Leveraging Cloud-Based Options for Document Management
energycioinsights

Leveraging Cloud-Based Options for Document Management

Jay Stauffer, Director, IT, The Brock Group

Jay Stauffer, Director, IT, The Brock Group

Paper Document Management Soaring to the Cloud

Filing Cabinets are becoming an item of the past as the use of Document Management Systems (DMS) is on the rise in businesses of all sizes. Paper Documents are not only space consumers; they limit the ability to collaborate amongst the different business functional departments and customers, causing not only a loss in productivity but a loss in revenue. How many times have you lost a paper document and find yourself spending hours looking for that one business critical piece of paper? This should not be a situation any business should be in with today’s technology.  DMS platforms improve timeliness by giving us the ability to push documents through their lifecycles automatically as well as improve the over-all regulatory compliance, giving businesses a peace of mind.  Implementing a Document Management System can have some operational, technical, and financial hurdles to overcome; however, there are many benefits the business can take advantage of once the system is in place.

“There are many distinct advantages to the Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud-hosted model versus on premises”

Traditional or More Efficient?? The Pros of Cloud DMS

Cloud Services are no stranger in today’s tech world due to the high demand of information, computing performance, scalability, and accessibility it gives to the mobile workforce.  Document Management Systems are offered in the cloud, empowering the ability to leverage a central repository of key data that can easily be accessed from anywhere.  From the time a document is scanned, it is then accessible to any authorized employee many ways through the use of a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.  You technically can't forget to bring your documents when you use a cloud document management system. Traditional Document Management Systems can be less accessible if the organization doesn’t offer remote access into the company’s network, making the cloud DMS option more attractive in overall efficiency.  On-Premises DMS systems come with more overhead cost and management needed from the time of implementation to on-going maintenance of hardware and software required to operate the system.  SaaS Document Management allows the company to focus strictly on the use of the application instead of worrying about staying current with upgrades and changing technology.  In some cases organizations may not have the skill base required to run a sophisticated on-site business system; therefore, outsourcing cloud services means expert providers can manage the content on the company’s behalf regardless of your choice of cloud-based DMS.

There are many distinct advantages to the Software as a Service (SaaS) cloud-hosted model versus on premises. The cloud service solution provides substantial time savings with the ability to deploy faster with little to no software to install or configuration on the network.  Security of the documents not only is very important; however, done in many ways whether it is through virtual security by group permissions or physical security through key-card access, off-site redundancy, fire suppression equipment, all which are advantages of using a cloud hosted provider.  Collaboration is becoming more complex as more operations are outsourced and development partnerships become more commonplace.  Cloud DMS systems have the ability to improve collaboration both internally and externally much easier than traditional on-premises systems through the use of web based environments and workflows. In addition, understanding where a document is at in the authoring, review and approval process is significantly facilitated. Document sharing and collaboration are much easier and accurate with cloud-based DMS.

As the “Cloud” grows, premises based solutions for document management are not indubitably what every enterprise needs. The systemization of capturing, storing, retrieving, indexing, sharing, and securitizing documents is complex and can be an immense financial undertaking for many businesses. Fortunately, there are many good cloud-based options available for document management that offers many advantages to the premise-based model.

Weekly Brief

Read Also

A Planet in Trouble: A Technologist's Call to Action

Sandy Anuras, Chief Technology Officer at Sunrun

Rethinking Your Digital Selection: How to Get the Most from New Tech

Bryan Friehauf, EVP and GM of Enterprise Software Solutions, Hitachi ABB Power Grids

A Pragmatic Approach Towards Sustainable Environment

Robert Sheninger, VP Health, Safety, Environment and Sustainability, Talos Energy

EPC Oil and Gas Companies' Role in Scaling Up in Energy Transition

Matthew Harwood, SVP Strategy and Sustainability, McDermott International [NYSE: MDR]