Archiving software: purchase guide
What is Electronic Archiving Software?
Definition
Digital archiving software is a software solution that aims to digitize files in order to automate your information and store it in an optimal way. In addition to the electronic safe function that secures your data, the document management software is also a powerful search tool that guarantees the integrity of documents.
A real time saver, these management tools are great ways to quickly find archives:
- The management of documents is done according to the rules you have chosen. Thus the document can only be read by certain people to whom you will give access to with a password;
- No more risk of your archives being lost in a flood or water damage. Each document is electronic and can be duplicated on another format (DVD, CD, USB keys etc.).
How it Works
Archiving software provides solutions for your document management and the digitization of your administrative documents. With it, you meet the legal requirements of monitoring and storing your data.
A software application will help you manage your data:
- Easy access: multi-criteria search and consultation by keywords, creation of payments, simplification of eliminations, etc.
- Free consultation: a selection of the mode of communication (physical, fax or electronic) and the deadline
- Secure interface: access via https, user management, communication tracking, reintegration of archives with the restoration of their original content.
You will then have an electronic safe for your company that complies with legal archiving standards.
What are the main features of data archiving software?
Select the archiving software best suited for your needs and check that certain functionalities are offered by the EDM solution:
- Management of all files: contracts, invoices, notes, contacts, customer base, accounting, stocks, audio tracks, videos, photos, emails, etc.
- Import and export of archives in different formats (PDF, Excel, etc.)
- Data security and hierarchical access (authentication workflow) with rights and password assignment
- Document sharing with a group of third parties: customers, suppliers, partners
- The search is precise according to certain specifications or subsets of data
- Outsourcing of archived documents according to the ADELE standards defined by the National Archives Department
- Archiving documents with metadata
- Remote transfer of certain documents via a platform and authorization request that you can approve or refuse
- A business process that meets the constraints of your professional field
- The definition of the life cycle and retention period of documents that can be configured according to the standards to be respected
- The management of invalidated documents
- Simultaneous consultation of several archived documents
- The ability to annotate archives and use them for collaborative work
- Possible recovery of documents deleted by mistake
- Time-stamping of documents in order to follow up on consultations and actions taken
- A possibility to analyze the rate of consultation of the archives
- Integration with email (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) for email archiving
Who uses digital archiving software?
There are many software solutions for legal archiving and document management. Some software is adapted for specific fields such as health, industry, insurance and banking.
The trend towards paperless systems makes the use of these tools almost essential for all organizations: public and private.
Why use document archiving software in your company?
Poor archiving techniques do not make you want to reuse documents and may make some documents relevant to your business disappear. Digital archiving is a valuable tool to digitize your administrative documents. However, it has some disadvantages.
Advantages
Archive management must be accurate and allow you to quickly find supplier invoices, important emails or quotes. The digital archiving software ensures:
- A clear time saver: rather than going through cardboard or paper files, launch your search in an efficient engine. No more search time! In a few seconds, you have access to the information you are looking for
- Easy transfer and export of documents: Send your documents quickly and in a secure, read-only format
- The guarantee of authenticity: the tracking of your documents' digitization and changes made
- Encryption of information: certain information must be kept secret? No problem, the archiving software meets your needs for discretion.
- Less storage space: imagine the space saving compared to paper documents. The information is stored on a server or platform
- Respect for the life cycle and standardization of documents according to the legal deadlines for archival preservation.
- Protection against the risks of physical archiving
Disadvantages
- A backup solution must be provided in case of failure of the archive manager
- You cannot access your files in case of an Internet outage
- The free archiving system only manages file compression
Digital archiving software in SaaS vs. in-house
It is up to you to choose the format of your document archiving software! In SaaS (Software as a Service) or internally, each electronic archiving solution has advantages and disadvantages.
SaaS is a practical solution if you need to work collaboratively and remotely. In addition, the software is automatically updated without any action on your part. You also benefit from the latest versions that are offered as they are released. To obtain SaaS software, you will need to subscribe to the software package.
On the other hand, in-house software offers greater security for your information since it is not stored online, but directly on your computer server.
In order to define the best software solution, test the different electronic document management offers before you start! Some software companies offer a trial period. Compare archiving management solutions and choose the one that suits you best!
Sorting, document digitization, life-cycle management of each archive, find all of our advice in our guide on data archiving.
