Author: Rachel Tilley
Cloud document management offers a organisations a simple and hassle free way to store and manage information. Documents of any type - paper forms, emailed invoices or digital drawings can be quickly organised into a secure system, accessed by users from multiple locations.
As many of us could no longer be without The Cloud in our personal lives to back up photos and music, DocTech is seeing a growth in organisations choosing to implement cloud document management over more traditional on-premise solutions.
Cloud document management is a way of storing, managing, analysing and tracking documents via a web based solution. Documents are handled digitally reducing the need for paper, printing and physical storage.
Document management in the cloud means there is no need to make any additional hardware investments to store company data. This takes place on servers in an external data centre instead - think of it as a digital filing cabinet in the sky that you don't need to manage.
There is no reliance on company servers or IT teams and a cloud solution offers the flexibility to scale and change as the business does. For organisations looking to adopt a Digital Transformation Strategy, utilising the power of Cloud software will only strengthen efforts to move away from outdated processes.
There are numerous benefits of using cloud document management solutions and organisations approach us for a variety of reasons. At the core of every issue though, is a document related process. Whether it's documents being stored in too many locations making information hard to find, lost invoices, lack of control over revisions, too much paper or no compliance for employee records.
A cloud document management system can take control of these issues and provide a wealth of benefits to your business, employees and customers.
A cloud document management system is available anywhere and anytime and easily supports hybrid working. Employees are no longer restricted to the office to complete tasks, but can complete work from home or when out on the road.
Document sharing, collaboration and communication are all improved. Documents are indexed and stored in a way that makes them quick and easy to find - there are no more lengthy searches though paper files or network folders.
At DocTech we use very little paper as all our documents are stored digitally in our own document management software. Because we've worked this way for so long it's sometimes very hard to believe the stats around business paper use, feeling that someone somewhere must have calculated something wrong?!
We recently read that the average office worker still uses about 10,000 sheets of paper a year! If this sounds familiar in your organisation then think about the wasted time and money spent on printing, filing, storing and postage! Not to mention the impact on the environment.
Cloud document management systems store all information securely and digitally in one central location, removing the need for paper. Documents received electronically can be automatically stored, actioned and categorised. There is no need to print or store for years in a filing cabinet.
With cloud document management solutions you can automate tasks to improve processing times. Manual data entry or manual payment verifications are replaced with automatic checks by the system.
Paper and electronic invoices are scanned and all information accurately captured and pushed, via a cloud document management solution, into an integrated finance package.
Once in the system invoices can be placed in the digital tray of the appropriate employee for processing. Alternatively, an automated workflow can match an invoice to a purchase order and authorise payment.
This can drastically reduce invoice processing times, speeding up payments and deliveries. Stress for employees is reduced and the time previously spent on manual work can put to better use elsewhere. With cloud document management, work can be completed at home or in the office.
Implementing cloud software is the quickest way to start making improvements and the ease at which the solution can scales means yo can start small and grow as required.
Every cloud subscription comes with a full range of services included; Workflow Manager, Intelligent Indexing, digital form creation and integration tools.
Ensuring a safe and secure location for business documents is vital. Contracts, employee records and financial information should be protected from loss or theft, whilst being easily available to authorised users.
Cloud document management means all information is automatically backed up, providing protection from natural disasters or accidental damage. No time is lost carrying out regular data backups or creating disaster-recovery-concepts.
All information is encrypted and robust access rights are implemented meaning only those with authorised access can enter the system. Further restrictions can be included that only allow users access to certain document types depending on their role in the organisation.
Cloud solutions free up IT teams from reactive and unscheduled work and are able to concentrate on more strategic objectives like system integration or workflow automation.
Standalone systems that only work in isolation create disjointed processes. Work can be duplicated and there is lack of visibility across the business.
A cloud document management system can integrate with a variety of third party systems to streamline processes. Connection with an ERP system provides a seamless exchange of information. An invoice can be linked to a ERP record and viewed within the ERP, never having to waste time by leaving and looking up the information else where.
Integration with a Finance system can automate invoice processing, reducing manual data entry and human error. The systems work together and act like one single solution to provide a faster turn around on payments.
Whatever document or process related problem you're having, we're confident cloud document management, coupled with our expertise can help.
We work collaboratively with all our clients and strive to implement a solution that meets expectations and budget.
Whether you don't know where to start or know exactly what you need, get in touch and let us start helping you today.
