A Document Management System is crucial to steer business processes and to ensure that people have access to the right information; whenever they want and wherever they are. This white paper describes a successful transition to an (Electronic) Document Management System.
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2. Organizationsaround the globe are striving
towardseverexpandinggoals,tryingtoachieve
more while simultaneously decreasing the
amountofresourcesused.Formanyemployees,
keepingtheirheadsabovethewatersofdaily
workflows can be a hassle, as they are
overwhelmedwithinformation.Theflow ofthis
vitalvitalinformationisconstantlybeingimpededby
inefficientpaper-basedbusinessprocesses.
Inless-paper-basedoffices,workingbecomesmoregracefulandflowswithmoreefficiencyby
changingmanualprocesses,andmakingrepetitivetasksmorecomputer-driven.Recenttechnological
trendshavecreatedademandtotransitionintoapaperlessera,makingitanimportantgoalfor
companiestostrivetowards.
PaperlessPaperlessofficesoftware,ifadequatelyinstalledandimplemented,helpsemployeestoswiftlygain
accesstoneededcontentsandfacilitatesthem incompletingtasks,aswellasprovidessecurityfor
saveddata.Itdeliversthem from difficult,time-consumingtasks,andthetortureofnotbeingableto
findneededinformation.
ItItislikelythatmostofyourassociatesalreadyhaveinstalledelectronicbasedsystemsintheiroffices.
Thisshouldsolidifythefactthatgoingpaper-lesshasdominatedyourlargerbusinessecosystemmore
now thaneverbefore.Youwillnotjustbetransitioningtoadigitalsystem,therebydigitizingyour
internalpaper-basedprocesses,butyouwillalsohavefreeflowingdigitalinteractionbetweenall
associatesthathavegonedigital.
WhenWhenyoufindyourselfinanentirelycomputerbasedenvironment,purchaseorders,processingof
invoicesandserviceordersarefarmoreaccurateandquicklycompleted.Forinstance,ifyoursupplier
sendsyouinformationelectronically,yourpaperlessofficesoftwarewillautomaticallyextractthedata
from thosefilesandforms,preventingredundantdataentry.Thisallowsyourworkerstoconcentrate
onreviewingthedatainsteadofspendingtimekeyingitin.
Thereareaninexhaustiblenumbersofreasonstogopaperless.Thefollowingareafewreasonswhycountless
organizationsarestrivingtotransitiontheirofficesfrompaper-basedtopaperlesssystems:
1
3. Theabilitytoaccessinformationwithjustaclick
means you can easily route and distribute
informationtoalargenumberofpeopleacross
variousdepartments,officesand systems.This
swiftaccesswillgreatlyimproveefficiencyina
varietyofcontexts,suchasapprovalprocesses.
Accounting departments greatly benefitgoing
paperless, especially when it comes to
collections.Amajorchallengeforanycollections
departmentisaccessingdocumentswhileonthe
phonewithacustomer.However,withtheECM
system,vitaldocuments are retrieved easily,
helpingreducethecollectionscyclewhichinturn
improvescashflow.improvescashflow.
Withyourcompetitorsstrivingtokeeponestep
ahead,theagilityandefficiencythatyouroffices
willgainfromgoingpaperlesswillallowyoutostay
intherunning;toremaincompetitive,youhaveto
gopaperless.
In addition to making tasks faster, digital
environments provide a secure working
atmosphere.Accesscontrolsand data security
makes it easy and inexpensive to maintain
compliance as wellas curtailthe chances of
misplacingfiles,whichcouldleadtorevenueloss.
Ascomparedtopaper-basedsystems,enterprise
contentcontent management (ECM) helps maintain
office/businessconfidentialityforinformationsuch
ascontractdetails,andpatientoremployeedata.
2.Greateragility
1.Smooth-running
workflows
4.Improved
collections
Thereisgreatertransparencyinuseofdigital
systemscomparedtopaper.Ithelpsmanagement
monitortheprocessesandmakesiteasiertotrack
tasks, spot shortcomings, and create
opportunitiesforimprovement.
