This article describes the ins and outs of document management. We go over the basics of document management, and the benefits of a proper system. We also explore some myths about document management. Finally, we illustrate the ManageMore approach, and why it is superior to other software systems.
The Basics
What is Document Management?
Document management is “the process of retrieving, sharing, tracking, revising, and distributing documents and the information they contain”. In the traditional sense, these documents come in a paper format and businesses use physical filing cabinets to handle the document management processes.
In today’s business, document management systems are now understood as an electronic means of storing and retrieving documents without the need for paper or physical filing storage systems.
When did Document Management software solutions begin?
The first document management products appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These products were originally developed as stand-alone technologies in one of four areas: imaging, workflow, document management (DM), or enterprise report management (ERM), the last being formerly known as computer output to laser disk (COLD).
In these early days, building different products for distinct document management functions made sense. Most organizations generally wanted a solution for one overriding business need or application, often at the departmental level — such as imaging for forms processing, workflow for insurance claims processing, DM for engineering documentation or ERM for distributing and archiving monthly financial reports. If you needed imaging, DM and workflow to address your business problems, you bought solutions from each of these technology categories and were then faced with the task of integrating them within your environment.
What makes one document management software different from another?
In the past, we only had to deal with documents in the most basic of terms… the handling of a piece of paper containing some information on it. However, the advancements in computer technology, the internet, and almost everything going digital in some manner or another has caused a new twist on electronic storage/retrieval systems. As a result, we now have two forms of document management that are used in businesses today.
The concept of enterprise content management (ECM) arose to encompass the management of a wider range of content like web pages, e-mail, audio files, spreadsheets, etc. Meanwhile, many of the smaller, privately owned software providers remained focused on the original integrated document management (IDM) that dealt mostly with the handling of scanned pages of invoices, contracts, receipts, correspondence, etc. While the latter usually lack the Web content management, digital asset management and collaboration features found in ECM systems, IDM provides a range of document management functionality in an integrated system with a single user interface, a single logical repository and a common centralized administration.
Many of the big players in today’s ECM market space have roots in the IDM space. However, ECM solutions have typically been targeted for very large organizations with big IT budgets. It is not uncommon for ECM solutions to be in the $250,000 range and up to implement.
The Real Benefits of Document Management
The primary benefits that any document management system can bring to an organization revolve around saving time or improving accessibility to information. These would include:
- Streamlining paper handling and time-consuming, error-prone manual processes
- Speeding access to information with online search, retrieval and viewing
- Broadening access to information, turning physical records (paper, microfilm or microfiche) into sharable electronic resources
- Improving document security and control over document access and modification
- Ensuring compliance with industry regulations through improved records management
- Reducing lost documents
- Reducing paper storage requirements.
The most visible benefit of deploying an IDM or ECM system is an immediate reduction in manual processes and volumes of paper. In most cases, companies that deploy these systems gain a rapid return on investment — in some instances within a year. The costs savings are easy to see: dramatic decreases in the time and labor required to search for and retrieve documents, increases in work capacity and productivity (without adding employees) and reduced physical space demands for filing paper copies of documents in offices (or in offsite warehouses).
The Myths of Document Management
Quite often, the small-to-midsize enterprise (SME) shy away from document management for all the wrong reasons. They understand the benefits, but still seem to come up with excuses for not taking advantage of the technology. After all, if more than 85% of the SME market today still use filing cabinets for document storage/retrieval, then there must be a good reason for it. Right? It is this line of reasoning that often holds back businesses from embracing this concept in the office place today.
Here are some of the more common barriers (sometimes myths) that hold back businesses from becoming paperless:
1. “The paperless office concept has been around for over twenty years and is still not widely used in businesses today. It isn’t any more realistic today than it was twenty years ago.“
Although the first part of this statement is still mostly true, there has been a great deal that has changed in just the last 3-5 years that make DM a reality today. DM is now possible in every business because of one major factor… inexpensive computer equipment and massive hard drive capacities. Storage space is now in the hundreds of Gigabytes… much more than the average size business will ever consume. This translates to over well over three million high-resolution scanned documents on a single 200 Gigabyte hard drive for under $150.
Furthermore, an above average computer scanner is now less than $200. A huge difference in price from the $1500-$2000 sticker price of a decade ago.
2. “It’s too expensive to setup a document management system.”
This is not a myth, but rather a statement that is no longer valid given today’s advancements in technology. As already mentioned in the first myth above, computer hardware is extremely cheap today. It’s sometimes even cheaper than purchasing a large filing cabinet with hanging folders, labels, etc.
