Integrated document management systems (IDM) such as Hyland Systems OnBase achieve this through a modular approach to the business needs by combining the technologies of document imaging, COLD/ERM, document management and workflow into a single application that integrates with your business applications. When business leaders are considering their vision for the future shape of their organisation and what role the electronic management of documents should play they should consider the following.

The first point to take on board is that document management today is not exclusively the realm of all things paper based. Anything that can be stored electronically can be termed a document. Thus scans of paper documents can be added to documents received electronically like email. Documents created electronically in the business such as spreadsheets and output from your business applications would also count. Equally digital photos, video clips, audio clips and pure electronically captured data such as e-forms from websites are all in essence documents that can be indexed, linked to other documents and processed.

The second point to consider is that whilst many benefits will come from simply dumping all of these objects into an electronic filing cabinet, with various ways of searching and retrieving documents rapidly, the biggest gains can be achieved if an organisation can integrate document management directly with business processes to make the processes more efficient and increase customer satisfaction as a result. This will usually require integration with the business administration software a company uses and where appropriate the use of workflow add-ons.

The third point to this equation is that of location. The combination of web based document management technology and the declining cost of bandwidth means that the processing of data doesn't have to occur in the same location as it was originally captured. Hence, should it be desired, people from different locations could have access to the same documents. Different parts of a process could take place in different locations whilst all parties would still have access to the same source documentation.

Finally protecting the data store must be considered. With more of the company's valuable data residing in an electronic format, due consideration needs to be given to ensuring that the systems for storing the data are fault tolerant and reliable to provide high availability of the data. Robust backup and disaster recovery procedures need to be formulated to cater for all conceivable eventualities. At least electronic data is a lot more portable than physical files!

Having considered these broader issues the business case needs to be built through specific projects. These projects in their own right should be able to cost justify the initial investment in the IDM infrastructure. By building and proving the case for the technology in a specific context, subsequent phases can be delivered, piggy backing on the "already paid for" initial investment reaping further rewards for the business.

The further down this path that an organisation goes, so the paperless office becomes a step closer. Technology can remove paper from all parts of a process up to and including the finished article if required; whether man can avoid printing out copies to use on his desk is another matter!

For more information:
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