/7%20Simple%20Document%20Management%20Tips%20-%20Resource%20Image%20-%205441122414.jpg)
Tip Sheet
The wave of digital transformation sweeping through industries and organizations has never been stronger, and its benefits are reshaping the competitive landscape. This is where DocuWare helps.
Featured
Paper-based processes are a proven cost burden that impede workflow, harm collaboration and pose significant security risks. Here's your guide to going paperless.
Digital Transformation
Set the new pace for your business with document management and digital workflow solutions designed for the processes that fuel your organization’s success.
Featured
Digitize every incoming invoice with intelligent indexing and use automated workflow for approval routing to help expedite payments and keep your team on track.
Solutions
DocuWare enables organizations of any size to digitize, secure and automate business information and processes. Its flexibility in deployment and configuration ensure the perfect fit for your business.
The Platform
Capabilities
DocuWare provides digital document management and automated workflows to organizations of any size and across all major industries from manufacturing and retail to healthcare and government.
Featured Case Study
A nonprofit aid organization operates early childhood and family education centers. They use DocuWare to automate processes such as purchasing and funds tracking to assist its Finance and HR teams.
More About DocuWare
The ECM project has a much higher potential success when your company's employees recognize the value of the software. Then they will participate in the implementation to improve and facilitate their work. Acceptance and then adoption by employees is the ultimate goal of the ECM deployment.
Before deployment, the goals and ROI of enterprise content management should be defined. It may be faster invoice processing, improved customer service quality or more efficient processes in sales. Each department has different expectations when using ECM software.
Here are key tips to consider before ECM implementation starts.
Content:
To quickly demonstrate how an ECM solution improves and facilitates work within a company, start with the processes that will most benefit from the new enterprise content management features.
Identify document-centric processes that are repeated many times per day or week that accomplish specific key goals. As a starting point, think about a team’s key performance indicators (KPIs).
For example, in sales, this might be the offer preparation stage. When contracts, agreements, marketing materials, examples and price lists can be digitized and aggregated quickly, this improves the prospect’s experience and keeps the sales team focused on customer relationships. Of course, while this convinces the sales department of the value of the implementation, it also demonstrates the advantages that ECM can offer to other departments within the company.
Employee acceptance and expectations of an ECM system increase well before the introduction in their respective department.
As-is analysis can clarify the details of the deployment, expectations for success, and in which order to deploy an enterprise content management system. Appoint an upper-level manager or IT leader to collect feedback from all teams to discover critical process improvement opportunities and get executive buy-in.
This person maintains a high-level overview throughout the entire implementation process and incorporates current scenarios as well as potential future challenges into all considerations. It is especially important to integrate all stakeholders into the as-is analysis to avoid user resistance further down the road. Your team will only be receptive to the new technology when the needs and suggestions of employees are taken seriously, and it becomes clear where the advantages lie.
In DocuWare’s experience, we’ve frequently discovered that core accounting processes are the ideal starting point for ECM because they are repeatable and measurable. For example, improving the speed and accuracy of invoice processing has a direct impact on profitability and maintaining positive vendor relationships.
Once you've determined the departments in which to introduce ECM, use their KPIs to define clear and measurable improvement goals. Don’t limit yourself to vague goals such as "more efficiency". Think about precise, quantitative indicators. Remove the opportunity for subjective impressions to cloud objective data.
Should the number of order confirmations sent within a certain timeframe increase by a certain percentage? How far can ECM shorten the duration of invoice processing? How much faster can you answer customer support questions?
Clarify your expectations and communicate them to the entire team. In this way, each employee knows what is expected – and you’ll avoid unpleasant surprises when reviewing the progress of your goals.
Which is better: established software that has been proven in the market for years, or providers driving cutting-edge innovations to the ECM space?
The answer lies in the middle. On one hand, a large customer base shows that the software has proven itself in the real world. But past performance is not an indicator of future performance. Your enterprise content management system must continually focus on modern innovations that keep your company working effectively far into the future.
When you’re researching vendors that are future-friendly, think about:
A few considerations for identifying the best ECM partner:
As soon as you begin your implementation, connect your enterprise content management solution to your email infrastructure and employees' mobile devices. One of the biggest advantages of ECM is the ability to support the mobile workforce with access to important information anywhere, at any time: their home office, on the road, the office, at the customer, or in their home office.
It’s equally important that you define digital workflows to streamline processes and accelerate critical steps. However, don't overwhelm your employees. The increasing digitization of the working world is not looked upon favorably by everyone, and careful and considerate change management is necessary to evolve not just how an organization works, but the acceptance of that new reality.
Focus on basic improvements to start and don’t expect your team to make too many changes at once. The goal is usable and effective workflows that meaningfully help the team.
Tip Sheet
Ebook
Learn about the benefits of automation, why it matters, and how to start with practical, useful guidance.
Webinar
4 Crotty Lane, Suite 200
New Windsor, NY 12553
United States
Tel: +1 (845) 563-9045
Toll-free: +1 (888) 565-5907
Sales:
dwsales@docuware.com
Support:
support.americas@docuware.com
Planegger Str. 1
82110 Germering
Germany
Tel: +49 89 894433-0
Fax: +49 89 8419966
Sales:
infoline@docuware.com
Support:
support.emea@docuware.com