When you’re trying to improve business processes with any type of software solution, you need IT to install the necessary software and hardware and maintain the system. But getting those IT resources is often a challenge for both small and large organizations when they’re trying to implement digital document management.
Thanks to the cloud, there’s no reason why limited IT resources should hold you back.
Cloud Solutions For Small Businesses
If you’re running a small business, IT responsibilities may fall to the owner or be outsourced to a third-party service provider. While an outside IT provider might be great for ensuring access to email and other essential business tools, it could be a sizeable project for the provider set up and maintain a document management or enterprise content management (ECM) solution.
With a cloud-based document management system, however, you could get up and running with nothing more than a scanner and an internet connection.
In the cloud, you don’t need any on-premises IT infrastructure, such as networks and servers. You also don’t have to worry about IT admin tasks, such as security patching or updating the system, or how to back up your critical business documents. Once you move your documents into the cloud, the service provider generally handles all of the backups, security patching and software updates for you.
Cloud Solutions For Large Organizations
IT availability is also a problem at large companies. IT is usually a shared resource for the organization, and there’s competition for their time. If document management isn’t a top priority, it might take six to 10 months before you get the necessary IT time to implement a solution.
With a cloud solution, you would need far less of the IT department’s time, allowing you to get your ECM system up and running much quicker.
One concern some people have about using the cloud for document management has to do with the security of their data. Any time you’re putting critical business documents into electronic form, it’s important to make sure they’re safe and secured through privacy controls. With an on-premises solution, these responsibilities fall to your IT department.
With cloud solutions, however, the service provider is responsible. When choosing a cloud solution for document management, make sure the provider has the necessary controls and business processes in place for storing, encrypting and backing up your data.
Other considerations include data access and ownership. If you’re moving your documents from an on-premises platform to the cloud, you want to make sure that your IT team has full control and access to the data so you can move your documents in and out of the cloud as you need.
Is Cloud Document Management Right For You?
The advantages of cloud document management are that it’s accessible anywhere, anytime, requires few (if any) IT resources and often offers significant cost savings over on-premises solutions. When you’re considering your options, it’s important to compare the system functionality, uptime and costs over the lifetime of the solution.
Cloud solution costs typically depend on the amount of data storage you need, charged on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. If you’re planning to use the system for 10, 15 or 20 years, you would compare the cloud solution’s total cost against the cost of purchasing and maintaining the on-premises infrastructure over the same time period.
In many cases, a cloud solution is the clear winner, especially for organizations with limited IT resources that need to improve their document management capabilities.
Want to learn more about cloud-based document management solutions for your business problems? Contact DocuWare today for a free consultation and your document management roadmap.
