Electronic Document Management: Luxury or Necessity?

Documents have always been one of the fundamental foundations of doing business. In today's market, there are high demands for the quality and speed of document management. While there are still companies practicing paper-based document management, the number of those gradually transitioning to electronic document management systems (EDMS) is steadily increasing. This is not surprising, as traditional paper-based document management is fraught with a number of problems that have become all too familiar, affecting both ordinary employees and managers at various levels, namely:

• documents get lost;
• periodically, there are accumulations of documents whose purpose and source are unclear;
• documents and information that constitute commercial secrets sometimes fall into the wrong hands;
• it takes a lot of time to find the necessary documents or to compile thematic collections of documents;
• preparing and approving documents also takes too much time.

A modern electronic document management system implemented in an enterprise effectively addresses all of the above problems and also: 

• ensures coordinated work among the structural divisions of the organization;
• simplifies document handling, increasing its speed and efficiency;
• boosts labor productivity by reducing the time spent on creating, processing, and searching for documents;
• simplifies access to corporate information;
• allows for setting employee access rights to different documents;
• ensures the safety of corporate documents.

It is worth noting that due to the significant number of enterprises in Kazakhstan where various EDMS solutions have already been implemented, it often happens that people who have worked in these systems and then come to a company without an EDMS actively promote the implementation of electronic document management at their new workplace, especially if they previously held a managerial position, as they are well aware of the advantages of EDMS.

Conclusion: electronic document management is necessary in any organization, regardless of its size and type of activity, and the implementation of an electronic document management system should start today!

But how to choose a system that suits you among the plethora of products available on the market? How can you be sure that the solution you implement will serve you well for a long time and remain relevant amid possible changes in document management standards?

Key criteria for choosing an electronic document management system. 

It is beneficial when a company has an IT director or another employee who is well-versed in information technology. This will allow for an objective analysis of the offerings and make a choice in favor of the solution that will suit your company in the long term. But what if the choice has to be made by a non-specialist employee or the head of the organization themselves, and there is simply no time to delve into the nuances of each system? What if the company is small, but you still want to implement electronic document management?

There are key criteria that will help you make the right decision when choosing an EDMS without getting into the details. Here they are:

• Adaptability. The most important criterion when choosing an electronic document management system is its adaptability, i.e., how easily it can be tailored to the client's needs. The modern market is dynamic, and demand can change rapidly, occasionally creating a need to reform business processes. When considering any solution, always find out how easy and costly it is to make changes. Prefer solutions where this can be done as simply and without unnecessary expenses as possible. Also, do not overlook potential changes in document management standards in the coming years, which may necessitate changes in the functionality of the EDMS.
• Ease of use and performance. Considering that the main function of any electronic document management system is to speed up and simplify document handling, it is important that the system's interface is simple and intuitive, so that after a standard presentation or during work with a demo version, you can perform the main document management actions within the system without much effort. If you can do it, so can your employees. Some systems, especially older developments (from the early 2000s and beyond), are notorious among users for their clumsiness, constant "lags," and freezes. 
• Availability. Business community representatives know well that in our fast-paced age, a document processed and delivered to a client’s desk a few seconds earlier, or an email answered at 2 AM instead of 8 AM the next working day, can determine the outcome of a deal in your favor. Any electronic document management system typically implies a unified repository of corporate data and access to it from any device with the system's user module pre-installed. Cloud solutions are particularly advantageous here, as access can be obtained from any device with a browser and Internet connection.
• Competence of the seller. This principle is relevant for any sales, and the electronic document management system is no exception. When communicating with the seller, observe how clearly and competently they answer your questions and how well they know their product, especially if the seller is a representative of the EDMS development company! This will help you draw some conclusions about the quality of the product being sold, as well as the quality of the implementation process and further support of the product during use.
• Price/quality ratio. Last but not least is the ratio of price to quality. Ask the seller whether their product contains the specific functions you need. Pay only for what you will actually use and prefer systems that can be adapted to your needs independently or for reasonable costs.

Now, keeping these 5 factors in mind, you will be able to avoid delving into technical details and immediately understand whether this product is suitable for you or not.

But that’s not all! To effectively use the above criteria when choosing an electronic document management system, you need to understand that there are different types of systems, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, as well as its own nuances of use and implementation.

If after reading this you have decided that it is time to implement an electronic document management system in your company, we invite you to familiarize yourself with our product - Documentolog EDMS, which combines the best qualities of all existing types of EDMS, is implemented in the shortest possible time, and is accessible to companies of any size and type of activity!