Before you make any investment, you consider various aspects to determine how much value the investment will provide. Software is also an investment in that it will continue to provide value for a long time. The decision you have to make is whether this value would be a good return on the immediate investment you have to make.

Let us look at how this decision can be made for a document archiving software investment.

What Value Does Document Archiving Software Provide?

Though archiving means in the strict sense transferring non-current documents to a safe repository, in practice even current documents can be transferred to the repository. In such a case, the archive becomes a document store that is accessed for current decision support information.

Document archiving software involves using a computer to store the documents, as different from the traditional archive that stored paper documents. The software adds value in the following forms:

• It uses far less space to store the vast volume of documents. Millions of documents can be stored in little space on compact disks whereas a similar volume of paper documents will need major investments in filing cabinets and floor space. There will be major cost savings as a result.
• Computerized document stores can allow almost instantaneous retrieval of any document from a vast collection of documents. This becomes possible because modern search engine technologies can index huge volumes of documents and then allow retrieval of any document by some unique characteristic, such as a particular phrase used in the document. The resultant improvement in speed of accessing documents needed for reference will be dramatic.
• Computerized documents are far more secure than paper documents that can easily fall into unauthorized hands. Access to the digital documents in the computer can be restricted through a system of permissions and passwords. The value of this feature is determined by how important it is to ensure the confidentiality of the documents.
• Safety of the documents is also improved because digital documents can be easily copied into backup media, which can be stored away from the main office. In case of loss of the original documents the backups can be used to recover the documents. This can be invaluable if disaster does indeed strike.

Selecting Document Archiving Software

The overriding selection consideration is that the software under consideration must provide all the value outlined in the previous section. This is determined by:

• How easy it is to use the document archiving software. The ideal software would provide an intuitive interface to do different tasks. An intuitive interface means that the user of the software will find a computer interface that he has become accustomed to.
• What features the software offers. It should offer all the features mentioned earlier, speedy document indexing and retrieval, restriction of access through permissions and passwords, convenient and reliable backup facilities and such.
• Additionally, the software should be scalable and customizable. Scalability means that the software can meet the expanding needs of a growing organization. Customizability means that the software can be adapted to the special practices and needs in the organization.

You should not skip the step of consciously evaluating the software offerings using the above criteria. Otherwise, you can be stuck with a dud piece of investment.