3. “It’s too dangerous to place all your documents in a single computer that could be stolen or breakdown at anytime.“
This argument against DM is probably the most short-sided thinking of all… and yet many businesses owners are paranoid about getting rid of their paper documents and relying solely on a computer and software program to manage their documents. What makes this argument poor is that there are literally a dozen or more things that can be done to avoid this from happening in the first place. A proper tape backup strategy being the most obvious solution to solve the immediate threat of hardware malfunction or theft.
In fact, there are many more realistic scenarios against paper filing systems that should concern a business owner. A business with a large storage room overflowing with documents might not have enough time or be unprepared to relocate office paperwork in the event of a fire, hurricane, flood, tornado, riot, etc. On the flip side, a simple backup tape/CD could travel with you anywhere and be up and running in minutes at an alternate facility.
For the total paranoid individual who wants piece of mind that their documents are safe and sound at all times, consider outsourcing the backup process with companies like www.connected.com. This type of internet-based backup service is relatively cheap and ensures you that backups are safe, no matter what mishap occurs.
4. “I need original documents to work with because reprinted electronic formats are not legally binding.”
Guess again. As of October 2000, Congress put into full effect the Electronic Signatures in National and Global E-Commerce Act (E-Sign) . This has been hailed as a groundbreaking piece of federal legislation that creates new possibilities for all kinds of electronic business.
Simply stated, E-Sign grants electronic signatures and electronic records the same legal weight as their paper counterparts. In addition, the law seeks to promote domestic and international e-commerce by clarifying the legal significance of electronic transactions. Most US states and several nations have already passed some form of electronic signature legislation, a fact the law recognizes by working to harmonize divergent state laws and by providing Congress with a mandate to promote global legal harmonization.
In fact, many nationwide retail stores today are now widely using electronic signature capture devices to record your John Hancock on store purchases.
Another law put into effect as of October 2004 is the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21). Check 21 authorizes the creation of a new instrument, an “image replacement document” (IRD). An IRD is a substitute check that has been imaged from the original paper version presented to the clearing bank. It has the same legal status—for proof of payment, for example—as an original check. These federal laws only emphasize that electronic imaging is here to stay and is steamrolling into our daily business activities.
Breaking the Bad Habit
With all the good things that computers have brought us during the information age, they haven’t exactly eliminated the need for paper. Some would say the need to print things out has made paper even more ever-present, and technology has allowed reams of copy to be printed with incredible speed.
In 1981 US business consumed an estimated 850 billion pages of paper. By 1986, amid claims that the paperless office had arrived, the total had risen to 2.5 trillion pages…. In 1990, business was using 4 trillion pages. And in the last twenty years, the usage of paper products has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million, which is a growth of 126%.
That’s a lot of paper!
For one reason or another, offices have been unwilling or unable to take the necessary steps to realize a fully paperless environment. Beside some of the common misunderstandings mentioned earlier, other experts cite human psychology, entrenched business practices, and labor-saving technology as the three factors preventing the move to paperlessness. Of course, it’s true: despite the almost complete permeation of modern life with computers and digital technologies, we still think of paper as somehow more permanent, more appealing visually and tactilely, and more official. The human race has been working with paper in one way or another for over a millennium. Naturally, it’s not going to be easy to break free from such a tradition.
But against those reasons for our reluctance to change, there are plenty of good reasons for seeking to reduce, if not outright abolish, our tendency to print everything out. Environmental concerns alone should be sufficient motive for going paperless. But these too frequently go ignored if corporations believe paperless solutions will harm them fiscally.
Yet this is not the case. In fact, there are good indications of why the opposite is true.
First, because competition is fierce, corporations need to be quick in getting things done. That goes without saying. But paper is not fast, neither in printing nor distribution, and waiting for information in any form does not make good business sense.
Second, technology is at the point where a paperless office is actually within reach. Scanners are faster, computers are more powerful, storage devices are more capacious, and content management systems are ever more reliable, functional, and intuitive.
Finally, the cost has never been lower. The marketplace for paperless office technology has exploded, and intense competition has brought prices down. Not only is the hardware half of the solution within reach of even today’s smaller companies, but the software half — the content management system — is more reasonably priced than it’s ever been.
Paperlessness is no longer a dream for the future — it’s closer to a reality of today. Digital alternatives to paper are becoming more sophisticated, and more predominant, every day. For example, new legislation in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada has made it possible for businesses and governments to effect legally binding transactions electronically. Electronic books and magazines printed on reusable, electronic paper are in the advanced stages of development. And everyone knows what email has done to the traditional letter.
Document Management the ManageMore Way
Suffice it to say that ManageMore’s Intellifile™ module is clearly the most beneficial automation tool integrated into the ManageMore Business Software suite. Intellifile is very unique in that it has all the qualities of a powerful integrated document management system as well as quite a few of the capabilities found in electronic content management systems.
The best part is that Intellifile is extremely affordable, easy to use, and fully integrated into a robust business accounting software. What more can you ask for?
