Imagup General Magazine 2024
Moving from paper-based documentation to storing your files in a digital environment can revolutionize business operations. In a secure system – either on your premises or in the cloud – you’ll drastically reduce the time your employees spend searching for files. With workers able to do their actual jobs instead of wasting time sifting through paper, you’ll save money and improve productivity, but there are a host of other benefits to using version control software. From efficiency to security, let’s run through the myriad benefits of using secure document control to manage your business’s data below. If you are interested in this topic, you can find out more here.
1. Easy Retrieval and Discovery of Information
Forget wasting time sifting through piles of paperwork to retrieve the relevant one you need. Using control software to organize your company’s files means they will be at-the-ready whenever you need to retrieve one or look up information. If you have an unusually large volume of paperwork, doc control allows you to instantly locate a file. Your system serves as a central repository for all your records so you can quickly access, view, alter, and share any. This ability is especially useful if your business needs to maintain compliance and has to collect relevant information for audits. A contract repository by GatekeeperHQ is an efficient way to transition to a digital workplace. While preparing for compliance audits in a paper-based environment could take days or weeks, with document control software, you can be ready in a matter of hours.
2. Secure, Password-Protected Documentation
The right document control system will provide an encryption system for storing your data. You’ll be able to set encryption keys for accounts, so only the right people get access to the files that are appropriate for them. You can also implement varying levels of access authority for users, so you limit admission to only those who need it. This helps to assure that no unauthorized eyes can retrieve, view, or change sensitive data remains safe. Document control also offers a way for you to create an audit trail to track who has accessed, modified, downloaded, or distributed any files.
3. Protection Against Document-Loss
Whether your business uses document control on your premises or off your premises in the cloud, the technology provides secure storage, so you’ll never worry about files being lost. Paper files are too easy to lose, and document control helps you eliminate wasted time and money when employees spend hours tracking down misplaced or lost paperwork. Document control stores and categorizes every file using tags you designate, so each file is accounted for. By attaching keywords and phrases to documents in storage, you’ll ensure your files are properly cataloged and stored electronically so they’ll be retrievable forever.
4. Compliance Adherence
If your business is in any sort of industry that is bound by specific regulatory or compliance laws, secure document control will simplify and streamline your ability to adhere to those laws. If you are ever required to perform an audit, you’ll be able to instantly gather securely stored files to satisfy audit needs, and you’ll be able to easily prove that your business remains in compliance.
5. Disaster Recovery
The disaster recovery component of control software gives you peace of mind that your data remains safe in the event of a crisis. If your business is physically compromised, such as by natural disasters, human activity, or a fire, document control ensures your paperwork remains secure and easily recovered. A flood decimates any physical paper but storing it in an electronic environment means you never have to worry about disaster destroying your data. Rest assured, your document recovery will be stress-free, especially if your document control solution is storing your files in a secure, managed cloud.
6. Improving Workflow
Secure doc control will help your employees (and customers and vendors) better communicate and collaborate. In paper-based settings, moving files from department to department or from your business to a third party is massively time-consuming. Document control software smooths out the workflow of moving data among relevant parties and people through email notifications and security controlled access to your system. With only the right people accessing and altering documents – as well as an efficient plan for data movement – your business will be more efficient and productive.
7. Secure Integration with Third-Party Software
The control software will allow you to integrate it with other platforms and applications so you can eliminate redundant data input and enjoy unhindered communication among your platforms. A Doc control system can integrate with software such as your email platform to streamline and speed up sending files internally and externally while maintaining the integrity of your data.
8. Reduce Costs
Think about all the components of a paper-based business environment: printers, ink, folders, cabinets, and more. According to the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. When you move to a secure file management system, you eliminate not just the costs associated with buying paper and maintaining printers but the space needed to contain them all. You reduce your expenses in both physical supplies and office space. While control software itself is an expense, it’s a more predictable one that is more cost-effective in the long run. Consider how expensive it is to replace personal information should a breach or disaster occur. With document control performing all the safeguarding and storage described above, your costs associated with any potential loss are much less with files in a digital environment.
Aside from these benefits, businesses that don’t move their paper processes to software-based ones will soon find themselves falling behind their competitors. Research and Markets reported that the document management systems market is expected to reach $6.78 billion by 2024 – up from $3.59 billion in 2017. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 11.17% – and not projected to slow down anytime soon. Clearly, businesses are seeing the value of streamlining their operations, making compliance easier on themselves, and watching their productivity soar. Explore DocXellent.com today to watch your business do the same.
