Identifying Document Management Needs of Small Businesses
Now that everyone is using computers at work, managing file versions and storage locations has become an important part of the business process. Most decent document management software is aimed at the enterprise class companies that don’t mind spending over $100K for a solution. But for small companies, there are very few options that make financial sense. Software is cheaper than people. If software can save you time in satisfying your customers and make your employees less burdened, then it is more than worth a weeks salary per person per year.
So the first thing to figure out is if document management software will either save you time, help you satisfy customers, or make your employees happy. Assuming a yes, you then need to identify what problems can be answered with the software. The number one reason for document management is to be able to find and work with files faster. Number two is having the documents easily available to send to others. Number three is having them accessible globally via the internet.
Installing and configuring a customized document management solution takes a significant amount of work. The good news is that a basic system is fairly simple to install. It is when you add automation, security and database integration that things begin to be cool and complicated. Installation and testing can take between five hours to hundreds of hours of dedicated consultant time. A good rule of thumb is to keep it as simple as you can, at first anyway. Sort of a bake the cake and add the icing later approach.
Training end users is very necessary with document management solutions. Especially if the audience can barely use a computer. Everything must be considered when planning to implement a new process for the customer. The customer usually understands the burden you will be faced with and the many challenges you will encounter.
The good news is that most affordable document management packages are fairly well documented and easy to install. Any decent IT guy could make them work. They may need some assistance from a trained consultant, but there are classes available if needed.
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SMBs interested in a document management system should look for something simple to use, inexpensive, yet robust and integrable. The article states “any decent IT guy can make them work.” How about no IT guy! There are SaaS solutions out there for online document management that need no installation and no IT experts. An online document management system is the way to go. It allows to access and share documents from anywhere in the world.
For example, one online document manager I’m aware of, HyperOffice.com, has free training and a robust online database that can integrate with the document management system. All at an affordable price.
There are other SaaS vendors that provide similar services, with varied features, security, and customer service. Compare and shop.