Office Document Strategies Blog

One of the great tools the internet provides is the ability to monitor and review others' ideas about topics which have interest to you. A LinkedIn group we regularly follow includes opinions from vendors who work in the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) field. For those who are not always looking at this topic area you might hear it called:

• Document Management,
• File Storage,
• Record Management,
• or even Business Process Management.  
  

While not exactly synonymous, each of these terms refers to elements of the general area now more commonly called ECM. When I started in this business over 17 years ago it was called Document Imaging and was usually restricted to the process of scanning paper documents, processing some electronic documents into images and then filing the results into an electronic searchable file storage.  

Today most of these processes are taken for granted but the final piece, creating an organized electronic file storage is an area which generally causes a lot of confusion.

Over time I have addressed some of these issues in various blog posts:

• Electronic File Storage - the Range of Options

• Electronic Filing With Windows Folders Doesn't Work!

• Index Structure Key to Document Management Retrieval Efficiency

• Merging Document File Types Requires Document Management Strategy

• Pick The Right Document Management System to Meet Your Needs

• Electronic Filing Facilitates Document Retention Scheduling

• Canadian Based Cloud Document Storage Is Needed

• Your Documents and the NSA - minimizing risk for Canadians

• 12 Signs You Should Invest in Electronic Document Filing

• Paper Focused Business Processes Bog Organizations Down

• Incremental Document Workflow Alteration Can Get Results

  You may find it valuable to review some of these to show you the types of issues to consider.

As you can see from the variety of topics this is not a simple area to cover and to understand. Recently, I came across a good blog article which covers a brief comparison between professional ECM solutions and the common online cloud solutions like Dropbox, Box, Evernote etc. One of the things which we encounter when we discuss the adoption of electronic storage, scanning and filing is whether these types of solutions are adequate for most businesses. In this blog the author does a good job of addressing this question and if this is an area of concern for you it is worth reviewing his article.

There is a massive amount of information available with regard to managing, processing and storing data and files within a business. Too often this critical work is seen as being unimportant and businesses end up building cumbersome and low security systems. With the information now available this is not necessary. Talking to those vendors who spend their time in the field on an active basis can be a help. Reading material which undertakes the kinds of comparisons referenced above can also help. In the end a bit of time spent doing some homework will save much more time once the implementation process begins.

How do you handle your document filing?

Have you integrated paper and electronic records?  Are they secure?

Share your experience below.

Lee K