8 Things That All DM Solutions Need to Make Life Easy
1 -- Easy to Use Interface.
When building a strategy for a successful electronic document management solution—as with any significant change to the way business is done within your organization—user acceptance is crucial. The simplest way to minimize the impact of a new solution is to make it as easy and familiar to use as possible. When reviewing different vendors, be sure to have the eventual users as part of the review process. Apart from getting the features users need, how quickly do they understand the layout? Is the interface easy to understand? Does it look like standard applications they are using on a daily basis (such as Microsoft Office) or is it completely different? Is the interface customizable so the users don’t suffer confusion from features they don’t need to use? Would the casual user have much difficulty in remembering how to use it? If the answers are “no” then the success of your implementation is in jeopardy.
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2 -- Easy Solution Switch - Open Architecture.
A good electronic document management system will free organizations from the pain of compartmentalized, off-site or otherwise difficult to obtain data. Since it is becoming more and more vital to ensure employees have access to the information they need, it makes little sense to implement a document management system that holds your data hostage. Success is built largely by being the best to foresee the future and being prepared for any eventuality. Having an open system is insurance against unanticipated changes to your corporate network architecture. Document management systems with an open architecture make certain that a bridge can be made between it and other business applications.
3 -- Ease of Integration.
What good is moving all of your documents and organization’s information to an electronic system if it is no easier to access? EDMS is supposed to deliver the required information to the fingertips of the worker to achieve the promised improvements in efficiency and to ensure informed execution of their duties. Switching between applications is tedious and unnecessary so it is vital that the EDMS application chosen can communicate with the disparate applications without costly add-ons or customized programming.
4 -- Easy Importing.
Not all document management solutions are created equal. Production capture and importing features are a “must have”. The EDMS must support production scanning, remote scanning, web scanning, email capture, ERM, XML data import and have strong add-In features to store files directly into the EDMS repository from key business applications such as Outlook and Microsoft Office.
5 -- Easy 1-2-3 Compliance.
One of the top drivers for EDMS is its ability to implement and enforce the various legal obligations around the holding and handling of important documents and data. With the rise in different types and sources of this information such as email, text messages, instant messages, blogs and wikis, the need for records management and overall compliance has never been greater. Your EDMS of choice should not only be able to capture and manage these different data formats but also be able to easily and quickly enforce your compliance policies. Setting up retention and compliance rules should be as easy as 1-2-3.
6 -- Easy Flow Workflow.
You would be hard pressed to find anyone with just one task to perform to complete their work. Particularly in a tight economy, we are all asked to assume extra responsibilities. While EDMS systems can dramatically improve your workflow processes, many still require that the responsible parties monitor several in-boxes. To ensure efficient processing, the EDMS needs to notify users of new tasks regardless of whether they are in the EDMS system or not. Items requiring attention should be easy to locate and process. The workflow tools also need to be flexible enough to provide full collaboration options at the touch of a button. If the previous task was not completed or there is a problem, sending the document backward through the process or to an exception queue should be available without changing the integrity of the workflow. Workflow processes need to be streamlined and flow naturally within your selected EDMS vendor.
7 -- Easy Search.
While the ability to search for documents may seem obvious and not worth a second look, ensuring that your EDMS of choice can locate and present the desired information is vital. Ease of use and search flexibility is key in any solid search solution. If users can find what they are looking for quickly and easily your EDMS solution will be a home run.
8 -- Easy Forms.
The best way to eliminate paper is to never create it in the first place. Using electronic forms can dramatically reduce paper costs by shifting forms to the keyboard and away pen and paper. A complete EDMS should have little trouble converting internal documents such as vacation request, expense reports, activity logs or purchase requests into e-forms. E-forms is the Greener way to complete your business processes. Making forms widely accessible and easy to use will only magnify the return on your EDMS investment.
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Bergen Wilde is the Director of Channel Development at MaxxVault LLC and is responsible for fostering the growth of the MaxxVault reseller network. Bergen quarterbacks sales support, co-marketing activities and reseller training, keeping the network running at peak efficiency and profitability. Bergen has been involved in the design and delivery of Document Management solutions for over 8 years. For more information about MaxxVault solutions please visit www.maxxvault.com.
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