Things You Need in Document Management Software

Things

You

Need

in Document Management Software

The best way to accomplish these goals is to deploy a best-in-class document management solution. You’ll want one that’s easy to use, efficient to deploy – and capable of generating significant ROI. Simple, right?

Problem is, every single document management vendor says their software does all of that. And unfortunately, there’s no real way to check: Any app is easy for somebody to use, deployment time measurements are apples and oranges, and every case study ever claims some amorphous “ROI.”

So how can you, the business user, separate the

document management wheat from the chaff?

It’s best to start by winnowing down the field with the features you absolutely must have – and the ones that would be really, really nice. That list, of course, is different for every organization. But in this guide, you’ll find the ones that we’ve heard consistently from customers over the course of more than a decade.

Flexible

Deployment Options

Every organization’s IT infrastructure and staffing situation is different. Some have robust hardware (and the people to support it) on-site. Others have little beyond their PCs and mobile devices, connected by a basic network. Still more have a mix of the two, with different technology capabilities at different facilities. That means “one-size-fits-all” document management software just doesn’t cut it anymore. If it’s only available on-premise, a DMS suite won’t meet the needs of companies without a readily available server, a full-time IT staff and a fully fleshed-out backup and disaster recovery

strategy. Conversely, cloud-only paperless office solutions don’t fit certain organizations’ SOPs, which may not

allow any mission-critical documentation to be hosted outside their four walls. You might need an on-premise solution. You might need one hosted in a secure, private cloud. You might not

know. And it shouldn’t matter. The best document management solutions can be deployed either installed or in the cloud

depending on your needs – so you can base your decision on the software’s potential benefits to your business, not where it lives.

Business Process

Automation Capabilities

If you’re only looking for a “virtual archive,” you’re only scratching the surface of what modern document management software suites can do. The best paperless office solutions essentially serve as enterprise-class business process automation platforms – by building upon their basic capabilities, they allow organizations to eliminate manual work from both simple and complex tasks.

Is the Cloud Secure?

Let’s look at two examples of document-management-driven business process automation in action.

Example 1: Customer Records Management

Customer relationship management (CRM) software is great for recording the core data about engagements – contact information, contract details, lifetime customer value, etc. But what about the actual documents that are generated, like proposals, scopes of work, correspondence, invoices and more?

Without document management software, all that is stored in folders and filing cabinets, or in unstructured (or vaguely structured) computer files. In either case, customer records are time-consuming to find, easy to lose or delete, and almost impossible to effectively route within the organization.

With document management software, customer records can be

accessed instantly via search or “drilling down.” Need a detail from the SOW? The actual document is at your fingertips in seconds. Better yet, business rules can easily be ascribed to certain types of customer records. Signed contracts, for instance, can automatically be routed to accounting, AP and management as soon as they come in. And everything is completely secure, under strict version control and essentially disaster-proof.

Example 2: Accounts Payable Processing

AP processing is the bane of many businesses’ existence – it’s high-stakes work that also happens to be detail-heavy and highly manual. Fortunately, proper document management solutions can take much of the pain out of accounts payable.

Third-Party

Integrations

These days, no system stands alone. Any document management system you consider should play nice with whatever mission-critical applications you’re running, whether it’s EHR/EMR, eSignature platforms, accounting software, a CRM, email or anything else. Documents and data should pass between systems seamlessly, and the use of one solution should complement the use of another.

Today’s best document management solutions integrate with common third-party applications (essentially) out of the box via pre-built connectors, with only minor configuration necessary to get the software

platforms working well together. More complex (or proprietary) integrations are accomplished through the use of an API; if a document management suite doesn’t offer one, you won’t be able to hook it into any custom system in use at your office.

How to Choose an API

Anytime, Anywhere

Document Access

These days, business isn’t just for the office. Whether you’re at home, on the road or (sigh) on vacation, there are plenty of times when you simply need a document on the go. Fortunately, top document management software systems make this a snap. The best DMS options offer a

wide range of ways to access and use documents. Look for a solution that works via desktop app, in a web browser or on a tablet.

The desktop app (also called a “client”) is going to be the most feature-rich option; it’s the “full version” of the software. All functionality – document search, retrieval, external integrations, editing documents in native

programs, etc. – will be present. Most leading options are Windows-only; Mac users – still a minority of the enterprise community – typically access document management software by other means.

Web-based versions of document management software are an important complement to native OS apps. The best are streamlined and optimized for the most common on-the-go use cases, improving performance and making interfaces as intuitive as possible. Editing documents in native programs (e.g., Word or PowerPoint) is possible as long as the program is functional on the device.

Tablet document management offerings are increasingly popular. While some functionality won’t be present on an iPad or larger Android device, core needs are accounted for. This is a great option for a quick document lookup on a sales call, or for the day-to-day needs of mobile workforces.

Smartphone

Document Management

Workflow

Management

Unless you represent 100 percent of your businesses’ workforce, you have workflow needs. Make sure any document management software you’re considering includes a configurable workflow engine, allowing for automatic routing and exceptions based on business rules.

It should be possible, for instance, to have invoices routed to different management levels based on their totals…

Multiple copies of a document to be distributed upon approval…

Or almost anything else.

Beware, by the way, of document management solutions that force you to re-engineer all of your workflows upon deployment. While rolling out a new system is a great time to take a hard look at how you do business and improve upon any inefficiencies, your document management software needs to work for you, not the other way around. If it can’t handle your workflows, it can’t handle your business. <$500 INVOICE

$1K

$10K

APPROVAL ROUTED TOM-LEVEL ROUTED TOC-LEVEL

<$500

INVOICE

Secure

Document Sharing

Every business needs to share sensitive information with people outside the four walls of the office. Whether you’re a financial advisor sending statements or trade approval documents to a client or a healthcare provider sharing HIPAA-sensitive information, you need to be able to send and receive information without:

• Spending the time (and money) to print it and send it via USPS, FedEx/UPS or private courier, or;

• Compromising its security with unencrypted email or Dropbox-style upload/download services. (Email encryption, by the way, is a two-way street; it doesn’t matter how good

your setup is. If your client’s security measures aren’t as

good, the document isn’t secure.)

Some modern document management solutions offer near-instantaneous secure document sharing as core functionality. In these systems, a document can be sent to an encrypted, password-protected cloud repository with the click of a mouse. The client – automatically notified via email – can then download it, work on it and re-upload it. Once it’s back in the repository, the internal user is notified, and can easily re-insert it into document management workflows.

World-Class

Onshore Support

Everyone says their support staff is amazing. But do yourself a favor and check any metrics you can before you invest in a system. The best document management vendors average sub-1 hour resolution on most issues, don’t use third-party answering services during business hours and do all their work out of their home offices in the U.S.

The last bit is interesting. It’s not that overseas teams can’t provide good support – many can. But if you’re buying your software from a U.S. company, with U.S. developers and U.S. management … why would you want support calls routed somewhere else, to folks who didn’t build the product and don’t work everyday to maintain it?