Overview

Ever since the inception of your business, you're dealing with heaps of business data, existing primarily in paper form. However, the data can get too much, and, in some circumstances, you might not even know the whereabouts of specific files.

In simple terms, it can get overwhelming and can drastically impact your business's efficiency. But you didn't start your business empire to see it slowly crumble and let someone else take it over, right?

Well, you need something to organize your data in simplified file formats. Nothing can do that better than an Enterprise Document Management Software!

Wondering what it is?

Let's dig deep to find out… 

But What is An Enterprise Document Management Software?

It's a document management system (DMS), enabling you to organize all the business documents (both digital and paper files) in a single, accessible repository. In simple terms, it’s an electronic document management system (EDMS), helping you go paperless and mainstream your business operations.

You can organize, store, index, and protect different business documents in EDM software. But that's not it. Suppose you even have documents existing in paper format. In that case, EDM has scanning features, allowing you to capture and store the digital version of the paper document.

However, EDM technology has snowballed in a few years, and the burst of innovations in various document management solutions has left many people confused. For example, you see, many people confuse EDM with content management system (CMS) – a type of software with many points in common.

Yes, we know they seem similar, but there are some notable differences between them. Let's help you out in distinguishing between the two platforms.

Classification between EDM and CMS

To burst your bubble, both these platforms are part of the same boat. But then, what makes these two different? Hang on, we'll get on that in a bit, but let's first understand CMS.

CMS software can manage multiple types of digital documents. Hence, now you can not only manage PDFs and word files, but you can also handle images, audio files, web pages, and flash files with CMS.

In simple terms, CMS is the bigger picture, and within that lies EDM. So, you see, both of these systems have a lot in common, but they have varying characteristics and applications. Let's start identifying the differences between the two. 

Type of Content

EDM is used to organize paper, structured, and electronic documents. However, an ECM has more to offer – it can capture, manage, and store various kinds of structured and unstructured documents such as videos, audios, contracts, purchase orders, and receipts.

Features

Since an EDM is mainly used for managing business documents, it has features such as optical character recognition (OCR), handprint character recognition (HCR), optical mark recognition (OMR), signatures, stamps, etc. However, you cannot find such tools in a CMS because you don't need them there.

What's In It for Me?

If your organization is still paperless, just observe the number of documents you create each day. You may be surprised by the number. For example, let's say you're in a B2B organization. In such a situation, your business may contract with many different organizations.

Contractual info, pay orders, personal details, supplier's orders – we haven't even started, and the list can go on. Hence, it creates a cluster of documents, and there is a high probability of misplacements.

To avoid any misplacements and document clutter in your business, EDM is what you need.

But that's not all. Here are the notable benefits of incorporating an EDM in your organization.

High Storage Capacity

The documents can have high storage requirements, and when you have thousands of them, you surely need a large storage capacity. Fortunately, EDMs have increased storage capacity, allowing you to store a large volume of data at a central, focal location.

Organizes Data at a Central Location

As mentioned above, you get to save every piece of your business data in a single repository. Moreover, each data piece is classified with specific metadata (a reference). Hence, you can retrieve the required fragment within seconds by typing a distinct keyword, topic, index, etc.

Now, you don't have to dig up piles of documents; with just one click, you can get your required data. Isn't it great?

Data Protection

So, you have heaps of files locked out in a warehouse. What if there's a fire or flood at the warehouse? Or what if the files are stolen? Hence, theirs is an inherent risk, enough to destroy your business empire.

Not anymore!

With an EDM, your data is backed up on your devices and the Internet. But what if the files are hacked? Well, don't worry. EDMs are stored on a cloud-based platform having multiple security SSL layers. Hence, the system is safe and out of reach of hackers and malicious cyberattacks.

Collaboration and Sharing Documents

An EDM allows you to share data files with internal as well as external users. You don't have to print files and continuously ping up suppliers. You can give them access to documents with a single click, and they can view them at their ease.

Tell Me More About the Working of an EDM!

At the start, you might be clueless about using an EDM. But don't worry. Although EDM software can differ significantly, let us break down a typical process.

Data Capture

The process starts with capturing and digitizing data on the EDMs. Here's how you can catch different types of data:

• Paper-based documents: these are scanned and assigned a specific index term (for reference)
• Emails: Document management software can also capture emails and their attachments, storing them on the basis of the recipient, subject line, or sender.
• Business reports: business systems generate reports, which can be automatically captured by a document management system.

