Today’s businesses thrive on information, and that information can take many forms. Perhaps you and your team regularly research and write white papers and opinion pieces, or create marketing copy and videos to promote your company’s products.
Whatever type of content you create, you need a way to manage it efficiently and effectively. That’s where document management software comes in.
Read on to learn more about the advantages of switching to a cloud-based document management solution and the components involved.
What is document management?
Document management is the systematic process of creating, organizing, storing, retrieving, and managing documents to facilitate efficient information flow within an organization.
Technically, a document, according to ISO 9000:2015, is information and the medium that holds it. When you think of a document, you might picture .docs or .txt files, but traditionally, documents aren’t always digital. They can take many forms, ranging from physical formats to many digital files, including:
- Images
- Videos
- Meeting notes
- Recording transcripts
- PDFs
Organizations have largely gone digital with their documents, often implementing solutions to create, manage, and collaborate on files online. Fortune Business Insights reports that the global document management system market size was valued at $6.23B in 2023 — and is projected to grow approximately 247.91% between 2024 and 2032.
What are the key practices of digital document management?
Managing documentation online involves integrating business processes and practices that enable efficient workflows.
Let’s review the most common activities within digital document management.
1. Capture and creation
The process of capturing your business documents depends in large part on their original form. It’s possible to capture information that initially existed in physical form — such as scanning or taking a photo of a printed manuscript and uploading it to cloud data storage.
You can also create a text document, such as a PDF or Docx. file, directly in a document system. If your organization currently uses a program like Microsoft 365 or Google Suite, you can opt for a system with integrated document management, helping capture existing files and streamlining your co-editing processes.
2. Management and tracking
Managing documents involves having a file locking system that prevents multiple users from accessing a particular document at the same time. It also involves controlling who has access to each file. Some teams might be allowed access to all data your organization manages, while other teams or departments might only have access to the documents that are pertinent to the work they do.
Version control should also be part of your document management process, as it tracks all changes while preserving previous versions. This way, you can look back on a file to see what changes were made in real time. Some cloud content management solutions have version control built in, so you don’t have to manage it.
3. Storage and disposal of documents
While electronic storage options like on-prem hard drives are slightly more secure than paper-based methods, they aren’t perfect. A bad actor could still steal a hard drive, and water or fire could damage the data.
Another drawback of physical document management is limited access to content. Retrieving older files, like a memo or marketing video, requires visiting the office or storage facility, which can be time consuming. In contrast, cloud-based document management offers secure storage for multiple files, eliminating the need for physical copies. It’s more secure than physical storage, as documents aren’t at risk of damage and are harder for unauthorized users to access.
Document management workflows also include proper content disposal. Depending on the type of documents your organization works with, you may archive files for later access or permanently delete them.
How you delete digital documents depends on the method you use to manage them. Physical hard drives, for example, can be formatted or wiped to remove any sensitive content. With cloud-based solutions, this process is digital, making it easier to manage security across a distributed workforce.
What is a document management system (DMS)?
A document management system (DMS) is a program your organization uses to manage information effectively. This program can take several forms — from software-based systems that work exclusively with electronic files to hybrid solutions that let you capture, track, and store electronic PDFs, videos, and audio recordings.
The earliest electronic “document managers” were software programs where you typically scanned or copied physical documents, converting them to electronic form. Once the system converted the physical file, it would organize them, usually using metadata to sort and classify information.
Businesses today rely more and more on electronic or digital documents. According to Grand View Research, the global digital signature market, for example, reached $4.03 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 39.2% from 2024 to 2030. But documentation management goes beyond electronic signature software. Depending on the type of system, you can expand its use to streamline HR processes, manage project documentation, or automate workflows.
Here are common types of document management systems.
| Document management system examples | Description |
| Cloud-based document management systems | Cloud storage systems keep documents on remote servers, allowing users to access them from anywhere with an internet connection, offering lower upfront costs |
| On-prem document management systems | Organizations host and maintain these systems on their local servers, requiring higher initial investment and IT resources for maintenance |
| Hybrid document management systems | A hybrid system combines cloud-based and on-prem document storage, allowing businesses to benefit from the cloud’s scalability and remote access |
Advantages of using a system for document management
If your organization generates a lot of content and doesn’t currently use a document management tool, there are many benefits to adopting one.
These are the top benefits of integrating a system into your document management framework.
1. Enhanced data security
Some documents need to be kept confidential to meet regulatory requirements, while others should be kept in confidence so trade secrets or new ideas don’t fall into the wrong hands.
Security can also mean you have full control over who does what to a document. It might be acceptable for an intern or administrative assistant to access a particular file, for instance. But you might not want them to edit it.
Advanced document management software provides security features like file encryption and password protection to safeguard your content against cyber threats.
2. Easier collaboration
Having an efficient and secure system for document management allows for easier collaboration. Once a file is created in the system, you control who has access to it and what they can do with the content. You might also control the number of people who can access and edit a document simultaneously.
Cloud-based systems also simplify collaboration by enabling remote workers to access content securely from anywhere. That means you can work with a remote team and easily edit and improve documents, no matter where people are located.
3. Reduced cost
Implementing a document management system can save your organization money. Switching to the cloud from physical storage methods means you no longer need to take up valuable space with servers.
