Importance of a document management system for your business

It’s essential for a company to ensure the best utilisation of resources such as money, time and space, in order to work as efficiently as possible. Not only is effective document management important from a practical perspective, legal implications also need to be considered. All digital documents should ideally be archived in a way that is audit-compliant. All of this can be facilitated through efficient document management systems, whether it takes place onsite under your own management, or offsite through a document management company. There are countless benefits to proper document management. Here are a few reasons to get on board. Take less space Conventional document storage takes up an incredible amount of physical space, which will eventually create a situation where your paper documents will be competing for space with your employees. Document scanning and storage will solve or prevent this problem. Easy retrieval A document management system creates and stores digital images of your conventional, paper documents, which enables you to retrieve them as and when you require them, with the use of specific keywords or phrases. This can all be done without having to leave your desk. This saves time, increases information security and prevents the loss of actual documents. Protection of sensitive information With an efficient document management solution, you can control who sees what. You can decide to share or not share your information with certain individuals or groups and you can password protect or encrypt your documents and folders. Another benefit of this is that you can see who opened, viewed and/or modified what, when and how. This is all very difficult with conventional paper storage systems. Easy sharing Digital imaging makes sharing documents with clients or co-workers via email or your company network very practical. Sharing of conventional documents usually requires photocopying, which is costly and inefficient. The distribution of paper documents outside of your office means increased costs such as postal or courier services costs. Back-up and recovery With a document management system, it is easy to make back-ups so that files can be recovered quickly – especially in the event of your paper documents getting lost due to, for instance, fire or theft. Digitised documents are kept in central storage and are difficult to be incorrectly filed, misplaced, lost or stolen. Beat the competition Document storage systems can make it easier for your company to distribute marketing related information to your (potential) customers. This means that the services, products or support your company offers can be shared quickly and professionally, improving and/or reinforcing your company’s reputation in the marketplace, making competing with other companies in your specific area of business more efficient. More efficient overall business operations The implementation of a document management system can significantly improve the daily operations of your business, which in turn leads to more efficient internal company information distribution such as reports, memorandums, minutes of meetings and so on, which leads to a more effective work environment, impacting positively on your company’s bottom line. Imagine how much more productive and thus more profitable your businesses would be if your document systems worked efficiently. It’s time to make sure you implement an efficient document management system to ensure your business runs as smoothly as possible.