Centralize

Once the relevant data has been captured, it is stored in a central document storage area, i.e., an electronic file cabinet. This pivotal position holds and manages data coming from various sources. On this platform, you can provide access to relevant authorized people who can use the data.

You can even control the security and view the version history of a particular document.

Retrieving and Distribution

As mentioned earlier, all the data files are saved with specific metadata or index term. Search engines on the platform enable you to retrieve the data quickly.

Moreover, you can grant access to the relevant stakeholder who requires the specific document.

The Ideal Enterprise Document Management System!

Till now, you must have got the hang of the usefulness and process of an enterprise document management system. But before you go out purchasing software for your purchase, let us tell you there are a lot of providers out there.

Hence, you need to be careful. There are some essential features that you must have in your EDM. Before you make your purchase decision, look out for these features:

• Check-in/Check-out: A feature that helps with editing and formatting the documents
• Version Control: You can check the previous edited versions of the document by using this feature.
• Keyword Search: Your software must have a relevant filter to quickly search for documents
• Security: It helps with limiting the permission access to authorized personnel.
• Audit trail: It helps you find out every edit made on a document
• Document Sharing: This goes without saying. Your software must be able to provide access to different parties.

Here it is - the complete list of the bare minimum requirements for a perfect EDM system.

Streamline Your Business with EDMS!

An EDM system offers endless benefits to upgrade your business's efficiency. But it all comes down to the software you're purchasing. You know when you need one if:

• You can't manage and organize documents
• Your business efficiency is getting effected
• You face delays due to document-related problems
• You are facing compliance issues regarding document-related problems
• Book-keeping and account-related problems often get tricky.

Tired of all such problems? Want to see your business achieve new heights of efficiency, enabling you to churn in more profits?

Hear us closely as we have something in store for you – a special EDM software with all the crucial features, ready to take care of all your business needs. Here's is how it'll help you out:

• Provides both content and records management
• The web-based interface supports document friendly options
• Allows setting security roles
• Enables audit of enterprise records and registers
• Allows running multiple tasks all at once

That's not all. This software is available in three different deployment functions:

• Stand-alone

            The software is directly installed in your operating system.

• Shared-Server

            Software is installed on a specific server within the organization. It stores documents at a single location, and it's accessible to all the workstations in the organization.

• Cloud-based document management server

            Access your business data anywhere using the Internet. The cloud storage platform allows access to data online 24/7.

Make Your Life Easy with LogicalDOC!

LogicalDOC is here to take care of all your business problems. With the necessary features to organize your business data, we are ever ready to help you out.

Reach out today to check out our various offerings!

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Insights on Business Process Management

and Workflow Automation

While Business Process Management (BPM) is a distinct subject, it is strongly related to document management and workflow. Documents are used in almost all business procedures. Decision-making is also a part of the business process. Identifying and electronically recording, or mapping, your business process and its rules are known as the workflow process, or at least automated rules-based workflow. This allows systems to make rules-based judgments, allowing your company to do business more quickly. Employees who perform various functions in various departments are now aware of your company's workflow.

Your procedures are a significant resource for your company. On the other hand, your employees take this information home every day. Who takes over their responsibilities when they call in sick, resign, or get promoted? Do their successors, most critically, know what to do? Even worse, are you paying your staff to perform routine tasks?

The value of an employee comes from their ability to make judgments that cannot be automated rather than from their ability to execute repetitive duties. Why do we pay employees to perform the same thing every day? Although not all jobs can be entirely automated, your employees will be considerably more productive if you have a well-defined document management procedure.

Processes in Business

What is the definition of BPM (Business Process Management) ?

It's spending the time to learn about your company procedures so you can figure out what the best ones are. Just because a company has been using the same approach for years does not indicate it is efficient. BPM begins by examining the present condition of business processes, or the as-is state.

The next stage is to figure out what the best methods are or what the to-be state is. You may then automate the workflow to eliminate previously needed employees' phases after discovering, mapping, and simplifying your processes. This is the power of business process management (BPM) and workflow process automation.

Automation of Workflows

If you use your Document Management System to automate workflow processes, you must first identify the documents and the procedures for each step. We may include procedures in our invoicing example where the department seeking the original purchase files a buy request. The system could go through the demand to see whether it's within budget or if it's from a trusted vendor.

