What are some of the biggest challenges with document management today?
Document management has its challenges. We hear some really strange one-off document control challenges that our clients face from time to time - like this one office that can't see themselves ever getting away from typewriters and file cabinets (circa 2016 conversation) - but there are some common pain points that many of our clients face. I will dig into a few of these in this post.
Pain point #1 Managing Documents that live In Too Many Places
“Why oh why do we need 11 places for documents? We have Sharepoint, Dropbox, file servers, those rinky dink filing cabinets over there, those shiny new ones over there, and some document management system that we haven’t paid maintenance on in years. Larry likes it though...”
I hear this all of time. Most companies either don't have a plan up front for effective document management or don't stick to the plan for very long. Once the company grows, the amount of information and the headaches associated with managing it grows. When companies merge or departments integrate with other departments, document management policies intersect and become very difficult to manage.
Pain Point #2 Compliance Concerns Are Suddenly Popping Up Out of Nowhere
“A few years ago we were pretty lax about security. Need a document? Open a drawer. Now I can’t go get a cup of coffee without compliance patting me down.”
As they should. Businesses are paying out huge fines for various violations. Something as simple as a missing hard drive can cost you millions. Concentra paid a whopping 1.7M fine for stolen laptops! Losing or exposing customer information because of insufficient security policies is a quick way to lose those precious customers.
Pain point #3 Lost documents
“So...... I’m not saying I can’t find the document you are looking for, I am just saying I can’t find it right now......”
This goes back to paint point number one. If you don't house and manage documents properly in one high tech central repository, you may need to call in the swat team to find them. This leads to countless hours of searching and lost productivity. Companies spend on average around $120 to find a missing document.
Pain Point #4 The Status Quo
“What we have isn’t broken. I can dig through this mountain of paper until the cows come home. ”
Can't really argue this point. I see the naysayers at every turn especially if they have been doing the same thing for a long time. What they fail to see are the many efficiencies that can be gained from a document management system with just a small amount of effort—like fast review and approve.
Quick story on this point... a local labor union called and said that one particular report was taking upwards of 2-3 days to process manually. They had been doing the same thing for years and years. A few calls and four hours of professional services later, we were able to stand up capture software and turn that 2-3 days into 15 minutes!
Pain Point #5 Integrating Document Management Software With Your Current Applications
“We have several applications for specific tasks. We need them to be able to “talk” to each other.”
I get it - you don't want to toggle between a bunch of screens to find the information you are looking for. Marrying these disparate systems is of the utmost importance to realize any true gain in efficiency. This is a big fear for many since every organization and their respective application portfolios are so diverse.
How To Mitigate Problems Associated With Managing Your Documents
There are companies that are in business solely to make your documents great again. Whether you are a small business just getting started or a Fortune 100 company, trust a pro to help you set a comprehensive document management plan and eliminate the headaches associated with managing your company's information. This plan might include a plan for digitizing an existing backfile of paper, choosing a software platform to capture documents, purchasing ECM software, or even migrating away from applications that are past their prime.
These are just a few of the pain points that we run into on a fairly regular basis. What are some that you have come across?