Document management in the cloud

Cloud computing platforms have taken the IT world by storm, offering a flexible, cost-effective way for companies to leverage scalable computing resources.

Cloud computing encourages a rethink of IT paradigms - promoting a shift from the traditional approach to IT (build or buy) to more progressive solutions that are centred on catering for the digital economy. One of the areas undergoing this transformation is customer document management.

Old-school document management solutions are being replaced by a 'digital first' approach that takes advantage of distributed architectures like cloud infrastructures, while also achieving tighter security and smarter compression technologies, resulting in a better all-round solution.

Different types of cloud deployments exist - private cloud for companies that want dedicated infrastructure; public cloud for businesses that require on-demand scalability; and hybrid cloud for those that require a combination of cloud and managed resources to achieve their goals.

In order to fulfil customer demand for instant access to anything they need, companies must make documents containing personal and confidential information available to a number of parties. These include call centre agents who engage with customers, internal teams managing customer accounts, and the customers themselves, all of whom need access to documents such as contracts, bills, statements and payment histories at any time, through multiple channels.

Whether the document management solution is located in a public, private or hybrid cloud, security and accessibility needs to be built in from scratch to ensure that whoever needs to access these documents can do so easily and securely, via whatever interface they happen to be using.

Using a digital document management solution based in the cloud offers high availability and reduced capital investment. As cloud computing matures, it will also achieve operational efficiencies and therefore become even more cost-effective.

Selecting a document storage solution that can serve any format of document to any channel allows companies to leverage the many different channels that are available to deliver or present documents. In so doing, companies can take advantage of digital communications technologies to improve their customer engagement.

Doing this in the cloud allows customers to serve themselves rather than using slower, more expensive channels, as cloud offers access from anywhere the customers are, as long as they have Internet connectivity. Data transfer technologies enable secure, immediate presentation of documents to any interface - Web portal, mobile app, and soon, social media.

Old-school document management solutions are being replaced by a 'digital first' approach.

There are a number of ways in which cloud computing can further enhance digital document management solutions:

Availability - today's document management solutions are not built to simply archive documents, but rather to enable easy and quick access to stored documents through a variety of channels. Locating this solution in the cloud removes hardware, software and networking responsibility, replacing these with a service level agreement governing the availability of the distributed infrastructure and managed application. Furthermore, redundancy is built into the cloud solution and digital documents are easily replicated for business continuity.

Security - cited as one of the main areas of concern when considering a cloud solution, security must be addressed at both the infrastructure and application level. Cloud solutions allow for granular security access, based on the respective user's role. In conjunction with the security built into digital document management solutions from the ground up, this provides multiple layers of encryption to ensure confidential documents are protected at all points in the digital journey.

Operational efficiencies - signing up for a document management solution in the cloud avoids upfront capital investment and takes the guesswork out of projecting IT infrastructure expenditure. Digital document management solutions offer advantages, such as smarter compression technology that will further reduce operating expenses.

Control - cloud platforms enable a business to scale up and down to cater for seasonal or business cycles, providing not only flexibility, but operational control over capacity and cost.

While these are the desired outcomes of a digital document management implementation, such initiatives should start by defining the best possible customer experience across channels. It is no longer appropriate to make internal efficiencies or compliance obligations the ultimate goal. New document management systems approach today's challenges with the right priorities - customer experience underpinned by appropriate security, efficiency, availability and control. Locating the solution in the cloud further enhances the project outcomes.