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What To Look For In A Document Management System?

Written by Mario Zules on November 22, 2019

 As organizations continue to handle massive amounts of data, and regulatory laws evolve, the need for secure record management systems has become more imperative. However, choosing an ideal document management system (DMS) for your venture can be a daunting task for most business owners and project managers.

In this article, we take a look at the essential features of a good document management system. Let's dive in.

What are the features of a good document management system?

As you might expect, there are a plethora of document management systems (DMS) in the market, and they are all not created equal. A well-designed platform should live up to the following standards:

Allows the use of collaborative tools

A system with integrated collaboration functionality, in most cases, improves productivity. Such tools include messaging apps, reminders, and calendars, among others.

Has cloud access

A cloud-based document management system allows your business to store digital assets on remote servers. Currently, more and more organizations are shifting towards online documentation due to its unparalleled flexibility that enhances productivity leading to mega-profits.

Incorporates artificial intelligence

A document management software that can intelligently retrieve your documents saves you and your team tons of time, leading to higher productivity. Thus an effective system provides easy rating, tagging, and categorization features, which can help in file retrieval. Moreover, boosting your organization’s business intelligence as it can allow the analysis of stored documents to provide insight.

Friendly user interface

A complex user interface can be a real turnoff. Employees are going to use your DMS system regularly as they interact with your digital files, so it’s only prudent that your software features an attractive user interface. What’s more, it should be simple and easy to navigate. The simpler the software, the better.

A powerful search engine

Sluggish access to digital assets can be a significant impediment to the success of your business as it can reduce your organization's productivity. You need to invest in a system that has a robust search feature enabling quick document search to ensure high performance.

Version control

This feature will allow you to quickly move around a variety of documents stored in your document management system, despite containing multiple versions. For instance, enable the storage of different file formats such as XML, pdf, and .dox forms, among others. So that you can go back to your previous file and make changes, if any, without much hassle or discarding the document entirely.

It also allows easy access to material across a wide variety of mediums such as mobile devices, personal computers, and tablets, among others, which enables workflow automation.

Has document security controls

Management software that provides individual permissions when accessing records goes a long way in ensuring security. This can be accomplished through the use of passwords that allow access to the system depending on a user’s level.

Sound document management systems allow organizational content managers or system administrators to set permission for each employee. This way, you keep control and avoid unauthorized access or alteration of stored digital documents.

Supports all types of file formats

With the ever-changing technology, new file formats keep emerging. Therefore, you need a DMS system that can accommodate such eventualities rather than dragging you back to the drawing board.

A suitable document management system allows the storage of different kinds of documents. It also has the capability of storing and managing standard and rich media files, without failure in performance.

Access through mobile devices

Your DMS should not only empower you to access all your data without leaving your desk but should also allow you to access digital documents from any part of the world with an internet connection. The flexibility afforded by this improves productivity in the long run.

Allows secure file transfers

Apart from providing easy file sharing, a DMS system needs to guarantee secure transit. DMS solutions that utilize software encryption and high-level security are your best bet.

The good news is that some service providers have brought the features we discussed above into a one-stop DMS solution. OpenKM utilizes a cloud-based document management approach to store and manages digital assets. It is also available in on-premise version.The remarkable thing about this DMS is its incredible flexibility. You can collaborate as well as work with your team simultaneously, and easily share feedback.

Perhaps it would also be essential to mention that OpenKM manages all aspects of workflow. Therefore you don’t have to worry about formatting, numbering, or layout. Moreover, the DMS can integrate with other platforms thanks the SDK's for Java, PHP or .NET and its complete API.

Overall, it takes the lead among the best Document management systems due to its superb functionality. Request a demo here.

Final word

In this post, we have highlighted what to look for in a document management system. The best document management system for your organization means: improved productivity, enhanced security for your digital assets, better workflow, cloud syncing, and easy access to your documents from any device.

Whichever system you opt for, ensure it makes your life easier, reduces document clutter, and boosts the performance of your enterprise.