Go Green with Document Management

Document Control vs. Document Chaos

Where’s the Hanover contract? What happened to Joe’s time sheet? Have you seen my expense report? 

If questions like these are heard in your organization, maybe it’s time to look at the way your documents are being handled.  From sales, to personnel, to accounting, many organizations still suffer from document chaos.

Introduction

How much content does your organization manage daily?  We’re talking about emails, invoices, reports, spreadsheets, documents, videos, slide decks, and all the other content forms that hold your organizational data and information.  Regardless of what your business does, content and data drive it!  Organizations thrive or fail based on their ability to effectively manage their content and make smart decisions based on the data within the content, while efficient processes enable management and staff to carry out the decisions.   

Electronic Content Management (ECM) offers a systematic approach to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver information related to business processes. Automation tools within many modern ECM platforms allow processes to be automated, speeding results while reducing errors and costs.  When it comes to business processes, especially core business processes, accurate information and efficiency are key to organizational success.

Document Management is the #1 Required Workplace Technology | 5 minute read

Introduction

According to a recent report by CMS Wire, 73% of office workers surveyed considered Document Management to be a very important workplace technology.  Next in line was Collaboration Tools, followed by Communications and Knowledge management.  Interestingly, when asked about the current effectiveness of these same workplace tools within their organization, those surveyed rated Document Management well down the scale at #8, with only about 17% of employees saying that their Document Management was working well. 

In this same survey, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Automation were cited as “very” or “somewhat” important by 83.3% of the respondents. Unfortunately, data show that businesses who don’t have their foundation tools (like a robust Document Management system) in place before moving on to these more advanced initiatives are not as successful with the initiative and their employees are not as satisfied.

Electronic Document Management is Strong and Growing

A recent Press Release on Market Watch indicates that, “In 2018, the global Document Management Software market size was 800 million US$ and it is expected to reach 960 million US$ by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 2.5% during 2019-2025. 

For a technology that’s been around since the 1980’s, that’s an astounding amount of growth.  Unlike other technologies that appear and are quickly made obsolete, Document Management remains strong and continues to grow.  What’s given this technology it’s life blood and high demand?

What You Should Know About Document Archival

Arguably, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration may hold one of the largest collections of archived documents, including everything from historical documents to art work, veterans’ records to genealogy records, and much more.  Often times, when we think about archival documents, we think about the type of sweeping historical preservation for which the United States National Archives is known.    

But the truth is, that nearly every organization – from major corporations to small businesses -- has some type of archival documents that must be preserved:  (1) Incorporation papers, (2) Tax records, (3) Accounting files, (4) Customer information, (5) Personnel files, to name a few.  In this respect, then, most of us have our own version of document archival, which is nothing more than the storage and preservation of information. 

Go Beyond Document Management to Business Processes Management

Many paper-based processes, while at their core essential to a business’s operation, can be improved when transformed into digital processes.  That’s why it’s important to go beyond your old document management system (or outdated paper system), and look at your business processes to see how they can be better managed using today's AI and automation technologies.  The benefits are amazing!

Document management, whether digital or paper-based, refers to the organization and storage of documents,  in a predetermined system that enables users to find, share and edit documents. Electronic document management systems commonly provide storage, versioning, metadata, security, indexing and retrieval capabilities.  Paper document management systems commonly provide...file cabinets.  

Why You Shouldn't Scan Documents

It might sound counter-intuitive for a company that calls itself "Paper Alternative Solutions" to publish a blog post telling you not to scan documents, but stick with us for few minutes, and you'll find out why...

Despite the decades-old promise of the "paperless office," there are still plenty of paper documents that are created and distributed.  Moreover, the information on that paper -- be it a form, an invoice, a student or patient record, or an unstructured document like a letter -- needs to be captured accurately and made accessible to the people who need to use it.  

Document Management vs Records Management vs Content Management

This is an update of an article published by Paper Alternative in February, 2017.  It's also the most popular post we've ever published.  Apparently a lot of people are confused about the various terms that are used – document management, records management and content management.

When you need a better way to organize and manage essential business information, we invite you to refer to this article.  You need to know what each of these is before you can decide which of them you need. Bookmark this article for future reference.

Four Requirements for Effective Document Management

Most businesses, even the most organized, have document management problems.  An Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) can help organizations  manage documents better with a systematic method for electronic creation, storage and control of documents.  Consider these important EDMS requirements:

When Document Management Isn’t Enough – Here’s What to Do

If you have a Document Management system, and you’re still having trouble finding the data you need, there’s a problem!  When document management alone hasn’t brought efficiency to your business, it’s time to figure out what went wrong…and fix it.

Managing files and documents has always been a big challenge in business. From the days of paper documents and multiple file cabinets to modern “data in the Cloud,” technology has come a long way! Today’s Content Management Systems are powerful software platforms that save time and money.

However, even the most powerful Document Management System won’t automatically improve your business efficiency.  Here’s what it takes: