MSPNetworks Blog

Businesses create and need to handle more data than ever before. In the past, this would mean that there would be a lot of wasted data. Today’s document management system can completely revolutionize your business. Let’s take a look at the steps that go into creating a comprehensive digital document management system. 

Document Capture and Creation

The first step to creating a comprehensive document management system is to get the documents into your new system.

Create New Documents

This step involves the creation of new documents, which could be anything from reports and memos to spreadsheets and presentations.

Capture Existing Documents

Capture physical documents by scanning them or collect digital documents from various sources like email, cloud storage, or file servers.

Document Classification and Indexing

Getting started classifying the data can be one of the biggest speed bumps to the creation of a comprehensive document management system.

Categorize Documents

Assign categories or metadata tags to each document to make it easy to classify and retrieve them later.

Index Documents

Create an index or catalog of documents based on metadata, keywords, or other identifiers to facilitate quick searches.

Storage and Organization

Determining the underlying technology is something that the IT professionals at MSPNetworks can help your organization with.

Choose a Storage System

Select an appropriate storage system, whether physical file cabinets, network drives, or electronic document management software.

Organize Documents

Establish a consistent and intuitive folder structure or taxonomy to arrange documents logically.

Access Control and Permissions

Security has to be a major point of emphasis when dealing with any data, let alone the operational information of your business.

Define Access Rights

Specify who can view, edit, or delete documents. Implement user roles and permissions to protect sensitive information.

Encryption and Security

Ensure that documents are encrypted both in transit and at rest to safeguard against unauthorized access.

Document Retrieval

You would be surprised how much document retrieval can cost your business. Digital document management can mitigate these costs.

Search Capabilities

Provide robust search functionality, allowing users to find documents quickly using keywords, metadata, or full-text search.

Filters and Sorting

Enable users to filter and sort search results for better document retrieval.

Collaboration and Workflow

In today’s business, people need secure access from anywhere at any time. A document management system can deliver this flexibility. 

Collaboration Tools

Facilitate document collaboration by integrating with tools like document editing suites and communication platforms.

Workflow Automation

Implement automated approval processes, notifications, and routing to streamline document-related workflows.

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Many situations can arise where data is unavailable or lost, having up-to-date copies can operate as a failsafe for many businesses. 

Regular Backups

Schedule regular backups of documents to prevent data loss in case of hardware failures or disasters.

Disaster Recovery Plan

Develop a disaster recovery plan to ensure the continuity of document access and management in adverse situations.

Compliance and Retention

Today, many businesses operate under government or industry-sponsored mandates and need to stay in compliance with these regulations for the good of the business.

Compliance Policies

Establish and enforce document retention and disposal policies to comply with legal requirements and industry regulations.

Audit Trails

Maintain audit trails to track document access and changes for compliance purposes.

Monitoring and Maintenance

Keeping a dedicated eye on your IT systems is nothing short of essential. Document management is no different. 

Regular Maintenance

Periodically review and update the document management system, including metadata, security settings, and access permissions.

Monitoring and Reporting

Implement monitoring tools to track system performance and generate reports on document management activities.

Training and User Adoption

It’s important that you train your employees quickly so that you can get the most benefit from your document management platform.

User Training

Provide training and support to ensure that users understand and effectively use the document management system.

User Feedback

Encourage user feedback to make continuous improvements to the system.

Continuous Improvement

You need to revisit your document management plan regularly, just as you revisit your other IT systems. 

Evaluate and Adapt

Continuously assess the document management process and technology, making improvements based on feedback and changing business needs.

We understand that managing your organization’s documents isn’t ever going to be cheap and easy, but with a dedicated document management platform, it can be much easier and more effective than more antiquated file management strategies. If you would like to learn more about what MSPNetworks can do in terms of document management or any other IT-related strategy, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Every person has documents that they need access to, so it stands to reason that a business has hundreds. If you and your staff are tired of sifting through dingy file cabinets to find that the document that should be in a certain place, isn’t, considering a document management system may be right for you. Today we will give you five good reasons why moving to document management can be a benefit for your business. 

#1. Cost per Square Foot - Business space can get pretty pricey. The more physical documents you have, the more space you need to file them away. If you have a small business, you may not need a lot of space to do business, but the longer you are in business, however, the more documents you accrue. Installing a document management system--a software-based system that provides the ability to scan and store physical documents so they can be stored digitally--can really cut down on the amount of space you need. It gives you the ability to store your hard copies in a less expensive location, while still having access to the document and its contents.

#2. On Lock Down - Document management provides the ability to better secure your documents. You may think access to physical information would be more limited than in a digital environment, but costs to secure physical space are far greater. Any solid DMS will allow you to control documents at the folder level, providing a level of access control that’s on par with a typical business physical security system. More than that, documents inside a DMS have an associated audit trail, giving administrators the transparency needed to manage system security.

#3. Access and Speed - The time it takes to file and find physical documents costs businesses a lot of capital. In fact, according to one study it costs upwards of $20 for organizations to file a single paper document and those costs increase substantially if the file is mismanaged in some way. With fast, reliable access to all of your documents, the ability to print documents in seconds, and the ease of use of most DMS platforms, your business moves faster and saves money.

#4. Better Collaboration - Solid collaboration is one of the keys to building a successful business. With a DMS, sharing information is much easier. There’s no one trying to thumb through 50 folders trying to find a receipt. The receipt is there within seconds, and there is nothing to refile!

#5. Regulatory Compliance - Almost every business has to deal with some type of regulatory compliance standard that’s there for a reason, but seems to hinder progress. With a DMS, your organization can reduce the risk of non-compliance, even for the most complex regulations. Avoid the headaches (and possible expense) from fines and other penalties, as much of the reporting can be automated and secured through the DMS.

When you consider these benefits, and others, switching to a software-based DMS might just be right for your business. To talk to one of our consultants about the prospect of outfitting your business with document management, call MSPNetworks today at (516) 403-9001.

Consider for a moment how many documents are floating around your business at any given point. Memos, notes, invoices, receipts, and whatever else you happen to accumulate in the course of business, all floating around the office. This isn’t a great approach, and unfortunately, the classic solution for this, the filing cabinet, isn’t the most effective solution anymore.

However, there are now alternatives to the classic filing cabinet and other now-antiquated document management options that are much better suited to the needs of the modern office. In fact, these solutions are what enable businesses today to effectively go paperless.

As printing has become a more costly endeavor, its associated expenses have begun to absorb a larger piece of a budgetary pie chart. Between the costs of the printers and other hardware components themselves, the materials they use up as they operate, and the costs associated with your staff filing all of this information away, businesses have seen their budgets whittled away. Furthermore, it can be very difficult to locate information that has been filed this way - especially if it was filed incorrectly.

Let’s review some of the solutions that we now have access to, that resolve exactly these pain points.

Document Management
Let’s face facts - one of the biggest weaknesses inherent of hard copies how difficult they can be to find (especially if they’ve been misfiled). However, a document management system makes that much simpler, as digitized copies can be stored in the cloud and searched for. Furthermore, while the reduction of printing costs offers a considerable value to a business, the time saved by this solution assists in making it a worthwhile investment, as all documents are turned into searchable PDF files.

While the initial implementation of a document management system may come at an intimidating cost to some, it quickly proves its worth. This is only made more apparent by the fact that, once the solution is in place, the only costs it creates are the ones needed to support the hosting platform.

Document Digitization
Digitizing documents has been widely adopted in recent years, as it makes it much easier to store and organize them. Not only does this approach make it simpler to store vast quantities of data, it also allows certain documents to be much easier to locate. If a member of your staff ever needs to view a document, all they will need to do is search for the right keywords and there the document will be.

Security
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss how your documents are able to be secured within your document management solution. As it is a cloud-hosted solution, it simply wouldn’t be complete without some kind of access control. Many platforms come with this access control baked-in, some even using biometrics or two-factor authentication. More complete control over your document management system is possible, if you are willing and able to invest in a private cloud database. Once implemented, you and your staff can confidently and securely access any document needed from anywhere that has Internet access.

To learn more about a document management system, or other solutions available to you to assist your business’ operations, reach out to MSPNetworks by calling (516) 403-9001.