The cloud is soaring in popularity. The steady migrations to the cloud over the last decade got a big push during the pandemic. With lockdowns and stay-at-home orders setting in, the cloud became essential for businesses to operate. 

All businesses, cutting across sizes or sectors, extensively use documents. Enterprises rely on documents for executing contracts, setting instruction manuals, clarifying work processes, preparing marketing collaterals and project proposals, publishing technical documents, disseminating HR guidelines, preparing training materials, drawing up legal and compliance reports, and a host of other purposes. Digitalisation has pushed documents from paper to digital mode. But it has not promoted alternatives to documents. Digitalisation has, in fact, led to the proliferation of documents, as it has become easier to create documents. The indispensability of the cloud pushes documents from on-premises to cloud servers.

But as it is with all developments, rapid migration creates chaos. Time pressures force haphazard migrations. Often, team members lack clarity on the location of specific documents in the cloud. Even when team members access a document, there is seldom clarity on whether the document is under review or the version of the document.

Cloud document management (CDM) offers solutions to manage documents in the cloud effortlessly. CDM systems streamline the creation, storage, indexing, protection, and management of cloud documents.

1. Cleaning the digital mess to improve efficiencies

Most enterprises have their documents scattered all over their digital space. Some Word files remain in departmental silos. Some employees upload PDFs in cloud apps such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Other documents remain in email attachments.

Migrating to the cloud does not resolve such a scattered mess. It only shifts the mess from on-premises to the cloud. Browsing through hundreds of folders or thousands of emails wastes precious time. Retrieving documents in the middle of a meeting or getting some work done becomes an impossible task.

Cloud document management enables easy creation, filing, and edits of documents. It allows easy organisation of documents stored in the cloud. Retrieval and access to these documents become easy and fast. 

These systems go beyond advanced cloud storage. A good cloud document management system:

• Offers an all-in-one solution with a central content repository. Team members may access any documents quickly, without worrying about the file format or access rights.
• Saves and tracks documents. Employees no longer have to save files to their hard drives or USB sticks. They may log in to the document management system from anywhere and access everything they need from the central depository.
• Centralise retrieval of files and data. Cloud document management offers a single source of truth. The depository contains links to the servers that host the documents. Team members with the relevant rights may access the information using any device.
• Enable easy scale-up and scale-up to optimise storage resources.

2. Efficiency Improvements

Cloud document management offers big-time efficiency improvements. The system sorts documents using multiple criteria, making search and retrieval easy. Various filters help narrow the search results.

Robust searching and indexing capabilities enable users to locate documents quickly. Users may search through titles or text parts of inside content. On finding the file, the user gets information on the location, purpose, and status of the document.

McKinsey estimates employees spend 1.8 hours every day, equivalent to 9.3 hours or one full workday a week, searching and gathering information. Wasting time searching, retrieving, and filing documents is suicidal in today’s age of hyper-competition. By the time the executive retrieves a document, the competitor would have already closed the deal with the customer. Worse, when executives have to do non-value-adding tasks, they have less time to do their actual work, creating work pressures.

Digital document management systems deliver 20% time savings. The savings come through easier and faster filing, retrieval, and workflow efficiencies. The increased efficiencies save up to 6,000 hours annually, equal to 2.4 full-time staff positions.

3. Better collaboration

Cloud document management systems make real-time collaboration easier. The DMS integrates with other enterprise systems, making information access friction-free. For instance, the support agent may access the service contract stored in a cloud document repository.

A sound cloud document management system:

• Set up structured workflows. Managers may fix responsibilities for different team members.
• Enable granular controls. Document creators and admins may enforce granular controls. They may control access and sharing rights for each document. Admins may grant only specific users the right to alter documents.
• Enforce version control. The cloud-based system auto-saves information and keeps track of versions. Users may revert to an earlier version.
• Enables easy flow of critical information across the enterprise. Cloud document management enables remote access from anywhere. The responsive nature of the system makes the documents adaptable to any device.

4. Cost savings

Cloud document management brings in cost efficiencies. Shifting documents to the cloud reduces the reliance on paper and saves printing and physical storage costs.

Digital documentation costs less than paper documents, and cloud document systems are cost effective compared to on-premises digital solutions. Enterprises pay less for cloud document management systems than to maintain in-house systems.

Cloud document management allows tailoring solutions to meet specific enterprise needs. Enterprises may embed or add these solutions to their existing cloud stack. Such customisation reduces on-boarding costs considerably.

5. Better compliance

Cloud-based document management solutions automate compliance and enforcement of intellectual property rights.

In different geographies, tax laws and IT regulations mandate organising documents in a reliable host. Regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley and HIPAA mandate strict security and privacy guidelines. Non-conformance leads to fines, licence revocation, and even imprisonment of top officials.

Admins may restrict the edit or share of trade secrets and copyrighted works.

Document management systems reduce the risk of non-compliance. Automating record retention schedules, for instance, makes it easy to classify and store documents.

6. Redundant backups and security

With data growing in volumes, safeguarding it becomes a challenge. Cloud document management comes with embedded backups and security.

On-premise systems use manual backups, which are time-consuming and inefficient. Cloud document management systems automate and streamline backups. 

Redundant cloud storage ensures multiple backup locations. It ensures uninterrupted business operations during crisis flashpoints, such as lockdowns and fires.

Cloud document management also ensures robust security, often superior to on-premises security. Cloud providers offer advanced encryption, digital archiving, role-based user permissions, and multifactor authentication, to ensure robust security.

The DMS leaves an audit trail for every document, improving traceability and audits. It also enables fixing responsibility in the eventuality of breaches.

With hybrid workspaces becoming the norm, cloud document management represents the future. Robust cloud document management boosts efficiency and customer satisfaction. Streamlined workflows allow the enterprise to stay one step ahead of the competition.

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