If you switch to a cloud-based content management system from one that relies on physical servers or computers, you also no longer need to worry about paying to maintain the hardware, either. This change saves companies on IT costs.
4. Improved compliance
Depending on your industry, your documents might need to comply with certain regulations. By offering security and compliance features, advanced platforms safeguard the document management process, ensuring your data abides by any rules and regulations.
For example, in legal document management, a system empowers teams to ensure that contracts and case files meet industry-specific compliance standards, such as data protection laws or court filing requirements.
5. Greater efficiency
Document management tools help automate many steps that previously had to be done by hand, such as sorting documents and enabling granular access controls to set file and folder permissions. You can also rest assured your data is safe and secure and that there is little risk of them being destroyed or accidentally deleted.
Top document management system features to improve your workflows
Document management systems tend to have features that streamline the process of creating, collaborating on, and managing your files. Here are the main components of document management systems.
1. Metadata management
Your company’s content contains metadata — that is, basic information about every document. Metadata is not always visible when you open a file, but it’s always there. Metadata typically includes:
- Date of creation
- Name of the user who created the document
- Size of file
- Last user to edit the document
- Last save date and time
- Details about changes made to the document
Some document management solutions allow you to create and manage metadata so you can categorize and organize your information more efficiently, making it easier to search and retrieve it when needed.
2. Document capture
“Document capture” is the process of creating and uploading documents into the system. If you’re adding physical documents to a document management platform, you can capture them by scanning or taking photos of them. The scanner might use optical character recognition (OCR) to transform text images into text you can edit in the document.
Finally, “document capture” can refer to creating documents, such as text files or images, directly in the system itself, facilitating document coordination.
3. Indexing
A simple document management system can store your content, but this capability is not enough. You and your team need to be able to retrieve those files quickly.
For this reason, indexing is crucial to keep track of the content you upload or create in the system. You can index documents based on the original creator, the team that uses them, or custom rules.
4. Storage
Document management software allows you to store content and set specific rules for that storage. For example, you might create individual drives for documents based on the teams that have access to them. If you use a hybrid system that involves both cloud-based and physical storage, you can keep tabs on where each file is kept, whether in physical or digital form.
Some enterprise cloud document storage platforms can also involve archiving older materials, ensuring they are kept secure, and managing the eventual disposal of data. How files get destroyed or disposed of depends largely on the industry you are in and the type of documents you work with.
The platform you use may allow you to set rules for data retention. For example, employee contracts might be retained in one section of your document management solution for as long as a person works for your company. Once they leave, the contract might move to another area of the content management system, where it’s held for one year. After that, the contract can be permanently archived or deleted, depending on your company’s rules or any governing regulations.
5. Retrieval
When you create and store documents, you want to be able to retrieve them when necessary.
You might set permissions on a piece of content so only people on a certain team or people in certain roles, such as managers or executives, can access and retrieve it. You can also limit how the information is retrieved. For example, a user might need to be logged into your organization’s network or using a company-owned device before they can access or download a piece of content.
6. Versioning
Documents tend to be living things. They evolve and change as team members edit them. In some cases, you might need to revert to an earlier form of a document or double-check an earlier version to see what changes a person has made.
Document management tools will create and store multiple versions of your team’s content so you can keep tabs on it as you manage your data lifecycle.
7. Searching
The documents stored in your organization’s system should be easy to track down. Search capabilities allow users to look up files based on name, creator, date, or keywords.
8. Integration
Your organization might use a variety of other software platforms for creating or organizing its content. According to Gartner, 40% of digital workers use more than 11 applications to perform their jobs.
Your document management system must integrate with any apps or systems you already use to keep your files organized and ease the content creation process.
9. Security
Your chosen platform for documentation management should have security features that control who has access to particular files and the type of changes a person can make to the content. The system might use security features such as encrypted document sharing, granular permissions, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to manage who gets access to what.
10. Annotations
Sometimes, you might want to integrate note-taking methods into your workflows or leave comments for other users without altering the document itself. An annotation feature enables this. Depending on the security settings, a user might have permission to annotate a file without changing it.
11. Workflow automation
Some document management solutions include workflow automation to streamline content review processes and reduce manual tasks.
For example, after the creator of a document finishes writing it, the file might automatically get sent to an editor. Once the editor signs off on the content, it might go to a reviewer, who fact-checks it. Digital workflow automation ensures content flows smoothly and that there aren’t any lags or pauses in the midst of an important project.
Simplify the document management process with Box
When you oversee content with Box, you take advantage of the most critical components of a document management system. Our document management system lets you create, collaborate on, and organize the entire lifecycle of your content in one secure place.
With the Intelligent Content Management, you can:
- Create, edit, and upload documents
- Store and share files
- Automate workflows
- Simplify collaboration
- Integrate with other apps
- Manage retention schedules
- Restore content in case of accidental deletion
- Protect your content
Box works with your existing apps and programs and allows you to upgrade from legacy content management vendors. To discover all you can do with an intelligent document management solution, contact us today.
While we maintain our steadfast commitment to offering products and services with best-in-class privacy, security, and compliance, the information provided in this blog post is not intended to constitute legal advice. We strongly encourage prospective and current customers to perform their own due diligence when assessing compliance with applicable laws.
