CFOs and CIOs looking for ways to reduce costs and maximize productivity already know that a good document management pays for itself in a matter of months. Digital document management (sometimes called “enterprise content management” or ECM) cuts man-hours and therefore costs by automating workflows and eliminating time-consuming manual tasks.
In ROI research studying the cost benefits of investing in document management, Nucleus Research found returns of $8.55 per every dollar spent by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Their report reveals the key benefits and best practices for SMBs to start saving on every dollar and win back employees' time.Five ways to save on operational costs
1. Storage costs
Switching from paper-based processes to digital document management, means you no longer need to pay to store and maintain hard copies of your business records on or off site.
2. Copying and printing costs
Digital document management eliminates the need to print and file paper documents. And in today’s remote working environment – digital files can be shared securely and instantly – that’s what we all need – not printed copies.
4. Business process costs
Automated workflows streamline business processes in accounting, sales, customer services, HR and other departments. Optimizing these workflows leads to faster payment collection, lower purchasing costs, higher customer satisfaction and increased employee retention.
5. Security and disaster recovery costs
Backing up your documents is a breeze when you use cloud-based solutions. Document management systems like DocuWare Cloud protect business-critical information with document and communication encryption; separation of customer data from system data; and secure data storage. Multiple instances of data redundancy to ensure data can be restored even if the active system becomes unavailable. Even mobile users have secure access to necessary data. In addition, with robust logging and analytics capabilities, organizations have a record of who accessed, changed or removed document and when.Editor's note: This post has been updated for accuracy and new content has been added.