The purchase request might be automatically authorized, and a purchase order created if everything meets the established requirements. If anything does not comply with the automatic approval standards, the purchase request may be forwarded to a higher-level individual for approval. After that individual approves or rejects the request, the procedure can proceed to the following automated phase.

The instance above may or may not be representative of your business policies. It makes no difference. BPM is the process of identifying your processes' rules to automate them. Furthermore, business process management (BPM) isn't simply for accounting. Business Process Management can review every business process in your company, from sales to human resources, from contract production to claims processing.

Let's fast forward to when the vendor sends the purchased items. An automatic message to the department to pick up or check their shipment might have been triggered by receiving paperwork being filled in at the loading dock. The load may subsequently be subject to department approval. Once the cargo has been approved, an accounting notification may be sent to settle the invoice and take advantage of the discount.

Every firm is unique and has its own set of requirements. What is constant is that most procedures can be automated to increase efficiency. Records management and compliance are the last pieces of the document management puzzle.

File management software systems, often known as file tracking software or file managers, are used to organize and maintain data files.

Its powers are restricted, despite the fact that it is intended for the management of individual or group files, such as office papers, records, and other information. It gives the user the capacity to work with several files at the same time, creating, entering, changing, querying, and producing reports.

It's simplest to conceive of file management software as a component of your broader information management strategy that serves as an organizational component.

Your operating system maintains a hierarchical file system (directories contain files that are subdirectories beneath them), but your file management system allows you to organize data based on how files and folders are named, how nested folders are organized, and how the files contained within those folders are handled by the user. This thus makes it easier to search for and find files in the future.

The advantages of utilizing a file management software solution

The majority of the advantages you'll reap from using a file management system or file tracking software are dependent on your ability to access and organize your files. They are as follows:

• Files should be organized so that they can be accessed quickly.
• Searching for files is simple.
• Storage and retrieval that is safer and more secure
• Improved file tracking for the purposes of archiving and deleting files
• The abolition of paper-based filing systems

What LogicalDOC can do to help you with your file management

LogicalDOC is a single business information platform that allows you to manage content, procedures, and cases all in one place. LogicalDOC changes companies across the world by enabling them to become more flexible, efficient, and successful. LogicalDOC provides enterprise document management (EDMS), case management, business process management (BPM), enterprise file sync and share, and capture all on a single platform.

It is common to discuss LogicalDOC's file tracking capabilities while discussing file management using the software package.

LogicalDOC allows you to save your electronic files on any network-discoverable file share – from Windows or Linux file servers to purpose-built storage devices – without having to install any additional software. Therefore, you won't have to invest in an expensive storage solution for your LogicalDOC system as a consequence of this feature.

For any file in your system, LogicalDOC allows you to keep an infinite number of live, online copies, which are accessible from anywhere. If you have any hardware or network issues that prevent access to your primary file servers from continuing, LogicalDOC will automatically fail over to secondary copies to guarantee that your business does not suffer any interruptions.

Read on to find out more about LogicalDOC's file storage and archiving solutions.

A paperless office has few paper-based procedures but mainly relies on electronic records. Some firms use the phrase "paper light" because many offices and departments cannot eliminate paper files due to procedure or compliance requirements. Paper light aids in the digital transition of a company. This usually includes switching to an electronic document management system that digitizes documents and keeps them central.

According to proponents, a paperless workplace helps improve an office's productivity and efficiency, saves money and makes work procedures more accessible and convenient as digital documents can be transferred between personnel.

5 Steps To A Paperless Office

You can make your office paperless just in following five steps.

1. Discussing the Procedure

Gathering all stakeholders to talk about the process is the first stage. Next, it's important to discuss how things are done with C-level executives, management, and other staff members. C-level executives frequently assume that a business is managed in a certain way, only to discover, midway through a digital transformation, that their employees have been quietly doing something entirely different for years. To ensure the project's success, everyone involved must have a say in what's going on, mapping out exactly how the organization operates (rather than how the board believes it works) so that those procedures can be accurately and successfully digitized.

2. Slow Changes

Attempt to avoid reinventing the wheel. When implementing new technology, the temptation will be to completely overhaul your procedures, changing everything for the sake of efficiency. However, you run the danger of leaving your employees — the people who will be using the new method daily — behind. It's much easier to plan out your existing paper-based procedures and convert them to digital workflows to ensure success. After everyone has become used to the new method of working, tweaks and improvements can be made, but the goal should be a continual improvement: modest changes over time rather than significant changes all at once.