Goingpaperlesshasagreaterimpactonyourlarger
businessecosystemthaneverbefore.
5.Increased
transparency
3.Cut-downLower
businessrisks
2
4. CouldYouBecomeAPaperlessOffice
IinLessThan90Days?
3
Setting a goalofachieving a paperless
office in less than 90 days gives you a
quarterly targetto address and hitwhile
helpingtomaintainmomentum.Thesooner
youreachthatdeadline,thesooneryoustart
enjoyingthebenefitsofgoingpaperless.
IfIfyouareplanningtogopaperless,itisvery
importanttocreateatimeframefortaking
thisboldstep.“Paperlessin90days”isa
worthy and achievable goal for any
organization, and brings your company
togetherasateam,working on thesame
page.
WhenWhenyouthinkaboutwhatwouldneedto
happenin90daystoconsidertheinitiativea
success,itboilsdowntosettinggoalsfor
digitizingthreeareas:
1.Capturing
information
Your organization receives correspondence in
diverseways,includingfax,e-mail,mail,andforms.
Eachoftheseentrypointsmustbedigitalized.
AsAsthecorrespondencecontinues,theburdenof
scanningisreduced,butcapturinge-mailishighly
important.Creatinga“smartinbox”enablespeople
toeasilyfeede-mailtotheappropriatechannelof
yoursystem byputtingitinacentralfilerepository
orusingittostartabusinessprocess.
ThisThisistoensurese-mailsarecapturedusinga
method thatmakes tasks fasterinstead of
receivingallincominge-mailtoindividualaccounts.
Informationreceivedthroughyourpaperlessoffice
should berouted throughtheorganization.The
goalhere is to substitute papershuffling with
smooth-running digitalworkflows that contain
programmed processes to route,review,and
approveofficedocuments.
2.Distributing
information
5. Afterthedatahasbeenrouted,itneedsto
bestoredinwaythatenablesquickretrieval
andmanagingaccess.Youwanttobesure
thatdocuments are wellcaptured and
correctlytaggedandnamed,sothatthey
areaccessiblewithjustaclick.
UsingUsingtheaccountingdepartmentasacase
study,letus see how the digitalizing
processworks.Ifyouoperateonalargely
paper-based accounts payable (AP)
process,therearenumerousoptionsfor
extractinginvoicesinelectronicform.
Youcouldaskyourbusinessassociatesif
theywouldsendelectronicinvoicesinplace
ofpaper.
WhetherWhetheryou use electronic invoices or
paper documents, there are indexing
capture tools that read your files
automaticallyandextractvitalinformation
suchascustomername,invoicenumber,
andamount.
TheThe ECM system now uses the digital
workflow toroutetheinformationtothe
appropriate channels, allowing the
capturedinformationtobeprocessed.
Thisensuresthatallinvoicesaredistributedto
the appropriate persons/ departments/
organizationsforreview inapre-programmed
approvalprocess.Finally,thedigitaldocuments
andotherdataarestoredintheECM’sgeneral
documentstorage,andarealreadyindexedfor
easyretrievalwhenneeded.
ThatThatisjustanexampleofwhatcouldhappento
a department that turns to a paperless
environmentin90days.A majoradvantage
here is thatthe invoice processing time is
greatly reduced.This saves employees the
stressandtimeofmanuallyenteringdatainthe
indexfieldsasitcan now automaticallybe
extractedextracted bythe system.Instead ofhaving
duplicatedocumentsflyingaround,youhavea
single reliable record which can easily be
accessedanywhereandanytime,reducingthe
effortthatemployeesputintomanagingpaper
files.ThepaperlessECM system capturesit
once,processesitonce,andstoresitonce!
Having the appropriate paperless office
hardwareandsoftwareisvitaltoachievingyour
90-day target.Breaking thatgoalinto six
smallerstrategicprocesseswillmakeitfarmore
manageable.
