Document management software offer solutions to the specific document tasks that include:

• Document creation
• Document storage
• Document retrieval
• Document safety
• Document security
• Document workflow
• Document archiving
• Document disposal

Let us take a brief look at these functions so that you can check how these are handle by the document management software package you are considering.

Document Creation

Electronic documents are created by capturing data in different ways. These include:

• Data entry from paper documents
• Online terminals such as POS terminals which allow entering transaction details direct into the system (instead of on paper for later data entry)
• Handheld devices such as barcode readers and others that allow reading barcodes, keying in data from hostile environments such as offshore oil platforms for direct transmission to central servers
• Automated data capture by embedded or other devices such as electronic counters that count finished products passing along a conveyor belt at production shops

Does your document management system provide for accepting data in all these ways?

Document Storage

Created documents can be stored on storage media attached to in-house systems, third party storage service providers or Web server space you have hired. Which method is offered by the document management software you are considering? Does this option suit you?

Document Retrieval

Document retrieval is typically facilitated by indexing and retrieval procedures such as search software. Look at how the proposed DMS handles this task, and how fast the retrievals are.

Document Safety

Documents are safeguarded by backing up all data. If the backups are reliable, you can restore any lost data using these. Look at the backup facilities offered by the DMS under consideration. Check how the reliability of the backed up data is ensured. Also check the facilities for restoring from the backups.

Online backups and redundancies are provided by systems like RAID. Check whether your DMS can offer such facilities.

Document Security

Your confidential documents should not fall into unauthorized hands. What kinds of security procedures are offered by the DMS you are considering? Are these adequate for your needs?

A system of restricting access to documents using access rights and passwords is typical. This ensures that only authorized persons with required rights who know the relevant password can access the documents.

Document Workflow

Document workflow streamlining can speed up business processes. Document creators and workers should be able to forward the document to the next person who should work with it. Aids like customized lookup tables can ensure that this task is done correctly.

How does the proposed DMS attend to this task? Can you customize the workflows to suit your business processes?

Document Archiving

Non-current documents are typically archived to a separate storage facility so that they do not clog up current databases. Archives are typically used for querying and analysis, and should be optimized for these tasks (instead of transaction processing speeds).

What are the archiving facilities provided by your DMS provider? Are they optimized for querying and analysis?

Document Disposal

Documents have lifetimes and are disposed off once this lifetime expires. Does the DMS trigger documents nearing the end of their lifetimes? Does it offer reliable document removal facilities?