Document Management System Planning - How to Go Paperless the Smart Way

 Document Management is a popular term around the business office. Oftentimes this term and Electronic Document Management System are used interchangeably, as if they both represented the same method of storing and retrieving documents. The truth is they don't.

Both have to do with managing your business documents; however, only an Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) is capable of monitoring and managing your documents throughout their lifecycle. There is a huge difference between the two.

An Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) is a complete and integrated system of software, hardware and defined processes that manage the creation, capture, storage, retrieval, distribution and retention schedule of documents in a centralized repository.

This is considerably different than simple Document Management (DM), which may have a couple of EDMS components in an application environment, but rarely integrates the hardware and methods used in the overall document management process.

The centralized repository of the EDMS includes a server, or you could use a third-party vendor that offers storage over the Internet. Whatever the method, all documents are stored in a centralized repository. The most common misconception between SharePoint Consultancy the two is misunderstanding the processes involved. EDMS involves the whole document lifecycle at your business including, but not limited to capture, indexing, access, retrieval, work flow, distribution, storage and retention schedules.

Too often, a simple system involving Document Management on a centralized server is considered to be an EDMS. Only if that centralized server is capable of managing documents from the point of creation through the document's entire lifecycle could it be considered as such.

The fact is that the vast majority of so-called "Document Management" software applications fall far short of a true Electronic Documentation Management System (EDMS). Sometimes hardware equipment (i.e., copiers, scanners and multifunction printers, aka MFPs), that claim to have an EDMS built into them may be mistakenly construed to be an EDMS. Copy machines oftentimes have methods for storing and retrieving documents and could have a role within an EDMS, but rarely does a copy machine have the capability to serve as a centralized document repository for your entire organization.

Key to understanding an EDMS involves comprehending what a DM is not. EDMS involves all aspects of capture, indexing, access, retrieval, work flow, distribution, storage and retention, whether it is into a centralized repository, Web site or a combination of both.

Document management oftentimes only describes where the storage and retrieval of an organization's documents are. Keep in mind that an EDMS is capable of monitoring and maintaining documentation in its native file formats including MS Office files, audio files, video files and a host of other file formats.