No more paper chasing

Still whittling away at that paper mountain? Want to sort your document management systems once and for all? There’s an efficient solution waiting for your business. For documented evidence read on.

Many businesses still have real issues around document management. Too much paper being generated, too much time wasted filing and retrieving documents – especially physical documents but also e-documents. And what’s not helping matters is the proliferation of documents being sent via email.
That’s the view of Jan Battaerd of Next Page, an electronic document and records management solutions provider. He reminds us that email is now the primary means of internal and external communication.
“This creates multiple copies of documents, so version control becomes even more difficult,” he says. “Mailboxes are personal so there is no collaboration and no means of managing security or compliance requirements until the document is saved outside the mailbox.”
Collaborating internally in an organisation and ensuring the latest version of documents are accessed are big drivers for embarking on a document management system (DMS) implementation, he adds.
“Research shows people spend up to 20 percent of their time trying to find documents or recreating them. If we can convert that into productive time, a solution can quickly pay for itself.  “Electronic document management systems that cater for email can also store a single instance of the email, reducing duplication and minimising storage requirements for the email and associated documents.” IT spend on storage space is reduced too, he says.
Organisations increasingly want to collaborate and share documents in a secure method with external parties without sending documents via email, says Battaerd. “Our clients are telling us that their clients are now asking them to provide this facility in order to win their business.”
Paul Prouse, GM solutions and services at Fuji Xerox, says the most common issue they face when engaged to sort a firm’s document management system is “poor solution fit”.
“This can be squarely attributed to the lack of time and thought invested by a DMS provider first time round. A superficial level of understanding of the business stakeholders’ requirements and expectations invariably results in a poorly scoped solution. The delivered DMS may do the job, on paper, but doesn’t provide a good fit long term, and there is usually poor user uptake and even abandonment in some cases.”
Prouse believes that the more time spent up front defining the requirements, the higher the dividends for the client. “They’ll be happy with a solution that’s robust, delivers the expected functionality, stands the test of time, grows with them, and their people love using it.”
When installing a new DMS he says most companies understandably want real gains in operational efficiency when it comes to document handling. “They want their documents or forms to be, without fail, exactly where they’re supposed to be.”
Businesses are also looking for practical cost savings, adds Prouse. “With the high cost of office space in cities like Christchurch especially, a new DMS can store digitalised copies of all documents, meaning that bulky hard copy archive boxes can be stored offsite, freeing up that premium floor space.”
The case for a fully functioning DMS is a compelling one. Andrew Simpson, product manager Electronic Imaging Division, for Toshiba, says most users are aware of the efficiency gains.  
“From automating manually intensive tasks, such as accounts payable workflows, businesses are able to make better use of its most expensive resource – people,” he says. “Document systems help businesses implement best practice, mitigating risks related to compliance and insuring all users automatically conform to polices relating to security and information access.
“Intelligent document workflows take the pain out of manual approval processes, as the system automatically routes documents to the correct user based on properties of the document – such as a purchase order cost, inventory level, customer ID, and so on.”
Simpson believes cost is arguably the biggest myth to overcome when talking to potential DMS adopters. “But a correctly-implemented document management system should offer a return on the investment in a relatively short space of time. The key is to clearly identify the cost associated with a business’s pain points, and prove to the client that solving these issues generates enough savings to pay for the investment, which then can be reinvested in improving efficiencies elsewhere in the business, in a cyclic fashion.” 
A DMS should also be easy to use and maintain, says Simpson. “Users should feel comfortable navigating through document repositories, searching for information and using it to collaborate with colleagues. If not, then [the DMS] won’t be utilised effectively and the savings won’t be achieved.”

