A document storage system makes it easy for teams to collaborate on documents, even if they are working remotely or in different locations.
Every business generates thousands — if not hundreds of thousands, or even millions — of documents a year. These documents contain information ranging from sensitive employee vitals to use cases to marketing collateral to internal-facing corporate strategies. Over time, these documents pile up into a Mount Everest of data. That’s where a document storage system can come in handy. Every enterprise needs one, but to what level? What makes for smart document storage?
Document storage encompasses the tools and techniques for storing your company’s documents. Document storage includes processes for document repositories — the place where you store the documents — and document retrieval, or the various ways to access the information contained in the documents.
Good document storage is vital if you are to remain compliant with industry regulations, which is especially relevant for organizations governed by rules and procedures to keep sensitive documents secure and private (government bodies, insurance companies, healthcare organizations, etc.).
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A document storage system is a system that controls the storage, sharing and organization of electronic files or captured data from paper-based documents. Document storage platforms accomplish three main objectives:
An efficient document storage system is also supported by the capabilities to capture faxes and forms, save copies of documents as images and store the image files in the repository for security and quick retrieval via text-retrieval capabilities.
Organizations that invest in cloud-based or digital document storage are able to stay ahead of information chaos and other pitfalls of manual, paper-focused processes, and successfully lay the groundwork for a connected workforce.
The main advantages of a document management system for your company are:
Version control gives employees access to the most up-to-date version of a document, eliminating duplicate content and reducing the risks of editing and sharing old files.
A single document management solution eliminates the time needed to switch back-and-forth platforms to search for information. Instead of paper-chasing, employees can spend their time focused on higher-value tasks.
Electronic document storage reduces the need for file cabinets, boxes and storage bins, freeing up valuable office space. Businesses also get to cut down on the cost of storing paper in off-site locations, printing paper and manually delivering documents to employees across branches.
A robust document management system should include core features like:
Explore Gartner’s analysis of 15 vendors in the document management space, and see why Hyland was named a Challenger with strengths in our scalability, open source and industry-specific capabilities.
