A Document Management Solution (DMS) is a very crucial digital application as it stores the electronic records and provides all the staff members with access to the records. A document management solution is mainly used to provide software services and help to access the data digitally but in a very safe and secure way. Since a survey stated that nearly 7.5 percent of all paper documents get lost, the need for document management has been increasing. There are two methods to access the document management solution—choosing an on-premise application or a cloud-hosted portal.
A cloud-hosted portal has all the records and data in a centralized location with confidentiality. It is used to manage the documents and avoiding the IT capital expenditures such as hardware and software licensing and on-going maintenance. As the document management software industry is growing in the global market it is expected to reach $11 billion in 2028. The revenue of the document management solution is expected to reach $6.78 billion by 2023 worldwide.
As there is a lot of scope in the document managing industry, the demand has been increasing graciously. Therefore, before choosing a document management solution we have mentioned a few things that should be looked at in a company providing document managing solutions.
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Security:
The important aspect of a DMS is easy to access the records and data for most businesses. But along with the easy access come the safety and the security of the documents and data. When an organization is planning to hire some company that provides the data management solution, then the security policy should be taken into consideration. Digital security of DMS should include the question about the encryption that is at rest and in transmission, employee accessibility to the digital data and information, subcontractors (if any), and internal/external transmission procedures.
There might also be a possibility of using third party protection utilized wherein the required company will have to ask about the security details used. This can generally include the physical security features that mainly have the access to store data centers, the use of a multi-factor identification process for the employees, usage of encryption and passwords, 24*7 monitoring of the data, along with a full audit trail requires for the documents accessed. -
Capabilities and User Experience:
In order to make the documentation and the record to be made available and easily accessible to all the employees and users, the document management system should be user friendly. This means that even if the application is great to visualize all the necessary content, all the employees should be able to learn how to operate and utilize the service. Hence, the document management solution must be easy to understand and operate. Also, some employees would want to access the files via a phone and as a result, this should also be taken into consideration. While selecting a particular document management solution, the firm should also make sure that it is not many glitches with a lot of complications.
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Built-in creator/editor:
With the help of a built-in editor or a creator, plenty of work of the employees is reduced or rather made easier. This is a very creative feature in the document management solution, as it helps the employees to manage, edit, or change the corrections in the documents as required. Moreover, the next advantage of this feature is that the users can easily and instantly create and upload new documents in the appropriate place.
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Document version controls:
A core feature that any document management solution should contain is document version control. This enables to view the list of the users who have made the last changes in the document and when were they done. As a result, a complete overview of how the document has progressed over time. This function also helps to produce a complete and curated list of older versions of the document which makes sure that there is no loss of the previous vital information.
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Permission controls:
Any document management solution should always contain the permission control features. This vital feature helps in maintaining data integrity. With the help of usage of permission control, the firm can ensure that the files are not moved or deleted by accident.
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Search and Metadata function:
The document management solution must have a very effective search function. This search and metadata function will allow finding the reports and documents much faster and easier. Also, this feature helps in paying close attention to the metadata function. A proper metadata feature would allow the company to create a background ID for everything in the central hub. This function helps in searching the document at any time and any place.
Since selecting a suitable document management system is a huge task and a challenge, the above listed are just some of the features that any company should take into consideration before choosing one. The company should also look for its needs and available software solutions. It should also choose a reputable vendor with a proven product, insist on security, back up the data, and the required document management system will provide a significant return on the company’s investment.
