Document Management Systems from Caylx Software

Document Management - It's Not Just About Storage

Most businesses and organizations rely on their documents to store data and keep information readily available, with some corporations creating millions of documents each year. Filing data that is collected, storing it safely, indexing it properly, making it easily accessible and protecting it from outsiders are major concerns for many organizations.

The technical categories to be considered when choosing a document management system include: storage, retrieval, filing, security, archival, retention, distribution, workflow, and creation - all integral parts of the CAYLX Intelligent Document Management Architecture.

Creation And Capture
It is important to consider how documents are created. A document may be created by one person, a team of people, an entire department, or may come from outside the organization. Regardless of the source of the document, the document management system must have in place a method of scanning the data into the system and presenting it to users in the required form.

Storing Documents
For smaller organizations, storage may not be such an important issue, but as an organization grows, the volume of documents needing to be stored grows along with them. Not only are documents usually spread out over many offices throughout the country, they can be in different parts of the world as well.

Most large organizations store documents in two ways; they either digitize all their documents and then store them in a large database or they rent or buy storage space where the documents are held for a number years (usually stated by the state or government law) before they can be destroyed. Most large organizations do both; they digitize their documents and place them in short-, medium- or long-term storage until they are no longer needed.

Retrieving Documents
The timely and accurate retrieval of documents is another huge problem that those involved in document management must solve. How do you access one specific document amongst thousands or even millions of documents? Retrieving documents requires a system that can access documents in a timely and affordable manner.

Document Security
Security for most organizations is crucial when it comes to their document management. Many corporate industrial secrets, plans, salary data and other types of information are stored in document form. Whether the document is only a few weeks old or a few years old, if an unauthorized person comes into possession of them, the damage they can cause is potentially limitless. Modern document management system incorporate a range of security precautions to control access to files. For instance, documents in the system will stored on servers that are not accessible through the Extranet, only the Intranet, accessed only via the organization's computers.

Long-term Storage And Retention
How people will be able to access the organization's documents 10 or 20 years from now? One important part of document archival is to make sure there is a forward-compatible way to access the data quickly and effectively.

While state and federal laws usually dictate the length of time for some documents, such as those related to tax receipts, human resources, etc, other documents that are important might be prematurely destroyed. A good retention policy should consider how to make sure documents that are still important are held separately from others so that they survive the scheduled purges.

Document Distribution
Just as with any other type of data or commodity, there is an issue of how to get documents to the people that need them? For instance, a human resources assistant may create a document and be privy to its location on the system, but if a lawyer needs that document 2 years later, how will the document be located? An effective document management system must allow for such contingencies.

Workflow
There must be a workflow plan in place to help facilitate the distribution of documents from the creator to the next appropriate member of staff. The workflow component of a document management system must be able to forward documents based on the organization's criteria.

Document management takes all of the above topics into account. Whether you are a sole proprietor, work in a small business or for a large organization, document management is extremely important and can help your organization with information flow.