Why Document Management is Vital in the Age of Paper-Goes-Digital?

Running a business involves a lot of documents. Even the most practical, non-office or paper-based businesses will have to deal with a large amount of paperwork and admin, and it can sometimes be a strain to cope with it all.

The time and resources associated with document handling and management has only increased since the recent pressures of GDPR, Making Tax Digital and various environmental incentives have been added into the mix. It’s no surprise that business owners are now struggling to cope with everything required of them.

That’s just one of the reasons so many businesses are choosing to implement document management solutions. If you want to know why else document management is essential for modern businesses, then read on.

What Is Document Management?

Document management is a bit of a catch-all term used to describe systems used to store, manage and track electronic documents, images and any other paper-based information within your business.

It’s usually done using software that integrates with your existing IT systems and helps you handle your paperwork in a much more efficient way. A full DMS System allows you to easily and securely access and manage your documents.

Document management systems allow you to view, edit and share documents on any device, without worrying that you’re putting data at risk. It also gives you a single central repository for your data, so you don’t have to worry about duplication errors or missing files.

In short, document management solutions are the most robust way to manage any documentation that comes through to your business, in whatever form it takes.

Fuelling Organisational Growth

There is now a lot more pressure on businesses to become digital. Without some form of digital strategy in place, businesses will struggle to grow beyond the incubation phase and instead will become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of digital information required and a mismatch with customer expectations may occur.

Document management systems help businesses smooth out their processes and improve, giving the foundations for rapid and efficient growth.

As an IT manager, I use IT as a way of fuelling growth for businesses, rather than something that holds them back — which is why document management is such an important tool.

Access From Anywhere, Any Time

In a world where people are on the go all the time, accessing data is essential. This has become even more vital since flexible working became commonplace, and colleagues need to be able to work on business documents from multiple locations.

One of the major advantages of storing your documents in the cloud is that you can have instant access, no matter where you happen to be. Anywhere you have an internet connection you can access, download and edit your files on any device. If you store your files as printed documents, you could spend up to 51 minutes a day searching around for documents.

That might not sound like much, but it adds up to 4 and a half hours a week, 17 hours a month and 204 hours a year! These delays in finding documents can make it much harder for your customer service reps to find the information they need to handle complaints or queries, and it could even cost you sales if your reps don’t have the most up to date information.

When you store your documents in the cloud, your team can find and open the documents they need in seconds, regardless of where they are or what device they are using. This leads to less frustrated staff and increased customer satisfaction.

Automated Workflows

Another important element of modern workplaces is automation. Automation has been designed to reduce the strain on employees and to allow them to spend their valuable time on more critical tasks.

Document management solutions allow you to create electronic, automated workflows for those everyday tasks that take up a lot of time and resources but don’t necessarily need to.

By investing in a good document management system, you will gain access to a set of tools which allow you to automate various elements of your workflow. For example, paperwork management is one of the hardest elements to manage, as it can just keep and growing and growing.

Workflow tools allow you simply manage document lifecycles, so documents can be archived or purged from the system when they hit a specific date, allowing your business to stay compliant and keep document storage costs down.

Or perhaps a customer emails to let you know their address has changed? Your easy workflow tools help you read that email, acknowledge receipt for the customer, update the system with the new address and respond to the customer letting them know it has been completed, all within seconds.

There are hundreds of possibilities for automating workflow using cloud-based document management, allowing your employees to focus on more important tasks.

At AIT systems, as your dedicated IT manager, I work closely with businesses to provide them with IT solutions to make their lives easier at every step.

For many, that means creating a bespoke document management solution that meets their needs, helping them automate workflows and create simple, robust systems that will help them grow for years to come. If you would like to find out more, get in touch and book your free demo and consultation.

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