8 Tips for Smooth Scaling with Document Management Systems

There’s a lot of pressure to be first in the market and it’s easy to fall behind. Now is the time to plan some strategies to stay in the competition. One of the many problems you might face at your workplace is searching for a missing file in every cabinet or drawer you can find, yet still not finding any trace of it.

Having a document management system (DMS) installed in your office can make your workflow go more smoothly so that you won’t have any problem finding files and can then help clients or customers efficiently.

In this article, we’ll be looking at how having a DMS installed in your system can be a significant factor in scaling your business.

Nowadays document management is not limited to simple data storage. It covers far more than that. It has made the retrieving of document easy and it has also made it possible to distribute those files quickly, thereby maintaining a steady workflow.

Document management software can capture files (such as documents, e-mails, a report generated by the system or any applications) and store them for future use.

Let’s have a look at how smooth scaling of your business is possible using DMS.

Capture/scan files into DMS

Once the software has been given permission, it can capture any online record, or any system generated reports which are not paper documents. Once this has been done though, what should you do with the paper documents?

You can organize all your employees to check all the paper documents and sort them first according to if they’re still needed or not. Yes, it is a daunting task, but it is also necessary to keep your workplace neat and clean. This will provide the staff with an organized workspace and system moving forward. Instruct them to only keep those documents which can be used in the future and dispose of the rest.

Once that’s been done, they’ll need to scan all the remaining documents and store them in the DMS. This is certainly no easy task, and for that reason, you should use scanning software with a high-speed scanner.

File Structure

Implement a basic file structure, so that everyone in your company uses that structure only. If possible, organize a training session to help them understand the work procedure of the DMS. If there are many employees in the company, it’s possible that there will be various files with different names available on the system, which can be an irritating factor while searching for a file urgently. That is why a standard naming convention should be maintained by all employees. Moreover, it’s essential to have different folders for different files, so that no image files get stored in the “invoice” folder and vice versa.

File Archive

Thanks to DMS, it is possible to find any file using a keyword, which makes retrieving files much more manageable. While storing the data, it is important to index files according to their purpose. This task can be done using smart processing software; however, if there are way too many contents that need an index, then getting the help of ERP solution providers may be necessary.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is an effective solution when it comes to accessing data out of the workplace. There is an option of storing the data in an on-premises DMS, but it’s likely that your employees will need to visit a client’s office or site or attend a business meeting somewhere else, so if they can access the files using any device with good internet connection then it is definitely is a boost while you are thinking of scaling your business smoothly.

Some DMS also come with smartphone applications. Using those apps, it is possible to download a file from cloud storage and use it while offline.

Another great thing about cloud storage is that optical data recognition makes it easier to find any files quickly.

Managing Workflow

Document management software comes with various tools which not only help to store and retrieve files but also can manage workflow on your behalf. The process of maintaining and keeping track of the workflow is automated. This can be useful when needing any reports to be generated or for giving you a reminder for future bill payments and much more.

Data Security

If any important files or client details get into wrong hands, this would certainly be a huge concern—this is one of the many reasons to avoid using paper documents. The software providers offer excellent security and privacy control along with the DMS. To avoid a data breach, it’s important to have a DMS installed in your system to save you having data safety issues. Updating the latest security versions always is highly recommended.

Distribution of Data

Data Distribution is super quick as data retrieving is easy. If you can find any file easily, you can share it via e-mail quickly, and one more thing is that any other file transfer process can be used while distributing data.

If more than one person requires a single file, then saving those kinds of data in a shared location is also possible using DMS.

Flexibility

While working, you obviously don’t want to hop between different software to complete a task. The DMS can be thoroughly integrated into a system so that the software can literally “talk to” other applications, creating a comfortable work zone for an employee.

Apart from these tips, having a DMS also help an organization to make a step forward in going green and obviously will save your time and energy. If your company is focused and goal-oriented, has a foolproof plan to achieve the desired goals and is executing them carefully, then your company is already scaling. Having a DMS will help you in this process and will make the scaling smoother.