Today, the IT World is feeling the urgent need of Document Management System. Hence, LTS offers Document Management Service (DMS) for helping corporate organizations to keep all documents organized.
With the desire to keep all documents handy and reduce paperwork to the minimum, DMS is a foolproof solution that any organization would desire.
Why DMS?
The key purpose of DMS system is to ensure easy and systematic organization and subtle classification via digital documentation. Digital documentation results in organizational efficiency.
The risks that can arise due to lack of proper document management include data leaks, trade secrets theft and no record of the people who have viewed the documents.
DMS helps the users to get rid of big files and folders and vast shelves where a person first needs to locate a file-folder and then the document for which he was looking for. Paper documents can be imaged (scanned) and stored electronically in the digital drives. With remote access to documents possible due to gadgets like tablets and smartphones, DMS users have all documents at their fingertips.
Document Management Systems can classify all documents (digital or otherwise) in the form of faxes, computer files, collaborative work spaces, e-mails, photos, video and audio. DMS users can locate any document in the digital drive via digital documents have been classified category-wise and kept in category-based digital folders.
Document Management spells convenience
With the way laptops are replacing desktops and tablets are replacing laptops, it is fair to say that compact gadgets symbolize convenience. Hence, the day is not far when compact digital documents would completely replace paper documents as digital documents are easy to store and access.
One needs to browse through files and folders to find relevant paper documents while digital documents can be searched just by entering the name of the document in a search bar or by checking the category-based folder on a computer.
Trends in DMS:
1. Document management through the cloud:
Cloud computing brings advantages even to DMS. It provides an easily accessible resource and repository for both documents and related software. Cloud Computing is also helpful in being cost effective. It provides ease of access and reduced maintenance efforts. However, given the potential security risks that can arise due to cloud computing, cloud security is currently among the most researched areas in the IT world. Any progress or improvement in this area would allow for more organizations, whatever their business, to move all their complete DMS to the cloud.
2.Mobile device integration:
Today, everything is going mobile and DMS is no exception. In fact, one of the key reasons the IT World embraced DMS was remote access to documents. With mobile devices being used more and more for business communication, there has been a huge surge in the amount of documents stored, transferred and even edited through them.
3. Focus on security:
Security is a must for every online and offline activity in the cyber world. Volumes of documents processed are increasing by the day. The channels through which these are propagated are becoming increasingly varied. Hence, it is obvious that ensuring their security would soon become a major concern for most organizations.
Future of DMS:
According to a Forbes article, nearly two thirds of IT Executives are investing in document management initiatives. This proves that IT professionals are very fond of document management’s current and future state.
In the near future, computers and gadgets will continue to increase in storage capabilities while retaining a convenient size. However, the constant emergence of new digital platforms and file types means that document management beyond personal computers and gadgets is essential for any business of a decent size.
In 2014, 68% of organizations had five or more storage repositories, with many IT leaders citing an inability to easily find content and poor mobility as big challenges.
Document Management Systems share a deep connection with the existing publishing standards and regulations. Therefore, one can expect DMS systems to get more and more customised in the near future. They are expected to cater, not just according to the needs of the organizations using them, but also to the specific areas in which they are being used.
Sharepoint and Alfresco synonymous with DMS:
Following are the key features of Sharepoint that put it among top choices for DMS:
1. Content types and meta-data:
Every organization has different types of content that are often used in different ways by different teams. SharePoint deals with this by using Content types and assigning them to all items, ranging from documents, pages, list items and so on. A content type consists of metadata properties, information policies, and a document template. Proper utilization of these properties makes a document searchable on Google.
2. Integration with MS Office:
Sharepoint is compatible with Microsoft Office. Metadata can be entered directly in an Office document using the Document Information Panel. Watermarks can also be added automatically.
3. Records management:
With this feature, any organisation can easily create an online archive of permanent digital records. Documents can be archived manually or automatically based on retention policies. For each document type a different library can be created in the archive. Document creator will also have the choice giving a different retention schedule to library. Routing rules ensure that each document sent to the archive, will get into the right library. Mails can also be archived.
4. Co-authoring document:
Using co-authoring features of sharepoint , multiple people can work on the same document at the same time without any hassle.
Although Sharepoint development is heavily used for DMS, Alfresco is not lagging behind and the attractive features of Alfresco regarding DMS are as follows:
Alfresco is a simple programming platform.
Alfresco is an open source platform. And its cost is 1/10th of the cost of traditional platform, which also has no room for customization.
Document Management Systems offered by LTS have been helpful to various clients. A lot of our successful DMS work has been in the pharmaceutical industry, but our solutions have worked wonders for other industries as well.
Case Studies
- A software company wanted a software solution that guaranteed storage performance for applications. Having expertise in designing, developing and implementing document management systems, LTS transitioned the client’s proprietary information from an on-premise deployment mode to a hosted or SaaS environment.
- A Legal Process Outsourcing firm approached LTS with an innovative idea to simplify the management process of legal cases. They required an interface, which would enable the attorneys and the authorized people who view the current status of the ongoing legal cases and also aid them to stay updated on the progress of the case. Experts working with LTS came up with a SharePoint Legal Case Management system that enables the end-user to get a view of all cases in progress and at a glance, see the exact status and next steps required for each case by simply logging on to the platform.