Does your company’s information look like the image below? Physically filing and storing paper documents has been a core component of business for a very long time. Technology has helped improve the way we operate in every other facet of a business, so what advances are there in the realm of storing documents?
Enter Document Management Systems.
In this blog, I will be taking you through what exactly a document management system is, and how it can be useful to you and your business.
What is a Document Management System?
A document management system or DMS is a system or a piece of software that provides a quick and automated way to store, track and manage all documents in a business.
Document Management Software is all based around 3 core functions
1. Document Capture
For a DMS to work, you need to be able to add information to it. A key factor in this is the ability to capture information from any source, be it a digital document, an email, or a scanned version of a paper document. They need to be able to be added easily to the DMS
2. Storage
The information added to the DMS needs to be stored correctly. It needs to be accessible to all relevant users, has appropriate backups and not have a large effect on the performance of a user’s PC.
3. Retrieval and Distribution
Documents saved into a DMS needs to be easy to find and access for users. Permission restrictions should prevent unwanted access to sensitive information, and high-level searching should make finding specific documents a breeze for users. Users should also be able to easily share documents with their colleagues.
Why is it useful?
So what makes a DMS useful to your business?
1. Improved employee performance
The use of a DMS allows for all of a business’s documents to be found in a single location and easily shared amongst each other, improving the efficiency and way your employees work
2. Paperless Office
Implementing a DMS into your business can allow you to take advantage of the benefits of becoming a paperless office
3. Searching
Indexing of digital documents allows for a high-level search functionality that can save each employee on average 1.6hrs a day looking for information
4. Security and Disaster Recovery
Advanced permission settings allow for increased control over who has access to specific documents. Access rights can be given or rescinded on the fly.
Over 80% of small businesses go under within 3 months of a disaster. By using a DMS, all your information is automatically backed up and can be easily recovered in case of an emergency.
5. Cost
The most significant benefit a DMS can bring to your business is reduced costs. All of the benefits of using a DMS can save your business thousands of dollars per year, per employee.
What to look for in a DMS?
When looking for a DMS product for your business, here’s what you should look for:
- Easy to save documents into, and easy to access documents inside of it
- Easy to find the information you are after
- A “Check-in/Check-Out” function to coordinate the simultaneous editing of a document, so one person’s changes don’t overwrite another’s
- Version control and document history, as well as a “Rollback” function to return to a previous version
- Audit trail
- Workflow Engine, to automate document processes, such as approvals
- Advanced security and access control
- Archiving functionality
- Scanning Should be able to take a scanned file and save it as a document
- Collaboration tools Should be easy for users to share and collaborate on documents
- Integrations, the DMS should integrate seamlessly with other business-critical software
Modern DMS
Nowadays, Document management systems have evolved to be more than just pure document management. There are many different kinds available and a multitude of various acronyms. ECM, ERP, ERM, DRM etc. The one thing they all have in common is that they have document management as a core feature.
Recently there has been a new player in this space, IIM. Intelligent Information Management. IIM uses AI and machine learning to help users classify and manage their documents and information, and the product leading the charge into IIM is M-Files.
M-Files’ intelligent information management solution is metadata-based and repository neutral, allowing users to manage and search for data based on what it is rather than where it is stored. This allows for better access and editing-in-place as opposed to migrating content to the user’s location. M-Files leverages artificial intelligence, specifically machine learning and natural language understanding, to automate document classification and metadata entity extraction.
M-Files has been recognised by independent market researches as a leader in the field, with it recently receiving visionary status in the 2020 Gartner magic quadrant for content services platforms.
Interested in learning how a Document Management System can help you? Contact us to book a demonstration of M-Files, the pinnacle of Document Management Software and learn how it can elevate your business to the next level.
Looking for more info? Check out the following articles from our archives.
- What is Metadata and What it Means for your Business?
- Search your documents like you search the web – Enterprise Information Search
- The Folders Dilemma: Common Problems with Network File Shares and how to overcome them
- Why should you use M-Files over SharePoint Online for your Document Management needs?
- What is Business Process Automation? Is it an Automation your Workplace can do right now?