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12 Key Benefits of Document Management System

benefits of document management system

We are living in the age of information. According to the internet, we are generating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day.  The Internet tells us that approximately 90% of that data has been created in the last two years alone, and this pace of data generation is by no means slowing down. Now imagine this much data in form of files or papers. The stack of papers would be able to cover the distance to the sun and back. Therefore businesses must know about the benefits of the document management system.

We at Pericent believe Digital documents are the need of the hour and we need to be able to do everything with digital documents which we do with physical documents i.e. storage, organization, annotations, signatures, etc. Document Management Software lets you do that and a lot more. A DMS system can function as a central organizing tool for all your business needs, saving you time and money, and boosting the productivity of your organization.

Benefits of Document Management System (DMS)

1. Reduces storage space

Storing physical documents requires a lot of space which requires a lot of money. Office space is expensive, along with the cost of paper, printer ink, file cabinets, storage boxes, bins, etc. A DMS Software allows you to save space and money by freeing up the need to store physical documents and use those resources for other purposes. This is one of the major benefits of DMS, that it allows businesses to go paperless.

2. Convenient searches

Searching for any information in physical files becomes a hassle. A Document Management System is the central hub for all the information that an organization collects, it makes searching for information very easy and convenient. DMS also allows document indexing which makes searching information easier.

Index-based search is a robust search method that works based on the metadata information attached to a document. A physical search could take up to a few minutes to a few hours; DMS would do that for you in a couple of seconds.

3. Improve workflow

A document in its lifecycle has to go from person to person in a department, department to department in a company, and from company to third party organizations. The document will have to cross several stages like creation, review, approval, and dispatch before it completes its purpose. Sometimes that document might also end up getting lost on someone’s desk.

DMS systems allow you to not only track the document where exactly it is in its lifecycle but also see what all modifications or additions have been made in it and also see who has (or has not) approved the document. This benefit of DMS allows businesses to function very efficiently boosting productivity in an organization. Additionally, DMS has a feature of document classification which allows you to group and organize your work better.

4. Version control

One benefit of Document Management Systems that helps businesses a lot is version control. Sharing the document via email or other sharing apps means that there are a lot of versions of the same file floating around. So it becomes hard to know which version is the latest one. If a mistake is made in a document, it makes it necessary for the document to be created from scratch.

With version control in DMS even if you share the file, there is only one file that is being worked upon and if a mistake is made you could simply revert back to an earlier version of the document, saving you a lot of time and effort.

5. Collaborate better

Whether you are working in an office or from your home, a cloud-based DMS will make collaborating on projects or documents easier than a traditional document management solution. You can upload any document very easily from diverse channels such as email, dropbox, google docs, MS Office, Android, or iOS devices or directly scan and capture a paper document onto a DMS database. Additionally, with integrated email capture, correspondence related to a shared document can also be tracked and viewed.

6. Share effortlessly

Document Management Software allows you to upload, store, search, and share documents with any person within the system itself. No need to email multiple times to share a file creating confusion of multiple copies and versions. You can also personalize the access to a document according to your requirement and suitability and email the file as an attachment or as a ticket URL with an expiry date. Cloud DMS will allow you to access your documents from any time, anywhere.

7. Stress-free compliance management

Compliance and regulatory requirements have become increasingly difficult territory to navigate. Especially different industries require different specific compliance standards. Traditionally, organizations used to store files physically in cabinets, folders, or in silos which always results in damage and spotting to the documents over time.

DMS systems prove to be greatly beneficial during this whole process. It provides a complete audit trail related to a document and also ensures the retention of documents a decade in length or longer. This makes the whole process of audits and compliance management stress-free.

8. Improve security

DMS automates the security of your data by taking backups of your data, requiring authentication to approve a document, allowing you to rescind access permission of any shared document, tracking who downloaded or modified the document and when. This is beneficial to businesses as it protects them from internal data breaches and secures their documents.

9. Disaster Recovery

We never ask for trouble but it comes looking for us anyway. The only thing we can do is to prepare for it. Document Management System is one of those things that help businesses prepare in case of disasters such as fire or water damage as all documents are stored online and archived offsite.

10. Save time and money

Businesses save a lot of money in form of paper, printer ink, physical storage, etc. Less manpower is needed as digital documents do not need to be maintained, fetched, or moved around. Time is saved as DMS makes working with documents easy. This boosts productivity across the organization and saves the business a lot of time and money. We cannot overlook this benefit of the document management system.

11. Enhance your competitiveness

To compete on a global level today time, money, productivity, quality, and consistency are the metrics by which businesses have to measure their success. A DMS would help in making sure that you are able to compete with the best.

12. Become green

Last but definitely not least benefit of a document management system is that it helps organizations become green. You can save a lot of paper and hence a lot many trees with the help of a Document Management System.

Conclusion

In the age of technology, workplaces have gone completely digital. To keep up with times organizations use 10 different applications to store, manage, and work with documents.

A Document Management System (DMS) such as docEdge DMS would centralize all your data so that you don’t need to keep switching applications while working and it would also ensure that your data remains secure and safe. The benefits of document management system are many, the real question is why you aren’t still using it.

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Real Advantage of Paperless Office

Paperless Office

Businesses don’t realize that the time spent looking for documents costs them dearly and is detrimental to their business (31% of respondents said that if they weren’t looking for documents, they would be spending time on business development). There are many benefits to a paperless office, some of which you might not even have thought about.

