Are You Ready For A Document Management System?

How do you know if you’re ready for a document management system?

Implementing a document management system provides many benefits, but can be daunting. Especially when so many advertised features focus on regulations and compliance. That focus might make you wonder if these systems are meant for your business. While these are real benefits, this “fear positioning” ignores many of the key features and benefits that can translate to efficiency in businesses of any size.

Now that many companies have transitioned to teleworking, the ability to share documents and data in real time can do a lot to eliminate roadblocks. The single biggest reason to implement a document management system is to allow for retrieval. We used to say to teams, “If you can tell me how you can retrieve the document, we can tell you how to set up your system.” This would inevitably lead to arguments until we established that we can support the variety of ways necessary. Accounting can search by invoice number and customer service can search by account name. No consensus or cross referencing needed. This flexible technology can position your company well at any stage of growth.

But is it the right time? The changes introduced in conjunction with other growth milestones can make it easier to sell the concept internally. Here are a few key ways to know whether or not a system will pay for itself quickly.

You care about customer service, and you’re growing.

Think about how you use your file systems now. Why do you retrieve documents? For many companies, customer service and order fulfillment are the key to continued growth. For customer service, accessing information and using it to make good decisions for your customers will set you apart and position you for repeat business. Finding information translates to less man hours to satisfy the same number of customer inquiries. There is a soft labor cost to providing good customer service. This reduces that cost.

You need to invest to make more space for your files.

Many paper-based companies keep all of their documents forever. If you’re going to buy a new file cabinet, or look at offsite storage, you’re spending money for a cost-ineffective system. Additionally, there is an enormous amount of duplication with paper files. Why not put those funds, plus the resources saved in efficiency, toward a document management system that will save you more money than you invest?

Your employees each have multiple responsibilities.

Many businesses maintain that they are too small to invest in a document management system. We argue that these are the businesses that are best suited to move forward. A structured process flow does take work to maintain, until you outgrow your manual processes. By then, it’s often too late to offset some of the damage. In our office of three, we run a full workflow system because it’s simply too easy to get distracted by a greasy wheel. This also gives insight into processes if you have a key worker who is unexpectedly out.

The benefits and cost savings of a well implemented document management system are numerous. From risk mitigation for compliance, to structuring a purge cycle to reduce space. While there are costs involved, the payoff is rapid, especially when it comes to soft costs. Soon, we will be looking at ways to cost justify an investment in document management technology in an uncertain future. Until then, we will keep offering ways to keep your business running and growing.