Although many organisations are turning to electronic methods of storing, managing and tracking their records and documents, there are companies in certain industries that still need to track the movement of their physical paper files. In order for this to be successful, a dedicated system needs to be put into place to ensure accurate and effective document management.
Let us explore an analogy that compares an organisation to the human body, much as the Farrelly Brothers` interpretation of the goings on in our bodies in their 2001 movie Osmosis Jones.
This comedy animation follows the story of Frank Detomello (played by Bill Murray) who has contracted a deadly virus after eating a bad egg. The inside of Frank`s body is known as the "City of Frank" with a mayor that is not really interested in Frank`s physical well-being, only his and Frank`s immediate gratification. Two inhabitants of this city go beyond the call of duty to try save Frank`s life.
Following this line of thought, imagine that Frank`s mind is a large corporation that plays a significant role in the workings, financial stability and successes of the "City of Frank". Imagine that his brain is the equivalent of a real organisation`s documents and records.
International research firm IDC recently released a white paper entitled "Documents - The life blood of your business?" in which it discusses the results of research conducted in Europe. The research was aimed at discovering the level of understanding and appreciation that companies have for their documents. This research revealed that European businesses are acutely aware of the importance of documents to their operations and of the need to properly manage their document environments.
What the interviewed companies lacked was a realistic understanding of the cost associated with all their document activities. These companies were also struggling with managing their documents.
Back to our mind/brain analogy: most of us understand how crucial our mind is to our functioning and survival, but what would life be like if processes in our mind did not function in the most effective way? If the document in our brain that tells us how to interpret what our eyes are seeing got held up or just simply vanished, we would be operating blind.
Organisations need to understand their document processes and need to ensure their document activities are effectively managed.
Paul Mullon, marketing director, Metrofile
In the same way, if a document containing vital company information disappeared, that company would also be operating blind. If documents relating to deliveries got tied up, the company would be out of touch.
With poor document management, how successful can a company (or mind) hope to be? IDC has stated that one of the major challenges facing every organisation today is the cost of managing its documents and information. An even bigger challenge for organisations is coming to terms with what is actually being spent on their document activities. IDC`s research revealed that 97% of the organisations interviewed did not know what percentage of their revenue was spent on documents; 90% could not estimate how much they spent on documentation; and 95% were not able to estimate the cost of wasted or unused documents.
Organisations need to understand their document processes and need to ensure their document activities are effectively managed. This will enable them to come to terms with the costs of their documents and manage these costs more efficiently. Reduced costs and improved management enable an organisation to move forward with its "eyes" wide open.
To start, companies need to look at the people and processes that create, store and search for documents and information in the organisation. The company must develop an understanding of the real cost of lost or duplicated documents. Understanding the processes for storing, accessing, monitoring, tracking and moving documents is important; and companies need to appreciate the cost to company when poor processes prevent the smooth flow of documents.
The response of many organisations when they face all of these issues is to immediately install an electronic document management system or document imaging system. While document management and imaging systems do provide significant benefits to many organisations, companies should really try to resist this temptation and rather come to grips with their document environments first, as this will determine what the best road forward is.
Once an organisation understands its document environment, processes and requirements, it can weigh up the costs of capturing all its documents, records and information into an electronic document management system against the value this will bring to the organisation.
Some organisations are not able to fully automate their document environment because documents are constantly in use, being moved from department to department or from group to group. A company may not be very technology-savvy and lack the necessary infrastructure to support an electronic document management system, or staff may not be computer-literate enough to manage and maintain such a system.
In these cases, organisations would best be served with a non-electronic document management system that enables it to store the documents in the most space- and cost-effective way possible, while still allowing the documents to be easily located and tracked as they move around the organisation. Implementing a barcode document or file tracking system would be a very simple and effective approach for companies that cannot or choose not to implement an electronic document management system.
Regardless of whether organisations choose to follow the sophisticated electronic document management systems route, or to opt for a system that is less technological, it is vital that any organisation implement a dedicated, accurate and effective document management system. Without one, a company could stumble along its path almost blind.
Share