In the new, hybrid working world we currently find ourselves in, getting control over the “content chaos” caused by the rapidly increasing amount of data and documents we create is a common obstacle to efficiency and effective collaboration. Managing this issue is perhaps the single biggest challenge modern businesses confront.
According to a forecast issued by analyst firm IDC, the amount of data created between 2020 and 2024 will outpace the amount created over the past 30 years. If you don’t start to build a strategy to manage this growth now, when will you do it?
Let’s set the scene.
How long do you spend looking for information?
Often, we start tasks and save them locally to our computers. Older methods of sharing data like USB storage devices have revealed themselves to be insecure and are no longer widely used. However, employees in many companies still collaborate by uploading files via a file hosting service, emailing a link when inviting colleagues to review their work and contribute their expertise. Team members then share their suggestions via comments, email feedback and instant messaging services – everyone has visibility into the task at hand, but does everyone have clarity? Can we honestly say we know exactly where to find our files when we need them? Could they be stuck in our email box or in a colleague’s?
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Think about how frustrating and time-consuming it is to look for information that is only available in your email box. Microsoft Outlook and other email programs weren’t intended to handle the avalanche of email you deal with every day? They were designed for communication, not for organized storage, security or quick findability. If you have a tough time finding information you received in an email, you can take a big step forward when it comes to improving information flow by implementing the email management function that DocuWare provides.
Email management allows you to save the body text of an email and its attachments as separate documents, index each of them, put them in the correct folder in your document management system and integrate the attachments into a business process. In addition, you can, enhance collaboration by making archived email messages and attachments available to authorized team members.
Regardless of which department you belong to, chances are you don't work in a silo. Your work requires and benefits from the input of your peers, clients, suppliers, or customers, and they all have their own ways of working. Accessing information in a way that suits all of you is the tricky part without digitization. It’s so important to coordinate using digital tools so that your work and projects can move forward.
Don't let anarchy rule
Many companies lose control of business-critical documents because of the lack a of centralized, secure repository and the absence of a software solution that enforces consistency. You may have come across those who are super organized and have their own naming conventions within their document directories. This kind of archiving suits them but without an intelligent document management system that learns alongside them, the business loses control of its enterprise content, which is the basis of every organization's intellectual capital.
With a document management solution, you can take advantage of features such as linking documents that are part of the same business process by creating a common data field. Version control ensures that documents maintain their original integrity so that you don’t have to worry about managing multiple paper copies or having multiple electronic copies edited by different people offline.
The bottom line is that poorly managed, undigitized documents and data create what DocuWare calls content chaos. We know that this situation directly impacts your ability to collaborate on projects effectively, increases your security risks and ultimately inhibits your capacity to provide an excellent customer experience.
Integration is a strategic advantage
Your document management solution will touch every single system within your business. To prevent content chaos, you need a system that allows the capture, identification, classification, distribution and archiving of documents within most, if not all, the information systems in your business.
Your document management system needs to integrate efficiently with your tech stack so that it can deliver information to your other business software and collect and manage data from third-party applications. In essence, your document management system will assimilate with your environment and simplify the way you organize your company's files and databases, all while providing greater control to the teams who deal with large volumes of data.
DocuWare is built to work within your IT ecosystem. With 500 different integrations across email, team portals, CRM, ERP, HR systems, homegrown software and more, our success speaks for itself. DocuWare also integrates with key business hardware like scanners and multifunction devices for effortless conversion of paper to digital.
Document management in the real world
We recently, helped Chichester College Group deploy DocuWare to re-engineer some long-standing, antiquated paper-based processes, improve compliance, increase storage capacity, and encourage
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new, greener ways of thinking. The solution was implemented within a busy HR department, to handle personnel files and ensure employee data is equally as quick to search as it is quick to retrieve. “At our fingertips, is how I’d describe employee data now. Being able to drag and drop documents from Outlook into [document] trays has been a real game-changer,” says Sara Barrett, the Group’s HR Project Coordinator.
This is only one case in point that illustrates how DocuWare customers automate and improve processes, enhanced collaboration and eliminate reliance on cumbersome, expensive paper processes. Find out more by requesting a free demo.
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