Data is vital to every business. Which means documentation is equally important because data is stored in documents. For years, businesses have relied on physical papers to manage their data. However, with technological advancement, more businesses are embracing digital document management systems.

Nonetheless, you still find many businesses insisting on the traditional system. With the myriad risks associated with dealing with papers, proper document management becomes necessary.

This article will explain digital documentation and outline how it can benefit your business.

Document Management Definition

Document management is the process of creating, storing, sorting, retrieving, and organizing documents. Therefore, in the true sense of the word, paper documentation is also a form of document management.

However, due to the limitations of the traditional system, document management is popularly used for digitally creating, storing, retrieving, sorting, and managing documents. It also facilitates collaboration in real-time and editing all versions at once, which is impossible with paper.

Digital documentation allows users to work simultaneously on documents and track changes made by the people who can access them. It supports user roles and permissions, as well as retrieving previous versions.

Perhaps, the most notable feature is that documents are saved on the cloud, so they are safe and secure.

Benefits of Document Management to Your Business

While most large enterprises and medium companies understand the benefits of document management, many small businesses have yet to create such a program. It could be that they don’t see the need to upgrade, considering their size. Or it’s because they feel it doesn’t need to be fixed if it isn’t broken.

However, in this case, digital documentation can fix a lot. Let’s take a look at them.

Improved Productivity

Document management systems ensure a seamless workflow because all processes are automated. Your team can create and collaborate on files in real time without waiting for one person to be done before another can work on it. This can reduce bureaucracy and the decision-making process.

Additionally, it decreases the time spent sorting and searching for documents. With physical paper, a good amount of time is spent locating documents because you have to sort through different files. But you can bypass that with electronic documentation, as a search feature can bring up documents at the click of a button.

Also, with paper, there’s always the possibility of misfiling documents, which can result in a long process of trying to find them. But digitally, even when misfiled, a simple search can bring out the relevant document, and then it can be moved to the right folder.

All the time spent with the traditional system can be saved for other important aspects of the business, improving your efficiency and productivity.

Reduced Operating Cost

An average office worker will go through 10,000 sheets of paper per year. But that’s not all that’s required to run a traditional documentation system. You need printers and copiers as well as their associated maintenance fees, files, filing equipment, and storage space. The total cost of all this is far more than it would cost you to have a document management system.

For a document management system, you’ll only be required to pay subscription fees, and your document system will be sorted out for as long as the subscription lasts.

Regulatory Compliance

Litigation and penalty fees can follow a data breach. And that’s in addition to the blow to your company’s reputation that would accompany such an incident. With a traditional storage system, data can be leaked intentionally or unintentionally because papers can be lost, and filing systems can be broken into.

Therefore, your best bet for complying with legal and regulatory requirements is an automated system. It reduces the chances of potential legal consequences because your documents can only be accessed by authorized individuals.

Strengthened Security and Safety

As explained, document management ensures enhanced security and safety. In a traditional system, papers can go missing at any time. That’s in addition to the possibility of being destroyed in the event of a disaster like a fire or flood. A document management system can not only save you from legal issues but also prevent data loss.

Electronic documentation can also help you avoid the consequences of losing vital information. Your documents are saved on the cloud, ensuring a swift data recovery plan in the event of a cyber disaster.

You can also protect your data from being viewed by third parties by restricting access to authorized individuals or through encryption and audit trails.

Better Organization

Document management provides a better organized and more efficiently run office space. You can save yourself from the clutter of the manual filing system, and your team can concentrate without the usual chaos. This will make for a freer and more aesthetically pleasing office environment.

The electronic system ensures documents are filed in their right folder, document changes are tracked, older versions are restored, and collaboration is possible no matter the distance.

Easier Access and Retrieval

The easy access provided by the digital system is different from that of the traditional format since the latter is not as secure. And not only is digital storage safer, but you’ll need less time to find documents and bureaucracy to collaborate on documents.

Therefore, document management enables authorized parties to find documents by simply letting them search through a drive for the folder. You don’t have to go through file upon file and several papers to retrieve the relevant document.

Healthier Environment

You’ll also be doing the environment a favor by supporting a paperless society. Paper is derived from trees, and the environment is in dire need of the oxygen they produce. So, you can rightly position your company as one that cares enough to protect the world by digitalizing your processes.

Embrace the Benefits of Electronic Documentation

You’ll enjoy far more than you would lose by letting go of the manual filing system to embrace document management systems. Your business will be more organized, and you will run a more efficient system. In addition, your customers will be more inclined to trust the privacy of their information to you, and you’ll save money.

Considering all these, there’s hardly anything to lose with document management. And if you’re in Mill Creek and looking for a reputable company to help you go paperless, check out Copiers Etcetera. Contact us today for the best document management services you can find.