Is a document management system better than organizing documents in folder on a shared network? The simple answer is yes. A document management system increases the security and reduces the recovery time. It’s more convenient, more user-friendly and capable of enhancing productivity.
Effortless Access from Everywhere
Shared drive documents can be accessed only from the office. While such a method of obtaining information can work for a smaller business, it will be inconvenient for companies whose workers travel and for the ones that have multiple offices.
Document management software can come with cloud-based storage. This means that the documents will be accessible from any location. Version control will still be in full effect, allowing multiple people to look at the data from different locations without any confusion.
File Tracking and Retrieval
File tracking and retrieval issues are very common with the shared drive. The reason for these problems is simple – the shared drive doesn’t allow for document tagging and the addition of search criteria.
Document management solutions make it a whole lot easier to look for relevant documents by using keywords. When a shared drive is being utilized, workers will need to know the name of the document or the folder that it’s stored in.
When a document management system is employed, meta tags and additional key phrases can be added to every single file. This way, retrieval will be easier, even for people who don’t work with the specific information too often.
Security
Security is a primary concern for companies that employ a shared drive. There may be a few security options like password-control and limiting access to certain files/folders. As far as more advanced safety features go, a shared drive doesn’t have such.
Document management systems allow for a lot more flexibility when it comes to protecting sensitive data. Access control encryptions, detailed logs and allowing certain employees to view the information without editing it are all possible.
A document management program is also great because backups can be scheduled to prevent the accidental loss of data or the loss of important information in an accident or a natural disaster.
Revision Control
In the case of a shared drive, there’s virtually no version or revision control possible. People will have whatsoever no idea who has accessed files, how these have been edited or whether they’re currently exploring the latest version. Shared drives also increase the risk of duplicate creation and file misplacement.
Revision control is of paramount importance for companies that work with data in need of constant updates. Through the selection of the right document management system, it would become incredibly easy to see when a file has been modified, who has done the modifications and whether additional upgrades will be required.
Revision control is crucial for documents that multiple people work with. A document management system can prevent a document from being viewed unless it contains updated information. Duplicate removal would also be easy to do – some of the process may even be automated.
The Creation of an Audit Trail
No audit trail can be created when a shared drive is being used. Things are a whole lot different with innovative document management solutions. The creation of an audit trail is ideal for recovering documents that have been deleted accidentally (or even with malicious intend). The audit trail may also be needed when attempting to ensure document management compliance.
Such an audit trail will also give the company a better idea about employee behavior – who’s accessing data, who’s editing files, printing the information or even deleting files.