3.Retrieving
information
4
6. toCreatingYour
PaperlessOffice6Steps
5
Thesearesomevitalstepstotakeinestablishingapaperlessofficein90
days.Thoughitmaybetemptingtotakeshortcutsinachievingthistarget,
eachofthesestepsplaysavitalroleinsucceedinginyourquestfora
paperlesssystem.
Step1
Developinga
LeadershipTeam
The firststep to take in going paperlessis
creatinganinternalECM team.Themostbasic
necessityforsuccessisgettingbuy-inC-level
executivesanddirectors.Thiswillgoalong
wayinfacilitation,attaininggoalsandwillaid
instayingintherightdirectionforachieving
theinitiative.
TheThe team should be made up ofcompany
leaders, representative stakeholders, and
expertswhoarewillingtogivefeedbackfrom
a variety ofdepartments in regards to the
opportunities and probable challenges they
face going paperless. It could also be
necessarytoinviteanexternalECM expertto
thethe team,an ECM vendorora third-party
consultant,to offerguidance regarding the
feasibilityofthesystem.
Thisistoensurethatalldepartmentshavea
say in the initiative and shave concrete
knowledge ofthe process,objectives and
feasibility.Intheselectionofstakeholders,go
foragroupwhocaneasilyexplainandrelate
thisvision to thewholeoftheorganization.
The selected representatives should be top
rankingranking in the organization so thattheyare
abletoeffectivelyfacilitatetheteam’sagenda,
whetheritis to increase efficiency in file
processingorimproveoverallcashflow.
Intheabsenceofsuchateam,theendgoal
maybedifficulttoreachbecauseofthelack
oftop managerialsupportand frustration
duetoconflictingagendas.
CareCarein choosing thisteam can neverbe
overemphasized;variousdepartmentsare
essentialfor this project,and directors
usuallyhavetheirownideas,problemsand
interests.Somedepartmentsmaymakethe
mistakeofresistingchangeinthewaythat
business is conducted while expecting
otherother departments to conform to their
ideals.
In the event of such a situation, an
executivebeingontheteam helpstokeep
thegoalinfocusandactsasamediatorto
reconciledifferencesasthesystem isrolled
out.Usethisteam approach,and aim to
bringaroundgreatimprovementsbygoing
paperless.
7. 6
Step2
Creating
Awareness
Now thatyourteam hasbeencreated,you
needtosharethevisionofthisteam tothe
end users. Such awareness is vitalto
effectivelymanagetheupcomingchanges.
ItIt is naturalto observe some levelof
resistancefrom users,astheymaywantto
continue using the paper-based systems
with which they are familiar. However,
clearly sharing the end goals of the
initiative, and having support at the
executivelevelwilldiminishtheamountof
resistanceresistancebysuch users,and strengthen
connectionstotheoverallmission.
Wewanttoavoid makingusersfeelasif
they have been forced into a business
processchangeinwhichtheyhavehadno
inputintothesystem design.TheECM team
willoftenputmoreemphasisontop-level
organizationalbenefitsofthesystem,and
on departments like human resources or
accounting,accounting,butforgettorelatethebenefits
totheendusers.
Endusersaremorefocusedontheirdaily
tasksand therefore paylessattention to
company-wide strategies. They tend to
judgetheimportanceofthepaperlessoffice
basedontheimpactthatthesystem hason
theirjob.Hence,theyareoftenreluctantin
adoptingthesenewmethodswhentheECM
system isrolledout.system isrolledout.
The earlierthe goalsofthe initiative are
madeknown,thebetterthecompanywill
be.Introducinggoalsearlyonwillhelpin
warding offobjections by allowing users
enoughtimetoadapttonew ideas,aswell
astimetodevelopabetterperspectiveof
thelikelybenefitsontheirdailyofficetasks.
OneOne effective way of spreading the
information is by circulating YouTube
videos or other documentation that
presentsthesystem inpositivelight.Itcan
beextremelybeneficialtocreateacontent
library which specifically focuses on the
benefits ofgoing paperless,and raises
awarenessawarenessoftheeffectivenessofECM in
specificbusinessareasoftheorganization.
