What benefits can you expect from a document management system? Does it produce any measurable return on investment?

These questions can be answered best once we have a clear idea of document management and alternative document management systems. Let us take a brief look at these.

Document management

All documents go through a life cycle that includes:

• Document creation
• Using the documents in business processes
• Storage of the documents
• Retrieval from storage when needed
• Archiving the documents when it is not needed for current operations
• Final destruction of the document when there is no need to preserve it

Document management seeks to improve the efficiency of each of the steps while minimizing the costs associated with each. Document management also involves document security to prevent unauthorized access and tampering or destruction.

Document management systems

Document management systems differ depending on whether you are managing paper documents or digital documents, or a mix of the two.

Paper documents are typically managed along the following lines:

• The documents are filed in paperboard folders
• The folders are arranged in filing cabinets
• The filing cabinets are accommodated at the office itself, or in an adjacent filingsection
• Archived documents are moved to less expensive self-storage or other warehousefacility
• Dedicated staff is assigned the task of sorting the documents into folders, storingthem in filing cabinets, retrieving needed documents and so on.

Digital documents are typically managed by

• Moving them to a computer folder labeled meaningfully
• Backing up all documents into a secondary storage media kept offline
• Using structured databases, or indexing and searching programs to facilitate retrievalof needed documents

Benefits of digital document management systems
These days, when we speak of document management systems, we mean digital document management systems. Hence what we are really discussing here is the advantages of digital over paper based document management. What are these advantages?

Document Creation: Document creation can often be automated in a digital environment as when a barcode reader reads the barcodes on packages coming into a warehouse (or going out of it) and sends the information to the document management system.

Document Use: Document management systems can automate document flows to parallel business processes. There is no physical movement is involved as in the case of paper documents. Instead, users are alerted about documents needing their attention and action.

Document Storage: Instead of the large amounts of expensive floor space and dedicated staff needed for paper handling and storage/retrieval, digital documents can be stored in compact media that needs little space. The cost savings on this one process can often repay the entire investment needed for the DMS.

Document Retrieval: Digital documents stored in a network server can be done from any workstation connected to the network, even if it is thousands of miles away. Retrieval speed is counted in seconds, instead of hours.

Archiving and Disposal: Archiving simply involves transferring documents to another storage media, something that can be done sitting at a workstation. Disposal involves wiping out the document from the storage media using a software program.

Document Safety & Security: Systematic backup procedures and access restrictions to documents through the use of access rights and passwords can secure the digital documents much more safely than paper documents. Many of the savings arising from the above can be measured reasonably accurately. Others like returns from speedier business processes and improved document security are clearly evident, though it might be more difficult to quantify these. Overall benefits would be abundantly clear, however.