Considering Document Management Software for Your Small ...

March 18th, 2012 by admin

A document management system is a mixture secretary, fax machine, copier, filing cabinet and courier. The proper document management system can make or break your small business. In case you pay staff members to file and obtain documents, or else you have a storeroom loaded with paper records, you have to look into document management software. Here?s how you can select which of the many options is ideal for your organization: 1) Obtain a digital-imaging system. Choosing the right digital-imaging system is its own article, but it suffices to convey, until you have the way to turn your overall paper documents into digital documents, none of the document management systems out there is going to be useful. Don?t forget many document management systems have interfaces to get in touch to document scanners, so you may be looking to get exactly the hardware. 2) Know The reasons you need a document management system. Plenty of good reasons that a document management system may be good for you. Possibly you?re drowning in paper. You may have to alter your workflow to meet the requirements of legislation regarding record keeping, such as HIPPA or Sarbanes-Oxley. Maybe you?re going for your ISO-9000/9001 certification. Each circumstance is best suited by several document management software. 3) Determine what troubles you?re trying to solve. This is associated with, but more detailed than Step 2. Establish the business problems you?re attempting to enhance or reduce costs of, and write them down. Great answers include ?We?re tying to cut costs associated with paperwork,? ?We need far better remote access,? or ?We?re attempting to improve security,? among others. 4) Collect details. You must be familiar with the sorts of documents your small business use, how they?re created, labeled, filed, retrieved, and used going forward. In addition useful is an accurate estimate of how many documents your organization creates (i.e. should input into the DMS) on a daily basis. Contain current electronic documents such as PDFs, spreadsheets, and e-mails. 5) Determine who will host the software. There are two options: you are able to host it yourself (client-server DMS), or you can have the document management software?s vendor host it for you (ASP DMS). Major benefit of a client-server DMS is its more familiar and gives you more control, but it also needs more skills. The charge can be quite a large up-front sum. An ASP DMS is hosted by IT experts who know their craft and have numerous layers of security and backups that virtually assure file security, and they have a monthly fee. Occasionally the solutions you like can be purchased in either case. 6) Check out ease of use. Irrespective of how technically sound or amazing a document management system?s figures are, if the employees can?t learn it easily, they won?t use it. Insist on bringing a low-level employee to a live demonstration or free trial of the DMS, and ask these to use it. If they find it intuitive and easy, you have a winner. You ideally want to strike a great balance between a simple interface and the capability to complete common tasks with minimal clicking and typing. 7) Examine security granularity. You?ll need a DMS which has security that may be set on the document or document type, folder, computer, and system-wide levels. Some advanced document management systems can even set security for specific parts of documents. If the DMS you have been looking at only has computer- or folder-level security options, it should be not going to be the right solution. Can the system conform to your changing needs? Different systems have unique ways in which they could be scaled and customized. Go through the prospective instructions your business might take over the next several years, and be sure that the system you have can change and grow with you. 9) Does it have appropriate workflow functions? Document management systems can implement workflow rules, approval processes, and document-routing procedures. The ability to automate workflow properly for your business is the feature that will grow your employee?s efficiency probably the most. It is not worth giving up security or customization to get, but when you can find a DMS with advanced workflow options, takes it?

Source: http://www.dantheman-inc.com/computers-and-technology/considering-document-management-software-for-your-small-business/

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