to consistently ensure the integrity of your data.
A document management system also introduces inefficiencies by keeping files accessible to the right parties only. You can set permissions for files so they are not at risk of exposure to irrelevant or inappropriate users, and leveraging access control also ensures who can edit and share documents.
Additionally, a document management system will improve efficiency for compliance and audits because these security parameters keep your data processes adherent to regulatory regulations across industries. When it comes time for an audit, your team will have to do far less document searching, and they won’t waste time retrieving the right files that live on local hard drives or in filing cabinets. A document management system helps you demonstrate compliance with traceability and version tracking.
Cut Time Across Processes
There are dozens of ways a document management system drives efficiencies by simply shaving time from workflows. Here are a few:
- The system will provide an intuitive search function so users can rapidly find documents through queries, including tags or other metadata. Indexing is a feature that allows you to classify documents with a range of labels so they can be traced easily.
- Disputes about revisions resolve quickly because the document management system tracks different versions of the same documents. You’ll have every version of a file stored in your system for easy retrieval and to speed along the revision process.
- Similarly, users are kept accountable for their participation in a workflow as the document system tracks where files stagnate.
- If your business needs to deal with paper-based processes, you can continue to do so efficiently using your document management system. The system converts scanned images into editable text documents, which also allows you to easily find specific information within text in the documents.
- Employees will dramatically cut any time associated with storing documents, as you no longer need someone to file data away in folders properly. The document management system automatically and securely stores files in your repository.
- Document management introduces greater accuracy to your business processes, cutting the time spent fixing mistakes or backtracking to determine what went wrong and where. Features like indexing and digital revision tracking reduce human error when it comes to document classification and creation.
- Users will communicate faster — speeding up workflows as they won’t have to wait for documents to be manually passed among desks.
- Reporting — one of the biggest time-drainers in any organization — will be faster and less stressful as employees will have access to all relevant documentation needed to create reports at their fingertips.
Curious About Document Management for Your Organization?
Document management is the best place to start if you’re looking for an easy way to introduce efficiencies throughout your business. Get in touch with a document management expert with any questions you have about implementing the software.
Author Bio
Tom Tassias, Chief Technology Officer at DocXellent, has over 17 years of experience in the document management software space. After joining the DocXellent technology team in 2006, he became responsible for providing technical leadership and creating innovative, best-in-class products and document solutions for their customers. Before working at DocXellent, Tom held roles in Information Technology, software development, technical leadership, and project management.
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