With this early awareness being created,
users can become acquainted with
conceptsand goalsbefore the system is
finally unveiled.This prevents employees
from feelinglikeanalienconceptisbeing
forcedonthem.Initially,thebenefitofdoing
thismaynotbeevident,however,itwillbe
asasyouprogressinintroducingthesystem.
Having everyone geared towards the
directionofgoingpaperlessin90dayswill
be instrumentalin the success of the
initiative
Transitioningtoapaperlessofficeinless
than90daysrequiresacarefullycalculated
six-stepprocess,andtherighttechnology.
WithoutthesupportofanECMleadership
team,itis likely thatyourpaperless
initiativewillcollapse.
8. 7
Step3
DiggingIntoYour
BusinessProcesses
Ifyourbusinessprocessesarenotcleartoyou,
and you are unsure whatis needed when
transitioningintoadigitalenvironment,youmay
beheading down thewrong path.Thiswill
resultinunjustfeelingsofdissatisfactionabout
thesystem.Missingavitalstepcouldmakeyou
lose revenue and carry your present
inefficienciesovertothepaperlesssystem.inefficienciesovertothepaperlesssystem.
Spending enough time evaluating your
processesenablesyourECM team tohavea
fullunderstandingandgreatervisibilityintoyour
presentbottlenecks.Thereisagreatneedfor
the “discovery process”,as end users are
generally more familiar with the process
inefficiencies ofwhich executives may be
ignorant.ignorant.
Atthisstageyourgoalistosuccessfullygo
throughtheprocesses,andnotethevitalsteps
andshortcomingsofthecurrentsystem.Proper
documentation ofthese issues willhelp in
addressingthem lateroninthedesignstep,
andalsohelpsendusersgetinvolvedinthe
process.
AsAsyoucarefullyanalyzethepapertrail,youwill
discoverbottlenecksandinefficiencies.Begin
by going through the history ofa specific
documentorbusinessprocess,andasksome
ofthefollowingquestions:
How didtheprocessbegin?Bye-mail,
throughphonecall,orwalkin?
Whodoestheprocessinvolve?
Howistheinformationcaptured?
Whereisthedocumentordatabeing
routed?
Whoreceivestheinformation?
Howandwhereisitstored?Howandwhereisitstored?
How isthestoredinformationretrieved
whenneeded?
Asyoutrytoanswerthesequestions,users
maybehelpfulinidentifyingissueslike,“Iwish
itcouldhandlethis,”or“it’sawastethatwestill
havetodothis.”Profferingsolutionstothose
userconcernsasyoubuilddigitalworkflowswill
helpincreaseefficiencyandjobsatisfaction.
Assumingthatyourteamhasgreatvisibilityinto
yourbusinessprocesses,youshouldbeginto
workwithanECMconsultantorvendortodraft
a paperless system thatwillprovide great
solutions to the bottlenecks and otherin
capabilities.Key issues to be considered
includehow tolinkupfiles,wheretoshare
information,information,andwhatindexfieldstobuildinto
thesystem.Thiswilldeterminethefeaturesand
componentswithwhichyourpaperlessoffice
shouldbecreated.
Step4
Designing
theSolution
9. 8
Step5
DeployingYour
ECM Solution
Theaimofthedesignphaseistoreconcileyour
businessvisionwiththeprofessionalismofyour
ECM vendororconsultant,believingthatthe
expert’ssolutionwillbringyourideastoreality.
If,however,the solution falls below your
expectationsinsomeaspectsdon’tpanicyet;
thereisstilltimetorethinkandreconfigureuntil
yourexpectationsaremet.yourexpectationsaremet.
This step allows users to foresee how the
changewilltakeshape,andthebenefitsthat
theycould derivefrom such change.When
convinced,thiswillgenerateexcitementand
eagernesstogoingpaperless.
