When considering the five key benefits that can be obtained from using a document management system it is useful to start by remembering what the software solution is trying to do.
Namely:
- Reveal results from a search or by browsing contain
- Right version of
- Right rendition of
- Right document in the
- Right format complying with the
- Right Security for the user enabling the
- Right operation of view, edit, save for the
- Right period of time using the
- Right Device and applying the
- Right workflow for any change, edit of the document
The benefits in no particular order are:
- Finding documents – it is the ability to actually get a document stored in the document management system which is a fundamental benefit
- Enabling the sharing of documents for access and collaboration so that multiple copies of a document are not created and stored in multiple locations
- Reducing errors by ensuring the easy access to the current version of a document so that out of date material is not used for current activity
- Workflow processes to automate the consistent handling of documents and forms for approval, action and awareness of its existence
- Compliance with both Data Protection and GDPR so that appropriate discovery and removal requests can be achieved
Of course, the scale and scope of the benefits will vary but the use a modern cloud or hybrid cloud document management implementation will deliver them.