Document Management Beats the Paper Chase Game

The time professionals spend looking for information dramatically outweighs the time they spend reading that information.  And then consider the other frustrations caused by paper files:

• Files being misfiled or lost
• Stalled work when a file can’t be located
• Paper costs
• The expense of storage cabinets and the space they take up

Is it time to do things differently and store all those documents electronically?  Businesses that have implemented document management systems would never go back.

What is Document Management?

Simply stated, document management is the electronic capture, storage, retrieval, distribution, and management of paper documents.  Ultimately it includes the destruction of the scanned paper documents.

The benefits of a document management system are numerous and can have a substantial impact on a company’s bottom line and productivity:

• Cost savings in paper, storage cabinets, and gained office space
• Employees are more productive as they are not leaving their desks to hunt down paper files
• Secure documents and meet regulatory compliance requirements
• No lost or missing files
• Better customer service as employees can find information quickly

What to Look for in a Document Management System

As your organization plans for a document management system consider one that:

• Is affordable and provides an attractive Return on Investment
• Is easy and intuitive to use
• Is compatible with company and computer industry standards
• Is scalable to adapt as your organization grows
• Provides extensive search capabilities
• Provides revision control, archiving, and automatic deletion
• Provides configurable, multilevel security
• Manages millions of records securely and in multiple formats
• Provides a quick and easy means of data distribution
• Provides a single source for rapid information retrieval

Planning is Key

The best advice businesses that have implemented document management systems share is to carefully plan the structure of your system.  Focus on common, searchable elements in your documents and how your employees will access information.  Think outside the box, realize that you aren’t locked into the same constraints you are with a paper file system, and understand the capabilities of your system.  Get the right people from your organization involved upfront and rely on the expertise of your document management vendor.

Other advice is to keep things simple as you implement your document management system.  Some businesses start with one area, for example Accounts Payable, and structure a simple folder organization.  This ensures employees know how to access information.  You can build complexity as your system grows.

Document Scanning and Conversion

The final issue to consider is the back filing of old paper documents and files.  Once implemented, document management systems start scanning and filing new files immediately, but what about the storage cabinets full of old files that employees still need to access?

Often organizations think their employees will be able to scan old documents as they have time.  Although that sounds good, businesses often find that their employees do not have adequate time for this.  So, a good recommendation is to plan for back filing.  Some organizations bring in temporary help to scan old files into the new system while others have back filing vendors do the project for them off site.