Pragmatically speaking, a paperless office doesn’t exist. Paper will always find its way into an organization. Vendors will send contracts. Customers will send purchase orders. Potential employees will bring resumes.

“Going paperless”—eliminating paper usage and managing documents in the cloud or web-based filing systems—sounds hip, smart, and eco-friendly. However, the reality is that paper still permeates the modern office. And businesses have been slow to start the transition.

Even though this is considered a myth, almost all organizations are aiming for going paperless nowadays.

A few of the advantages of going paperless

Business development

With the time saved, executives can spend their time more productively, on developing the business. According to the YouGov survey, 30% of business managers and directors would spend the time they save on business development.

Better customer service

A digital document management system allows you to access all customer data, retrieving information such as customer orders and documents, allowing your business to proactively provide customer service, and respond to inquiries faster.

E-mail efficiency

A digital document management system that communicates with your server-based email system will allow you to save emails into the system just like any other document, making it easy for you to search your email history.

Return on investment

Businesses do not need to spend a lot of capital in order to have a digital document management system. There are cost-effective choices that will allow you to see a return on investment in as little as 6 months.

Greater document security

The security of the information stored in digital format is much greater than the security of the documents that are filed in paper. In addition to the fact that it’s easier to restrict the access to confidential information stored in digital format, it is also easier and less expensive to make backups, so that if files get lost or a data theft occurs, it’s possible (and much easier) to retrieve the information.

Meanwhile, documents  on paper are much more exposed to accidents – leaks, floods, fires – and is much more easily accessible to third parties.

Less overhead costs

Digitizing documents has a direct impact on cost reduction. Not only because companies don’t need to buy as much paper as before, but because it also saves on maintaining printers and purchasing spare parts.

On the other hand, if all of a company’s documents are digitised and can be sent by email, there is no need to spend on mailings anymore.

Less space dedicated to file storage

Freeing the space dedicated to filing physical documents is also one of the main advantages of a paperless office. A digital document management system allows companies to archive everything in the cloud or on private company servers.

The space that is saved can be dedicated to expanding offices or other uses that bring more value to employees, such as a rest area to socialize with colleagues.

Automatic audit trail

Increasingly, businesses need to adhere to strict guidelines on compliance and need to store records for many years. With a digital document management system, there are no limits to the amount of documents you can store, and every document will have a unique number –automatically generating an audit trail. This also gives the ability to make changes to documents and still keep the original, helping with compliance and audit guidelines.

Simplicity

With a digital document management system, you can simplify many business processes. Users can action or authorise tasks and transfer data with the touch of a button. Ordering goods and authorising invoices are just two of the best examples of daily tasks that become more efficient when done digitally.

What did we conclude?

Looking at all of the above-mentioned advantages, more and more companies are being driven to eliminate the use of paper in all their business processes.

At Pericent BPM and BPM Software, we’re already a paperless office, and we firmly believe in the benefits of document scanning and digital document management systems.

We are on a mission to help every organization become a part of the digital world by being a paperless office with the use of docEdge DMS.

If you would like to try docEdge for digitizing your documents and managing them online, request for a demo and try it free for 14 days.

 

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Definition of Document Management System

Document Management System

What is a document management system?

Document management, often referred to as Document Management Systems (DMS), is the use of a computer system and software to store, manage and track electronic documents and electronic images of paper-based information captured through the use of a document scanner.

Benefits of Document Management Systems?

A Document Management System (DMS) can be seen as a set of standardized practices that:

  • Control the creation and authentication of documents
  • Exercise version control where multiple versions of a document are maintained
  • Manage storage of documents in a way that facilitates convenient retrieval of a particular document when needed
  • Ensure security and safety of documents with the dual objectives of preventing unauthorized access to documents and allowing recovery from physical damage or loss of documents
  • Creates the policy for archiving old documents and disposing of them at the end of their life

The DMS can be manual or electronic, though the latter has such overwhelming advantages that wherever the investment is justified, an electronic document management system (EDMS) should be installed in full or part.

According to ISO 12651-2, a document is “recorded information or object which can be treated as a unit”. While this sounds a little complicated, it is quite simply what you have been using to create, distribute and use for years.

Document management is one of the precursor technologies to content management, and not all that long ago was available solely on a stand-alone basis like its imaging, workflow, and archiving brethren like docEdge DMs. It provides some of the most basic functionality to content management, imposing controls and management capabilities onto otherwise “dumb” documents. This makes it so that when you have documents and need to use them, you are able to do so.

 Key Features in Document Management Systems

  • Check-in/check-out and locking, to coordinate the simultaneous editing of a document so one person’s changes don’t overwrite another’s.
  • Version control, so tabs can be kept on how the current document came to be, and how it differs from the versions that came before.
  • Audit trail, to permit the reconstruction of who did what to a document during the course of its life in the system.
  • Annotation and Stamps
  • Stress-Free Auditing

Document management systems today range in size and scope from small, standalone systems to large-scale enterprise-wide configurations serving a global audience.  Many document management systems provide a means to incorporate standard physical document filing practices electronically. These include:

  1. Storage location
  2. Security and access control
  3. Version control
  4. Audit trails
  5. Check-in/check-out and document lockdown.

Document management, while still recognized and utilized independently, it is also a common component found within an Enterprise Content Management environment.

 

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