Your company holds a lot of data. Managing it all isn't very easy. You can, however, make this process much easier with a strong data organization system. One of the keys to this is to have a system that is fully up to date with the latest best practices and technologies for data management.
You don't have to be a document management expert to know whether or not your data organization system is outdated. All you need to do is look for the following five signs:
Your data security is questionable
Your documents need to be protected. In order to keep them safe, you need to look beyond basic locks and passwords. In order to effectively protect your data, you must take two steps:
First, convert your paper documents into digital files, so that the archaic – and easy to breach – lock and key system is no longer necessary to protect your data.
Second, ensure that all of your documents are encrypted. This will scramble your data, making it unreadable to anyone who doesn't have authorized access.
Your team still loses things
It is extremely frustrating to lose a document when you need it most. However, if your data organization system is outdated, this will happen often. For example, a paper filing system makes losing a document much more likely. The same thing can happen with poorly managed digital documents. When you are manually dealing with thousands of documents, this is going to happen. This can be prevented by using a document management system that protects all of your documents from loss.
It takes a while to find documents
If a document isn't lost, then you should be able to access it in a few seconds. If it takes you minutes or hours to find documents, then your data organization system is killing your company's productivity.
Your data organization system should make your documents easily searchable. This way, all your employees will need to do is type in a few bits of relevant information in order to dig up a document.
You are not mobile
Nearly two-thirds of mobile phone users rely on their phones for internet access. This trend is expected to continue until a better technology becomes popular. It's very reasonable that people are joining this trend, since a smartphone can give you constant access to the web, no matter where you are.
Such benefits can be used to enhance your own data organization. This is due to the fact that with a mobile device, your employees can manage a document from anywhere. For example, someone could approve a document from the other side of the world. If you aren't taking advantage of the benefits of mobile technology, then you are allowing your business' workflow productivity to be hindered.
Making use of mobile technology for your data organization begins with investing in a cloud solution that allows your mobile devices to access your archives in the first place.
You are still doing everything manually
If your employees are handling every element of your document-related workflows, then your data organization system is outdated. You should be using an automation system that reduces the number of steps that an employee needs to take for each task. Such a system will both reduce your employees' workload and make sure that critical steps in a process aren't overlooked.
Is your data effectively organized?
Effectively organizing your company's data will require more than putting paperwork in order. Optimize your ability to manage your documents by determining where your data organization weaknesses are, and making adjustments as necessary.