3. Collecting All Data

Following that, you must map out exactly where all of your data is now stored. Is everything in one location? Is it dispersed over several offices? Have some people already begun to go electronic, storing critical data locally on their work computers? All of that information needs to be mapped out to establish a complete plan for migrating it into a system that everyone can use and edit (based on their access levels).

4. Digitalization

All of the files are being digitized. Usually, there are two options. All digitalization can be done in-house, with employees scanning all papers, or it can be outsourced to a third-party firm. Both have advantages and disadvantages. Going the internal approach may save money, but it might cause a lot of disruption because workers will be taken away from their usual jobs for several weeks. Outsourcing will generally cause minor inconvenience, but it will be more expensive upfront ahead of time. Each office must decide which solution is best for them.

5. Data Access

Decide who has access to what data and where they can get it. Once the digitization process is mapped and underway, individual users may be given a login based on their security credentials that will take them to a personalized dashboard with access to all of the workflows they require.

Advantages of Having a Paperless Office

According to The Paperless Project, corporations in the United States expend more than $120 billion per year on printed forms alone, the vast majority of which become obsolete in three months and are discarded. Furthermore, office workers spend 30-40% of their time searching existing file cabinets for paperwork. In these types of circumstances, it's better to go paperless. To understand more about a paperless environment, keep reading!

1. Convenient working

The advantages of a paperless office include the simplicity with which documents can be accessed and retrieved. It can benefit you to save a lot of time during the workday.

2. Constant access to data

When you digitize your paper-based operations, your entire team has constant access to the information they need. A file left on someone's desk, a stray note with crucial details, a filing system that only one person understands, which can be a disaster for your company. By becoming paperless, you can avoid a breakdown in vital information sharing. Rather than becoming lost, files may now be accessed from anywhere at any time, giving your employees more accessible access to the information they require.

3. Efficient Work

Any successful firm relies heavily on efficiency. When you reduce the time spent on busy work, your team can devote that time to more important, valuable tasks. Going paperless implies spending less time on clerical tasks and more time on critical duties. Finishing, filing, organizing, and keeping track of paperwork can take up plenty of time; going paperless allows you to expend less time on paperwork.

4. Technological Advancement

Filling out paperwork has also become more accessible because of technological advancements; digitally acquired data can be used to construct rules that generate applications automatically. Validation methods decrease errors and assure complete data in automated systems, allowing you to fill out information not only fast but also reliably. At the same time, the same document can be reproduced, faxed, altered, or mixed.

5. Less Expensive

Your organization will save money on more than just paper when it switches to a paperless office model of operation. Your printer maintenance, ink, toner, shipping, and physical storage costs will reduce as your paper use falls. This is why switching to a paperless system saves businesses an average of $80 per employee. More than only printing and paper expenditures will be kept for your firm. Offices that are becoming more efficient will repurpose your money as well. For example, you pay for your employees' time; the more time they spend performing value-added work rather than manual paperwork, the higher the return on your investment will be.

6. Easy To Manage

Customers also value personalization. Lead generation, up-sell, and retention will be much more effective with a customized campaign that uses relevant KPIs and is tailored to their needs. Compared to sending out broad promos, a tailored email campaign will be easier to manage, evaluate, and optimize.

Challenges Of Digitalization

• You may face some challenges at the beginning of a paperless office, including the difficulty of reading a long document on a computer screen. A long record is simpler to read on paper, and many people prefer reading on writing in general.
• In a paperless office, security measures must be reinforced. So, it's also necessary to keep track of who has access to what information. There can be legal ramifications to computerized work processing.
• Existing documents must be converted to digital format, which takes time and sometimes costs a lot of money. Hardware and software upgrades should be done regularly.
• If a corporation relies primarily on digital data, computer viruses, power outages, network malfunctions, and other events can essentially shut it down.

The Bottom Line

As reported in the 2018 State of the Global Paper Industry report, the world's paper consumption has beyond levels that are sustainable. In order to reduce their ecological footprint, cut costs and improve productivity, companies need to keep up with paperless initiatives. This way, they can get better ROIs through scalable and agile solutions. The digitization of data and the transition to a paperless environment are not simple tasks. It takes a lot of effort and time, but the results are well worth it after the job is completed. Companies may instantly reap the benefits of a paperless workplace by implementing proven cloud-based technology, such as workflow automation systems.

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