Is an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) Necessary for a Company?

Is an electronic document management system (EDMS) necessary for a company?

The key word in this sentence is "company." That's where I will start. Companies can be small, medium, or large. They operate in different sectors of the economy and are all absolutely unique! It seems challenging to develop a universal tool for calculating the economic efficiency of implementing an EDMS. However, with practical experience in implementing projects for companies across various fields, we have developed a methodology that allows us to do just that. It is based on a detailed analysis of the operational history in the Documentolog EDMS of 82 different companies. We simply counted the number of documents by type that were created and sent in these companies over one year of operation. We multiplied this by the cost of man-hours, paper, and office supplies, resulting in some interesting figures… :) Of course, it's not all straightforward, and I will explain our methodology in detail a bit later. The main point is that with this methodology, we can calculate the economic efficiency of implementing an EDMS for companies of any size and type of activity. The only things that will change are the input parameters for the calculations, which each company will enter based on its own realities.

Before I move on to explaining the methodology, let me share a bit of lyrical context..

In practice, there is a common belief that small companies do not need an EDMS. At the stage of creation and initial development, the owner and manager of the business find it "easier" to manage the team manually. They know what each employee is doing and see the results of their work daily. Their main task is to "survive" and ensure the company has sales. Nowadays, with the emergence of various cloud-based CRM (customer relationship management) systems, many forward-thinking leaders start using them from the moment they establish their business, which is a positive step! An EDMS is still not considered a top priority. Owners begin to think about comprehensive automation as the business grows, when the number of employees increases, branches are established, and the volume of paper document flow with external counterparties rises. In my opinion, in 95% of cases, leaders simply do not notice the moment when it is already time, and even necessary, to implement an EDMS. This leads to direct costs and lost profits. We are all human, and we tend to be inert in our habits. It is more comfortable for us to work as we are used to and as we have been taught. The habits of the owner and the first manager of the company are law! Perhaps that is why, even today, in our practice, we often encounter situations where the first manager dislikes working in the EDMS and delegates this task to their assistant or secretary. Meanwhile, documents are still being submitted on paper, on which they write their resolutions…

What conclusions can be drawn? Allow me to make a recommendation: it is more correct and better for leaders to start working with an EDMS right away, or as soon as possible, the sooner the better, regardless of the size of the business. Fortunately, now there will be a calculator on our website www.documentolog.kz, so you can calculate the economic effect of using an EDMS. Just enter your figures, and you won’t need to prove anything to anyone!

As for the non-economic benefits of using an EDMS, they are as follows:

1. order in document flow (incoming, outgoing, internal correspondence) and other business processes. You will always know when and what letter has arrived and who needs to do what. Nothing will be lost or go missing after six months…
2. you can work from anywhere via the internet, smartphone, or tablet. Your physical presence in the office and a handwritten signature are no longer mandatory. This means decisions will be made faster, and the entire company will work more efficiently.
3. information security – access to documents is restricted to only those who are intended to see them.
4. collaborative work on documents. This will save a lot of paper, time, and your employees' nerves, and again, everything will work much more efficiently..

That's enough of the lyrical context.. ) In the next article, I will describe the methodology and the figures we obtained from analyzing the work in the Documentolog EDMS of various companies in more detail..

Kanafin B. June 5, 2017