Documents are an essential component of any organization, but managing these documents in a way that ensures operational efficiency and business security is more complex than it seems.
Even in today’s highly technological and connected world, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are still keeping most of their documents in paper-based management systems. With cybersecurity becoming an increasing issue for SMEs, storing documents in their paper form may even feel like it’s more secure.
Yet there are huge advantages of transitioning to an electronic document management system, with improved security, operational efficiencies and employee productivity just a few of those benefits.
If you read our blog, ‘3 Steps to Transition to a Electronic Document Management System’, then you’ll understand exactly what an electronic document management system is and the three steps required to shift from paper-based document management.
In this blog, we’re going to take a look at the benefits of making that shift. Before we get into those, let’s first start with a quick recap of what an electronic document management system actually is.
What is an electronic document management system?
An electronic document management system is a software system that enables your business to organize, store, manage and access documents in one easy-to-use technology platform.
An electronic document management system handles digital documents, digitally scanned versions of original paper documents, as well as images, video, and audio files. It provides a way for your organization to centrally store a large volume of digital documents.
By consolidating core business information and documents into one centralized system, an electronic document management system makes it significantly easier to organize, store, manage and retrieve documents than complex paper-based filing solutions.
How will an electronic document management system benefit your organization?
The use of an electronic document management system means your organization can easily store and manage thousands of files. This ensures your employees can quickly and easily retrieve documents when required.
Here are just a few of the many ways your organization will benefit from the use of an electronic document management system:
#1 - It saves your business money
Physically filing and retrieving paper documents takes up valuable time for your organization. That time you are paying employees to find and file documents could be put to better use on productive and valuable tasks that actually help your company grow. An electronic document management system will free up time for your employees to work on jobs that make your business more profitable. In fact, did you know that employees typically spend 50 percent of their time creating and preparing documents - leading to a huge amount of wasted time and money!
#2 - Your business will run more efficiently
Paper document management systems lead to unorganized filing and difficulty in retrieving files, resulting in inefficiencies for your business. Whether an employee has to stop working on a project to hunt down a document or they have to put a customer on hold while they search for a file, paper document management is simply inefficient. An electronic document management system allows employees to search and find what they are looking for in a few simple steps on their computer, improving the efficiency and productivity of their entire job.
#3 - It improves business security
It’s important for all businesses to keep sensitive data protected, whether it’s customer information or company data. Electronic document management systems have specific security and control features that protect your business. With an electronic document management system, your organization will have clear visibility into who viewed a document, when it was accessed, and how it has been modified. You’ll be given a clear trail of any document activity.
#4 - You’ll encourage employee collaboration
An electronic document management system makes information sharing and collaboration far easier. Document retrieval is seamless, files can be accessed from multiple locations and workflows can be created and implemented. This greatly improves both internal and external collaboration, making creation, review and approval processes seamless across different employees and departments.
#5 - Implement better backup and disaster recovery practices
Without proper knowledge of the files and documents you have, it’s almost impossible to make sure that you back those documents up. By digitizing your documents and storing them in one centralized system, an electronic document management system makes it significantly easier for your organization to properly backup all content and build disaster recovery practices in the event of an emergency.
Looking for more information on how an electronic document management system can help improve the efficiency and productivity of your business? Contact OT Group today. Our team of Ontario-based IT and tech experts would love to help.
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