Documents are a necessary part of any business or organisation. Every department and each position will have documents relevant to them and every procedure and all your policies will be documented somewhere. Regardless of whether these documents are stored physically in your office, or on a computer system, managing these documents, ensuring they are up to date and that your staff are across each document relevant to them can become a difficult task.
A Document Management System automates the process of managing documents from creation to storage and distribution throughout an organisation, increasing efficiency and reducing the cost and clutter of maintaining paper records. As such, businesses are looking to online, cloud-based document management systems to help manage, maintain, and safely store these important business documents.
In this blog, we will discuss the top 5 benefits of implementing a document management system for your business.
1 – Improved Compliance
A document management system is among the most essential tools for compliance in highly regulated industries. The compliance requirements for some documents can be very complex and being non-compliant can result in fines, having licenses cancelled, and in some cases, criminal liability. Implementing a document management system in your business will:
- Securely store your documents in the cloud
- Automate and notify of renewal and review dates of documents
- Version controls each new version of an existing document
- Collect and store the information of those who have viewed a document, when they viewed it and how for how long
- Collect and store signatures of those who have read and agreed to the terms of the document
2 – Access Your Documents Easier
With a document management system, all your documents are stored securely in one place. Rather than spending time searching for physical paper documents in a filing cabinet or scrolling through endless folders on your desktop or email – you can find everything you need in the system.
- A central location for everyone in a business to store, manage and share their documents
- Remotely access documents when you are not physically in the office or a workplace – Anywhere, anytime so long as you have an internet connection.
- Document owners can provide access to particular documents based on groups, positions and departments which can appear and be accessed from a personalised user library
3 – Reduction in Business Costs
One large expense for businesses in the cost involved in physically producing and storing business assets such as documents, forms, and collateral. Commercial property costs are increasing and there are the added costs of office storage equipment such as filing cabinets, folders, and boxes. When including paper, printers, shredders etc, the costs add up. Having a document management system in place can help to
- Reduce paper and printing costs, all information is maintained online in one platform
- Reduce the cost of storage for important documents and information as a document management system stores everything in the cloud.
- Reduce the cost of staffing as fewer hours will be spent filling and locating information
- Reduce liability costs for any confidential or private information that can be lost
4 – Increased Security to your Business
Implementing a document management system goes hand in hand with creating a security awareness program for your business. It provides better control over your business’s confidential documents by providing management over who can access what documentation.
- Each document is controlled by a document owner who provides the permission on who can access it and edit it
- Metadata is collected each time the documents are accessed and stores in the system, providing an audit trail
- Hosted in the cloud, a document management system provides a greater level of privacy and security
5 – Backup and Disaster Recovery
A document management system will come with a back-up and disaster recovery plan. Having your documents digitalised and stored in a cloud-based system ensures they are protected from fire, floods, and other disasters that can occur. You will still be able to access your documents online, regardless of whether your physical infrastructure has been damaged. Without back-up or disaster recovery in place, you run the risk of permanently losing your documents and the data attached to them.
To see how dita Solutions can assist you with the ongoing management of your workplace documents, please contact us today.
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