Ifthepreviousstepswerereligiouslyfollowed,
theendusersarenowpartoftheprocess.At
thedesignstage,usersbecomecuriousasto
how soonthesystem canbeinstalled.They
havehadtheirsayinthedeliveryprocess,and
thedesignhasshownthem expresslyhowthe
system willaddress theirpains.They have
foresightofthevision,andcan’twaittohaveit!foresightofthevision,andcan’twaittohaveit!
Theenthusiasm isn’tjustfrom theendusers
alone;even top levelmanagementwillbe
exciteduponseeingthetime-savingbenefits
and higher-leveltasks that can now be
performedwithyourpaperlesssystem.
IntegratingyourECM system intotheoffice
maybeginwithatestsystem oraseriesof
phases.Youwillhavetostarttrainingforthe
new system -yourIT adminsmustclosely
monitortheECMexpertsduringinstallation.
WhenWhenthesystem isinstalled,test-runoneof
yourprocesseswithasamplefileordocument
whichcanalsobeusedasatrainingmodule.
DeploymentDeploymentfinalizesallearlierplanningsteps.If
thestepshavebeenfollowedcorrectly,youare
set to begin applying the appropriate
technologyto therightbusinessprocesses,
therebybecomingapaperlessbusinessentity.
Implementingyourpaperlesssystem intothe
officeisonlythebeginning–itisnotsomething
thatyouinstallandaredonewith.Itisagrowing
systemthatwillchangeandevolvetomeetyour
needs.Thesystem willsupportthegrowthof
yourcompany,asnewprocessesandareasare
explored.
Therefore,Therefore,thereisavitalneedfortheproper
documentationofsolutions,whichwillinclude
thefindingsofyourdiscoveries,thedesign
process,andtheconfigurationofthesystem.
Thisdocumentation should enlisttheadmin
users,sothattheycaneasilybecontacted
whentheneedarises.
ItItwouldbecounterproductiveforanemployee
in an ECM leadership role to take overa
position,andbeunabletounderstandhowthe
system works.Inmostcases,anECM system,
whichhasbeeninstalledformanyyears,may
stillberunninginthebackoffice,however,
peopleareoftenignorantofhowitworksand
howhowtouseit.Ifthesystemlackstransparency,
and employeesareunsurehow thesystem
shouldbefunctioning,theinvestmentwillend
upbeingawaste.
Keepingdetaileddocumentationofyournew
paperless office structure helps to ensure
consistency,whichwillhavepositivelong-term
advantagesandloadsofbenefitsforbothend
usersandtheorganization.Italsoprovidesthe
supportteam/expertswithatypicaloverviewof
whatwasinstalled,makingitlessstressfulto
handlefutureproblemsorsystemupgrades.handlefutureproblemsorsystemupgrades.
Step6
DocumentingYour
PaperlessOffice
10. 9
Addressingusers’fearsofdigitalworkflowswillhelptofurther
improvejobsatisfactionandefficiency.
AssessingtheEffectivenessofthePaperlessOffice
Whilekeepingextraneousfactorsinmind,thesesixstepscanhelpanorganizationgopaperlessinlessthan90
days.Buthow doyoumeasurethesuccessofyournew initiativenow thatyouareoperatingapaperless
system?
Onthesurfaceyourcompanyseemstohaveachievedthelongsoughtaftergoalofgoingpaperlessinlessthan
90days,buthasthepaperlesssystemenhancedyouremployees’efficiencyandjobsatisfaction?
Doyoufinditeasytocaptureall
ofyourdocumentsintheECM
system? Has there been a
reductionofredundantcopies?
Ifthe capturing is effective,
there should be no printed
copiesbeingmadeforpersonal
recordsandtracking.recordsandtracking.
Are documents quickly
processed under the new
system?Observehow long it
takestogetapprovals.Ifthe
timeframehasreduced,then
thereisanimprovement.
Howeasyisitforemployeesto
search forand retrieve files
storedinyournewsystem?One
way to assess the levelof
successininformationretrieval
is to see how confident
employeesareatretrievingfiles
atanytimefromthesystem.atanytimefromthesystem.
1.Capturinginformation 2.Routinginformation 3.Retrievinginformation