Getting started with document management
Quality document management systems can be customized to almost any situation,
but some decisions need to be made up front. Without the right planning, you risk
wasting time and money.
What problem are you trying to solve? That question, obvious though it may be,
is one you have to have detailed answers to before you start working with a document
management vendor. "We have too much paper" isn't a good answer: be specific.
"We need more remote access," "We want to cut filing costs," and "We have to enforce
better security" are all better answers.
Gather details on what types of paper you're working with, how they're created,
labeled, and filed, and what your needs are like for retrieval or ongoing usage.
If you can easily categorize your documents into types, such as delivery slips
or W2s, suppliers may be able to offer specific advice. A rough count of how many
new documents you'll need to enter per day is also useful.
Don't overlook your existing electronic documents: you'll want to be able to
incorporate text files, PDFs, spreadsheets, and other important files into the
document management system. Don't get over-aggressive: stick to the types of documents
relevant to the problems you're solving.
Also look at your processes. What approval or editing steps should be built into
the system? Which documents need to be permanently archived, and which should
be editable? What types of documents need to be filed together for easy retrieval?
Then make sure you have management buy-in. Because of the costs and the transformative
nature of document management systems, "grass-roots" efforts to implement them
rarely succeed. With well thought out ROI analyses, you should be able to get
executives on board. | 