Imagine a workplace with file cabinets lined to every wall of the office and desks stacked with paper documents.
That’s exactly how it used to be before most businesses decided to go digital with their documents via a Document Management System (DMS).
A DMS makes the process of managing business documents easier by enhancing the benefits of going paperless. In fact, businesses use DMS for a lot of purposes other than document management, like knowledge management, enterprise content management, record management, etc.
It not only eliminates your paper debt but helps you manage your digital content, including Research Documents, Batch Manufacturing Records, Equipment logs, Employee Records, and more.
However, that’s only true if you find yourselves the right document management system. Otherwise, you might:
- Spend a lot in upfront costs only to find out the software doesn’t work for your team.
- Risk company-wide productivity loss due to complex software.
- Increase IT dependency to deploy and maintain a DMS.
- Put confidential information at risk.
All of these are the consequences of deploying a DMS that doesn’t suit your business’s requirements.
So, if you wish to steer clear of any and all troubles related to your document management, consider the following factors when choosing a document management system.
7 Factors to Consider Before Choosing a Document Management System (DMS)
To find the right DMS for your organization, consider the following factors:
Your Document Management Goals
To ensure that you invest in the right document management system, it’s important to first determine your goals for a DMS. You must have a clear picture of the set of features your DMS should offer.
Usually, businesses need:
- Security features
- Easy file-sharing system
- Better search features to retrieve documents
- A shared repository of documents
For example, if you’re looking for a DMS for your law firm, your DMS must be secure, in compliance with the general data protection regulations, and easily scalable.
Even if you buy a popular or expensive software, it might not be the right fit for your business. So, specify your goals and research a DMS accordingly.
User-Friendly Interface
A document management system will be used by everyone across the departments from engineers and salespeople to HR and Finance.
Think about the technical abilities of the team that will be using the software. If your chosen DMS is too technical and requires proper training to learn its features, it won’t be serving its purpose of boosting productivity.
On the contrary, your team will be too occupied learning all the features than actually working. So, make sure your DMS is easy to use and easy to learn.
Data Security
Most organizations worry about storing their data on the cloud due to the constant threat of security breaches and information theft.
So, putting data security first when making decisions like choosing a Secure Document Management System is important.
Be sure that the DMS you choose offers rigorous security per globally recognized standards and protocols. Ultimately, ensure that their practices comply with your industry-specific regulations.
Pricing Model
Choosing a DMS is fundamental in digitizing your business processes and going completely paperless. The right DMS will reduce your storage and infrastructure costs and not burden you with unnecessary expenses.
Choosing a DMS that comes with flexible pricing models, along with a free trial version or freemium model, is better than others as it allows you to test the software before committing to it.
Collaboration Features
Whether you are a pharma company or a real estate agency, you will have multiple departments collaborating on documents. So, the right DMS will have collaboration and integration capabilities that support easy and secured file editing and sharing. Moreover, it will ensure to keep you updated with the changes that users are performing on the shared documents.
You should also look for integration capabilities and user access controls. It will allow you to add or restrict user access to certain documents.
Smart Search Capability
One of the major document management challenges is finding a specific document from a huge archive.
Between mislabelling and misfiling, 83% of employees end up recreating the document they can’t find.
A document management system should come with powerful search tools that allow you to search for specific documents from a huge archive even when you don’t remember the title you saved it from.
The search tool also allows you to search using specific metadata, including the document’s author or last modified date.
Depending on your document management system, you may be able to search for specific documents from multiple sources such as email, file shares, and document management systems.
For example, if you look at the RFP, you may be able to find all the offers you received in response to the RFP.
Shared Repository
88% of office workers cited the need for a reliable, unified platform that would assist them in doing their jobs better.
A lot of time in organizations is wasted trying to locate documents on other’s systems, requesting document permissions, and granting access to employees.
A shared repository of documents that eliminates information silos and allows the team to access all the documents at one central location, irrespective of their device or location, is the ultimate productivity hack. So, make sure you choose a DMS that unifies document storage instead of creating virtual walls.
Final Thoughts
Your search for a DMS should lead to easy-to-use, affordable software that spells smooth operations and has no room
for security breaches. If you’re not sure what features your DMS should have, consider our list of factors for starters.
dox2U is one of the prominent DMS that checks off all the boxes on our list. On top of that, it offers a lifetime free plan for businesses with limited requirements and deep search features to make document handling easier.
Check out the complete set of features to assess its suitability.
