Well, welcome to 2018! Can you believe we are in April already? And no, that was not an April-Fool-Me joke! It seems to me that one day just grows into another these days. It seemed that yesterday was January and I am wondering what else I seemed to have slept through.
I thought that I would research something new, after all, I am usually the first person to say I should learn something new daily. Everyone should! It keeps the mind sharp! So, I thought I would investigate Document Management Trends so far in 2018.
This is an exciting topic if you are in an entrepreneur looking to come to the market with digital-cloud-based technology for one business avenue or another. Yes, even the changes in the last 6 months have been amazing! Technology moguls have been busy little bees in all the technology areas that matter to business large and small.
If you have been looking into some of those areas I thought I might cover in this article, then you might be ahead of the game; or behind, depending which way you think about it. If you are just looking into these things and have not already implemented at least a few of these topics, then you might already be behind the 8-ball when it comes to keeping up with or surpassing your competition.
So, here are my questions for today:
- Mobility, what am I looking for when it comes to my business?
- Collaboration, for my associates and between my devices, how does that work?
- Software vs Web Service, what will assist my business in the most efficient and cost friendly manner?
- Security, how safe IS my business if I put it all out there “in the cloud”?
- “User friendly,” for myself, for my clients, will the usage be easy?
Mobility
My greatest asset at this point when it comes to mobility is that I am able to be mobile with the current technology I have. No matter where I am, on the job or on vacation, I can work anywhere. I can take my computer wherever in the world I may visit and as long as I have a connection point to the internet, I can always keep myself busy and out of trouble.
2017 was a Big Year for ONLINE software companies, when it came to sales increases over 2016. So far in 2018, companies like Microsoft and Adobe, have perfected the Online Service Software. Office 365 and Adobe Cloud have solidified their role in the changing technology. Microsoft, with its Dynamics “Service-ware” is the perfect service online software for the small to medium companies, who for monetary reasons, are unable to afford independent “all-in-one” mobility business solutions. With Dymanics, it is easy to work in your QuickBooks or Sage Accounting packages, and come up with some real-time model plans, or plumbing instructions, or almost any other career you are in. Dynamics can incorporate the non-accounting-based paperwork associated in your business, with the accounting-based paperwork required to may your business successful.
2018 will hopefully become the year that businesses became paper-free. Document Management Software is out there. Perfected! There are 2 different types though, and it will be tough to decide which type to go with. Personally, I want my Document Management Software to be 100% cloud-based digital storage, with the option to have software workable on my computer if I am not near an internet source. I am sure that others will want their Document Management Software to be 100% cloud-based. Those people obviously don’t live in the country and spend all their time in an urban area with that excellent internet! (Yes, that was jealousy at its’ finest!)
Collaboration
In business, I need to share work out across my devices, my phone, iPad and PC & Mac computers. So now any new technology must include this feature. Basic as this may seem to me right now, because I use this already, I do not want to lose this feature when I incorporate any future technology purchase.
I can have my client send me a document from his phone and I am able to collaborate with him in real time. Whether they are in Mexico, Africa or Great Britain I can collaborate with them in real-time. They are able to make changes to my mock-ups and I am able to physically see what they need me to do.
It will be interesting to follow where technology goes from here for the rest of 2018. I look forward to trying out all the new technology trends heading this way in the next eight-months.
Software vs Web Service
This is what I call “Software vs Service-ware”. Have you subscribed to services like Office 365? I have. I use it daily for my business. I love the fact that I am able to work online when I need to and save to my “one-drive” cloud storage. I like being able to use it on my computer without having to be online. This enables me to still work if I don’t have a great internet connection or Wi-Fi connection.
This is the area where, I have seen by my research, there has been the greatest change in technology. Software creators have risen to the challenges here. I am used to using my QuickBooks online, my Office 365 and my Adobe Cloud. Where I have had issues in the past; is in the area of documents that are not accounting related or even design related. My issues have been that I have to use unrelated documents and files that cannot “talk to each other” (in essence).
Creators of “HubDoc” got it right when they came out with the online software that reads my receipts and transfers the information to my QuickBooks online and files my receipts in the different accounting folders, so that even if I lose my receipt, I have the copy of the original and it has been accounted for in my accounting system. It will be interesting if they take that a step further and they encompass more than just documents and spreadsheet files.
Security
Security is important to everyone in this day of fabulous technological advances. I know when I sign in to my cloud account, I want my information secure from predators on the internet. Security, in general, not just in your document management software, is very necessary. I want to know that the next time I sign into Facebook, I will not have to worry about who is having access to my private information. Security breaches in governmental systems, utilities systems, artificial intelligence self- driving vehicles, bank platforms, trading platforms, and yes even other security platforms have all been victims of malicious hacks.
I think security is the most important part of every piece of software, app, or file. Document Management Software developers have really lead the way when it comes to security for both the product and the users.
User friendly
It would be great if in 2018, software developers actually meant it when they said a program was “user friendly”. This is very important especially considering that today’s internet and software packages are not just for young people anymore. More and more “mature” users are out there trying to learn new business software to support freelance work in their retirement. In this respect, Document Management Software has to be user friendly, and once again products like FileDirector and DocuWare are leading the pack by make the transition from paper to digital as smooth as possible.
Something to Think About
Technology has come so far since the early 1990’s when home computers were “born”. Did you ever think we would be able to achieve the things we have achieved in the course of only 30 years? And if this is the way the last 30 years have changed, where will technology take us in the next 30 years?