Meeting your DMS needs
NZBusiness asked Next Page’s Jan Battaerd exactly what’s involved in implementing a DMS system. “Understand the business, review the processes, workshop with the client on the design, set up a test system and ensure it is well tested,” was his reply. “Plus change management and training are so important to get user acceptance and buy-in.”
Firms should also ensure they have governance and policies and procedures in place, he says. “If users don’t want to use [the DMS] they’ll try everything to avoid it.
“You also need to review the system’s effectiveness on an ongoing basis. For an organisation that has never had a DMS our advice is to keep it simple. After six months with a system in place the way people work will change. Therefore if you have designed complex processes around the way you work now, you may find yourself having to re-engineer your design.”
As for choosing a solutions vendor, there are many options available, but Battaerd says it’s like getting an architect to design a house to suit your property and your needs. “A business should get an analysis of their current business practices, their infrastructure and their future business plans by an experienced specialist in business process transformation. From that analysis a roadmap can be developed. Sometimes it is a business process that needs to be reconfigured, not the installation of a piece of software, that will be most productive for the business.”
Toshiba’s Andrew Simpson – whose firm has partnered with ELO Digital Office to provide a solution which unifies information management across the desktop, mobile devices and MFDs (Multifunctional Devices) – says product capability, local standards compliance and a list of references should be key requirements when reviewing vendor offerings.
“Above all, the partner you’ve selected to implement your DMS should understand your business, have experience in your industry and processes and most definitely have a clear understanding of your pain points,” he says. “Understand your desired outcomes and ensure your partner is able to deliver on those, on time and on budget.”
Fuji Xerox’s Paul Prouse says you can’t go past a DMS provider who takes the time to listen to business stakeholders and then scopes out a solution that actually meets their short and long term requirements. “We don’t accept that one solution fits all, so we provide a range of solutions that are easy to manage and develop as your needs change. We also recommend caution when considering some of the so-called ‘free’ tools out in the market. Although they may initially present as a great solution, we’ve seen companies that have looked to develop or extend them subsequently being hit with some rather large costs. Once you’ve chosen a DMS it’s not something that is easy to transition away from; a ‘free’ solution can become an expensive millstone.”
Prouse says Fuji Xerox has focused strongly on sectors that traditionally handle large volumes of documents, such as legal, financial, insurance and property management.
“We’re also deeply conscious of the need to accommodate the changes in how and where people work, so have released and expanded our own range of document management systems from Working Folder – a web-based filing system which users can access from most mobile devices.”
For growing businesses Fuji Xerox has DocuShare – a scalable DMS which expands as your business does. “We have some impressive metrics around the business gains our clients have achieved,” says Prouse, “including an up to 80 percent reduction in time spent finding information and up to 50 percent savings in operational costs.”

DMS in action
There’s no ignoring the ongoing trends driving the adoption of smart DMS solutions: the move from paper to electronic processes across businesses; the demand for improved security and protection of IP with business information and documents; and transparency of document activity and behaviour – who’s viewed what, when, for how long, editing, approvals, sharing documents, and so on. Access to e-files is a major driver too – as demonstrated by Canon New Zealand’s client Expedio Industrial Property. Owner Richard Keene’s key focus is providing industrial buildings to his clients on lease. A key challenge was the inability to easily access property information at the touch of a button. Property files such as LIM reports, tenancy agreements and council rates are paper based and stored in boxes both onsite and offsite.
Keene travels a lot and needs access to these files; to obtain this information required a person in the office manually retrieving documents, then scanning them through to him via email.
“Expedio Industrial Property chose Canon’s Therefore solution because of the ease of use, the ability to do searches on the fly from anywhere in the world via the web browser and it is very secure,” says David Ball, manager Canon Solutions Group at Canon New Zealand. “Richard is pleased with the speed at which he can retrieve his documents which, in turn, increased efficiency from his point to his customers as there’re no longer delays when bringing up the required documentation.
“Businesses that are looking to be leaders in their industry need to realise that making information available to staff anywhere and at any time will allow them to make the most accurate and cost effective decisions,” says Ball.
“Being able to capture, manage, store and archive your documents is absolutely critical. Our solutions make information management effortless, secure and mobile – automatically connecting people, processes and information, wherever they are and in real time.”
Jan Battaerd says mobility is definitely a developing trend in the DMS space. “Being able to access a contract from your iPad while sitting with a client has obvious business benefits. Some solutions are addressing mobility with mobile apps that allow users to view, edit, sign off and forward documents on their mobile devices.”
An increasing number of applications are adding document repositories as part of the solution, adds Battaerd, which may be accompanied by the ability to upload documents to the cloud.  “There is a misconception that this is a document management system. It’s really just another file store that you have added to your existing repositories.
“An emerging trend we’re seeing is the need to integrate multiple repositories so that your document is available from multiple applications, instead of having to store them in a dedicated repository. Cloud-based solutions may well be the future but if bandwidth is slow – accessing your 8MB Powerpoint presentation or looking at your 20BM CAD drawing is going to frustrate users immensely.”

Glenn Baker is editor of NZBusiness.