Runaway data or data-powered business growth? Data-driven decisions take businesses to the next level. At the same time, mismanaged data can become a dangerous liability. The right document management system (DMS) can make all the difference. Explore several key ways to improve business operations with a DMS.
As companies become inundated with documents, managing the deluge of information quickly becomes a business priority. Lacking a structured approach to document management, information quickly gets lost. Employees waste time looking for documents or re-creating them. And sensitive data falls out of sight, left vulnerable to unauthorized access.
With a DMS, organizations gain a digital system that provides essential visibility into information throughout the enterprise. It also enables them to create, manage, store, sign, send, and track electronic documents. These core functions deliver significant benefits, from enhancing security to boosting collaboration, facilitating document management, and supporting disaster recovery.
1. Enhance Security and Compliance
With increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks happening daily and with a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, data security takes on great importance. A good DMS system strengthens cyber security and regulatory compliance in several important ways.
In the first place, the DMS allows granular control over who can access, edit, share, and delete documents. Organizations can label sensitive data and enact role-based permissions to ensure access only by authorized persons. They can also tie retention rules to document labels, automatically archiving or deleting documents according to regulatory requirements.
Additionally, the DMS maintains detailed logs of actions taken with each document. This includes recording who accessed, shared, or modified files. Finally, by encrypting data both at rest and in transit, the DMS safeguards documents from unauthorized access or interception.
2. Boost Collaboration
A core function of a DMS system such as Microsoft SharePoint involves providing a centralized repository for organizing enterprise documents of all kinds. This enables team members to find needed documents quickly. It also fosters seamless collaboration by allowing multiple users to work on documents simultaneously.
Because the software tracks changes and includes version control, collaborators have the assurance that they are working on the most recent version of the document. This not only saves time but also reduces errors and redundancies. Additionally, users can leave comments and feedback directly within the documents, streamlining communication.
3. Streamlined Document Management and Retrieval
As the term implies, a document management system shines at managing documents, simplifying file access and managing the document lifecycle. For example, Microsoft SharePoint allows companies to organize documents in various ways, from loosely structured document libraries to specialized sites devoted to a specific project.
Further, teams can utilize SharePoint’s custom metadata tags to categorize documents. For instance, users can tag documents according to project, document type, or approval status, making it easier to sort and retrieve files quickly.
Additionally, teams can automate their document-related workflows. SharePoint includes workflows for common tasks such as document approval. It also allows teams to create custom workflows. For example, teams could define a custom feedback workflow to route documents past multiple reviewers, ensuring all stakeholders have the opportunity to provide input.
4. Safeguard Against Disaster
The DMS plays a crucial role in protecting documents against loss in the event of disasters such as fire or cyberattack. For instance, cloud-based DMS solutions provide off-site backups and quick recovery options to minimize downtime and data loss. And storing documents in the cloud protects them from on-premises disasters.
Also, because the DMS tracks document versions, users can revert back to a previous version if a file becomes corrupted or accidentally deleted. This becomes especially important in minimizing information loss in the event of an incident such as ransomware.
Make an Informed Decision to Improve Business Operations with a DMS
The right DMS solution for your business depends on several factors. These include business size and document volume, the nature of your workflows, and the level of collaboration required. Also consider security and compliance requirements and the need for remote access.
For assistance choosing and implementing the ideal DMS for your organization, turn to the records management experts at Messaging Architects.
