The business world becomes more digital and cloud-based every day, but dealing with paper documents is still a consistent challenge across organizations of all sizes, from all industries. Sometimes, because the average employee has a ton of work on their plate, it seems easier to find a rhythm in the chaos rather than taking the time to step back and implement a better system. But finding the right document management system is critical to ensure the efficiency and resiliency of business processes—and it doesn’t need to be a cumbersome task.
These days, every business must have an efficient electronic document management system in place. So how do you find the right fit for your organization?
What is a Document Management System?
We’ll keep this brief. Document management systems (DMS) are used to digitize, track, manage, and store documents. The right DMS can automate the entire document lifecycle, from arrival through archival. But there’s more to it. Once a document enters a DMS, it’s organized, tagged, routed to users, and stored. With a cloud-based DMS, users working from anywhere can securely access business-related documents and files from one central location, making it easy to access, search, retrieve, and share files.
5 Types of Document Management Systems
Although the functions of a document management system are relatively straightforward, there are a wide range of software products under the umbrella of DMS. Let’s take a look at the different types of electronic document management systems.
- Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMs) manage content specific to the needs and functions of an organization based on workflows, processes, and rules of the enterprise. With an ECM, unstructured information such as Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDFs, and scanned images are stored and made accessible to the right people at the right time.
- Content Management Systems (CMSs) are designed to organize and deliver a wide range of content to users looking to upload, download, share, or publish documents online. WordPress is an example of a CMS.
- Records Management Systems are intended to maintain records and make them easily retrievable. These systems are used mainly by regulated industries such as legal, healthcare, and government agencies.
- Workflow Systems automate repetitive processes to save time, reduce errors, and accelerate specific workflows.
- Document Imaging Systems collect and manage images delivered in any format and convert paper into electronic files and data.
How Can You Find the Perfect Fit DMS?
To make the most impact on your organization and minimize migration challenges, here are a few items to consider before choosing a DMS:
- Document Capture: The DMS must be compatible with various scanners to convert paper files into digital files, and it should be easy for users to modify file formats as needed.
- Search Features: Having only the ability to search just by file names isn’t enough. The ideal DMS must have a wide range of options such as search by keyword, last modified date, file type, and other criteria.
- File Structure: The design and storage of files in the DMS should be user-friendly and accessible to permissioned users from anywhere.
- Security: Data security is always a big deal, and it’s no different with a DMS. The system should be accessible only to users with permissions, which can be customized by user, project, job function, or area of expertise.
- Integration with other software: You want your software to play nicely with other line-of-business systems, such as your email client, or other systems like Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRMs), Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs), Electronic Health or Medical Records Systems (EHR/EMRs), Student Information Systems (SISs), or Government Information Systems (GISs). Whatever your industry, this is a non-negotiable to boost efficiency.
- Mobile-friendly: We are officially a remote, hybrid, and/or on-the-go workforce. That means that to support productivity, your DMS must be accessible from smartphones and tablets.
It’s no longer acceptable to keep business-critical records on paper or stored electronically but in disparate systems with no standardized workflow processes. FileBound is an effective workflow automation and document management product that can empower your busy staff by taking care of the details, so they can focus on getting more done. We’re here to help you make the transition.
There’s more! Curious about how electronic forms can take your efficiency to the next level? Check out our E-forms and e-Signatures Solution.
How about secure and user-friendly, cloud-based document capture and routing from any device? FileBound dovetails nicely with Upland Intelligent Capture to cover the whole document lifecycle.
Contact us to set up a brief demo to see how FileBound can take your organization’s document management processes to the next level.