Organizations produce content at an unprecedented rate, and disorganized or unsecured documents can jeopardize an office. They can cause inefficiencies, compliance issues, and security breaches. Document management is a way to avoid such unpleasantries by means of centralized storage, easy access, version control, and secure sharing of documents. Here are some trends in document management that you should account for when creating your administrative pipelines for the coming years to stay up-to-date.
What Is Document Management?
Document Management Systems—or DMS for short—track, share, and store documents. They usually become a part of a company’s day-to-day tasks, such as document production, reviewing, categorization, publication, dissemination, and more. With 90% of these systems being cloud-based these days, they are globally accessible and incredibly scalable.
But with this astonishing accessibility also comes the question of security, especially considering that your documents depend on the reliability of cloud-based servers. This is why, if you are running an office, you must carefully choose a document management service with a solid reputation for reliability and security. After all, all your infinitely valuable documents may be at their mercy.
Emerging Trends
Document management is far from a static field of office operations. Several trends have either emerged or become ubiquitous in recent years. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Soaring to the Cloud
Cloud computing lets users access documents at any time, from any place, using any device capable of going online. Cloud-based document management systems (DMS) make physical storage a far lesser consideration, although some companies prefer to keep both digital and physical copies of their documents. They also remove barriers to accessing documents from specific hardware or closed networks.
The cloud is flexible, scalable, relatively affordable, and can work for businesses of any size. However, just as with any other technology, they aren’t without concerns. Privacy and security are the primary potential concerns, with some people preferring to keep their critical documents on a local, isolated network. Still, with a reliable document management service, these concerns are usually fairly benign.
Social Integration
Social media’s pervasive influence hasn’t missed the area of document management, either. This doesn’t mean that social media has become a platform for document management, though. Instead, document management platforms have integrated features previously common to social media. Liking, commenting, tagging, and easy file searching mimic the social media experience, making document management more engaging.
This social aspect makes document handling more digestible and familiar, letting users interact with content in a way that is easy to understand and inherently collaborative, thereby improving overall productivity.
Mobile Accessibility
Whether you like it or not, smartphones are omnipresent, and document management system implementation companies haven’t missed the opportunity to leverage on-the-go accessibility. Professionals today expect to access valuable documents constantly, regardless of their location or what device they have on hand. Consequently, DMS providers have been developing mobile-friendly platforms. The key is being accessible, user-friendly, with intuitive and navigable interfaces on smaller screens, while still retaining most desktop-oriented features.
Not everyone may be on board with managing documents via a mobile device due to the inherently unproductive form factor. However, the option is there for those who need it or find it helpful.
Client Portals
A business has little chance of surviving without its clients. DMS plays a part in client engagement as much as any other aspect of business. It does so through customer portals. These portals are a bridge between project managers and clients. DMS creates secure, organized, and interactive platforms for clients to access project-related documents that build trust and transparency between companies and clients, the lifelines of a business. Client portals integrated into a company’s intranet improve customer satisfaction and make communication more robust and all-encompassing.
Enhanced Collaboration
Document management systems are particularly effective in promoting collaboration among employees. By contrast, using email for document collaboration can be inefficient and confusing, especially when dealing with multiple versions and edits. Modern document management systems address these issues with tools for real-time editing, commenting, and version tracking. Such features eliminate the need for long email discussions and mean everyone works with the most up-to-date document without needing to track it manually, leading to faster project completion and better team productivity.
Integrated Workflow and Project Management
Merging project management with document management is a big step forward in making operations more efficient. Older project management tools worked separately, leading to the use of many different systems for various project parts. But, newer document management systems bring these elements together. Project managers can oversee scheduling, communication, and document handling all in one place. Integration makes work smoother, cuts down on the need to jump between systems, and improves productivity by making project management more streamlined and connected.
Scalability
Scalability is a significant feature of contemporary document management systems. When companies expand, their DMS must be capable of adapting to these changes. Modern DMS systems smoothly scale with a company’s growth and expanding output. This scalability ensures that as a company grows, its document management capabilities can keep up, maintaining efficiency and avoiding costly and time-consuming system overhauls.
Affordability
Possibly the best part about today’s document management is that they are as affordable as they’re cutting-edge. Sophisticated DMS used to be expensive and inaccessible to many organizations, especially small businesses like sole proprietorships. But with the rise of cloud software and cheap or even free online platforms, document management has become markedly more accessible to everyone.
These developments mean that companies of various sizes and budgets can employ top-tier document management systems without prohibitive costs. More organizations can benefit from the efficiency, security, and organizational advantages of the accessible modern DMS.
Embrace Efficient Document Management With Elite Imaging Systems
If you’re in Troy, Detroit, and Flint and want to harness the full potential of document management, Elite Imaging Systems offers robust, scalable document management systems for everyone. By embracing these advanced systems, organizations can boost efficiency, security, and compliance.
If you’re interested in elevating your organization’s document management strategy, visit Elite Imaging Systems to explore what we have to offer, or contact us here for personal assistance.
