Documents, whether electronic or paper, are an essential component of just about any enterprise. Managing business information, sometimes from several sources, can be a challenging task. Depending on the nature of your company, a Document Management Inc (DMS) that captures, stores, and retrieves both paper and electronic documents can offer multiple key benefits to your organization.
- Reduced Storage Space
Commercial property costs are increasing and so is the expense to store paper documents. A software-based document management solution (DMS) that can reduce the need for file cabinets, boxes, and storage bins is a valuable asset to any enterprise, freeing up precious office space. Documents that have to be kept as hard copies can often be stored in less expensive locations, such as an offsite warehouse or vault.
- Enhanced Security
Document security is critical for organizations of any size to keep sensitive data protected. DMS provides better control over sensitive documents and access to documents can be controlled at the folder level for different groups or individuals. Also, a DMS leaves an audit trail of who has viewed a document, when it was accessed, and how it may have been modified. Managed documents are highly traceable and can be tagged to allow for automated alerts.
- Improved Regulatory Compliance
Compliance requirements for certain documents can be quite complex. Non-conformance can lead to fines, revoked licenses, and in some cases criminal liability. Federal and state regulatory regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley and HIPAA mandate strict security and privacy guidelines. DMS reduces the risk of non-compliance. Records retention schedules, for example, can be automated, and new documents can be more easily classified and stored.
- Easier Retrieval
Searching for and retrieving documents can be very time-consuming – and we all know time is money. In fact, these statistics illustrate the costs related to the average time spent managing paper documents: Why document management systems? Because it costs $20 to file a document, $120 to find a misfiled document, and $220 to reproduce a lost document
A document management system can be a powerful, time-saving tool. Depending on the solution implemented, a DMS can retrieve files by a word or phrase in a document – full-text search or DMS can apply index categories to a document or folder. Easier integration with business applications facilitates access to critical information. DMS also gives the opportunity to access documents remotely. As long as there is an internet connection, documents can be accessed from anywhere.