Document Management Software
There is absolutely no company in the world that spends a day without viewing or sharing files. Regardless of the type of business, you are involved in, these records include invoices, marketing materials, brochures, technical files, etc. It is the natural part of the business workflow. The problem is that the more we rely on the documents, the more we require the proper document management software to manage them across departments. Even the most productive workers appear in the situation when they are not able to find the required record and spend hours searching for its right version. That is the point where the document management software system comes into play.
What Is Document Management Software (DMS)? Why Does Your Business Need the One?
Document management, often referred to as Document Management Systems (DMS), is a way for the enterprise teams to automatically organize, store, manage, track, share, and edit digital assets. Although most of the enterprise document management systems store files in the cloud, they are much more than cloud storage for assets.
While you are thinking why your company requires the DMS software just investigate some statistics:
As you can see, there are enormous issues associated with proper document management workflows, and 88% of workers report that they require the online solution to overcome this digital mess.
Document management automation helps to facilitate the company’s workflow and manage all the assets across the organization. A good cloud document management system helps to organize all the information in one place, coordinate the collaboration on various documentation across departments, comply with government regulation and share files with external parties all over the world. In this case, cloud DMS becomes one source of truth for all the parties involved in business communication. Such a system helps your business to stay ahead of the competition and raise the employees’ efficiency to the new level.
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Explore 5 Benefits of Document Management Software
Based on the statistics above, when your workers can’t find the right file at the right time, time spent can lead to thousands of dollars loss. Document management automation plays a huge role in making the flow of documents in the organization more efficient, quick, and simple.
There is plenty of benefits that your company will get by introducing a document management software system:
- Create the central repository for existing documentation – clean up the digital mess. Now your team will have an all-in-one place for all the papers within the organization and can find any required file in seconds.
- Go paperless and reduce costs – the research shows that companies can cut their expenses by $40K per year by introducing an online document management workflow. The other thing which your business gets is the road to sustainability as you care about the environment and join the community of eco-friendly enterprises worldwide. Such an approach is likely to strengthen your brand and attract new customers caring about sustainability.
- Streamline employees’ productivity – According to a McKinsey report, employees spend 1.8 hours every day— 9 hours per week, on average searching and gathering information. With a document management system onboard each teammate can get required information from any device or location. Now, the workers have time for more creative and strategic tasks, helping their organization to develop.
- Guarantee the security of assets – the best document management system controls access to various documentation across the company. The DMS software allows you to set up the access permissions for each team member inside and outside the enterprise. It is also possible to set up a notification on the modification of the record. In such a way a manager can control who viewed, commented, or shared files at each point in time. The additional benefit is control from various external threats including phishing attacks, viruses, and other malware.
- Support of compliance practices – depending on the industry and operations jurisdiction your company is subject to various regulations. Certain records have certain requirements and the inability to adhere to privacy guidelines, as well as state or federal regulations can lead to fines or even criminal charges. The document management system software helps to keep your files in order, ensure the electronic records management, and destroy all records in a timely and secure manner.
How to Choose a DMS Solution?
When you are choosing the DMS solution it is important to understand what it can do for your business processes. We recommend that the document management software system has the following features:
- Cloud storage – a centralized place for all files and any workers will be able to access them from any device anywhere.
- Strong search capabilities – helps to quickly browse through file names and the content inside records so employees can easily find what they are looking for.
- Easy collaboration & sharing – provides a space for employees to simultaneously collaborate on various assets within the organization. The system has to notify about each new comment and modification of a file. The employees should be able to quickly share the assets with external parties including government authorities in case of necessity.
- File Naming Convention– if you do not name your files in a proper way it is likely that all you document management system will not be effective. Without naming convention you will not find your files easily, hence it is a good idea to build the naming scheme fitting your requirements. You can name your files according to the dates of their creation or following their content category. A good thing is also to use version numbers and dates to track the changes in your files and easily find the latest version.
- Document editor – with this feature it is easy to perform inline editing of various file types. It helps the user to edit documents on a real-time basis and streamline the workflow.
- Security and access control – protects the enterprise from any unauthorized access to documentation and ensures that only the right people have access to the files. This confidentiality prevents the flow of important business information into the wrong hands that might harm your reputation.
- Version control – guarantees that the company and its employees are always up-to-date on the latest versions of its digital assets.
- Integration with third-party software – it is crucial that your DMS system integrates with various other platforms to support the daily workflow. Such an approach guarantees data accuracy and consistency. The integration with email clients allows sharing files with vendors, clients, and teammates.
- Audit trail – allows you to see the modification path of the file and track the history of its development. Audit trail helps to verify who worked on a file, and when the modifications were made.
- Mobile access – taking into account the world is getting mobile, more and more people would like to work with files on the go. The software you choose has to support the mobile interface and give the admins and users to access files from mobile devices in real-time.
What Are the Potential Problems in DMS system Implementation?
Let’s imagine you decided to introduce document management system software in your company. It is clear that this system will streamline your document management workflows, but you have concerns on how to prepare your team to change.
There are several questions to consider at this point:
- Who will be responsible for the implementation? – It is a common practice when all workers are busy with their own tasks and do not want to care about the new solution. Your role as a manager is to explain the benefits for each of the parties involved and find the supporters of the solution who will benefit most. As a result, you can share the implementation responsibilities across departments. In this respect, it is important to have the technical specialist familiar with the product within the company and a dedicated representative from the DMS system side.
- How long will the implementation period last? – You have probably heard about the learning curve, which means that a certain period is required for any specialist to master the new program. Choose the enterprise document management software with an intuitive interface and well-developed customer support to streamline the integration process. Do not expect that the digital transformation will finish in several days, give your employees time to accustom to the new reality, and provide ongoing support and feedback on their user experience. In the case of employee resistance, you should initiate an open discussion to hear everyone’s concerns and explain all the benefits and convenience the system can provide.
- How to get the budget approval? – In many organizations, it might not be an easy task to convince the owner to purchase new software. Fortunately, most of the applications have a free trial period when you can test the system and prepare the analytical report showing its impact on the company processes. Definitely it is easier to make the decision when financial benefits are clear.
As you can see it is easy to prepare for the digital workflow transformation, you just have to make a decision and start. We at Fluix developed a lightweight document management software solution for any business, which will help to boost your productivity and automate the current document workflow. If you care about control over company documentation, would like to eliminate manual paperwork, streamline team collaboration, and use the time business-wise reducing human errors – Fluix should become your choice.
