All about electronic document management: definition, implementation and choosing the right software
Electronic document management, or EDM, is a consequence of the dematerialization of documents, which is currently being adopted as part of new business practices.
It's a fact, shelves are being freed from heavy, forgotten, dusty archives, which don't allow the information they contain to be properly exploited. But how do you organize your invoices, quotes, contracts, etc.?
Here's a new methodology for storing, archiving and making optimum use of your company's documentary resources.
Whether you're an entrepreneur or a manager, Appvizer will give you all the basics you need to know about electronic document management and its advantages, particularly in SaaS mode.
Welcome to the era of document management 2.0, the digital transition to collaborative working!
What is electronic document management? Definition and challenges
Definition of EDM
EDM is part of the enterprise content management family. It is also known as a Document Management System (DMS).
It is a computerized process designed to organize and manage information and electronic documents within an organization.
In this way, the DMS contributes to collaborative work processes, capitalization and information exchange.
It also manages :
- access rights according to users and their functions,
- systems :
- acquisition (mass digitization of paper documents),
- indexing
- filing,
- information storage,
- document distribution,
- workflows.
Workflow: a process that automates the circulation and classification of information flows, in this case business rules, metadata, etc.
Metadata: data used to define or describe other data, in order to classify it appropriately.
In the past, a document management system was more often used in business sectors with a high volume of documentation (e.g. government services, finance, insurance or healthcare). Nowadays, however, it is used by all businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
The challenges of EDM
The 2008 French Law on the Modernization of the Economy (LME) encourages best practices, such as the adoption of an electronic document management system by 2020, for private and public structures of all sizes.
Its aim is to remove structural and regulatory obstacles in the French economy.
The sheer volume of information and documents within organizations can quickly become unmanageable, and can hamper productivity. That's why it's important to centralize and standardize them, for :
- facilitate internal work and communication,
- control costs and document delivery times,
- seamless customer relationship management (no loss of contractual or financial documents),
- enhanced use of information, as it is gradually added to by several employees or third parties,
- compliance with accounting and legal archiving requirements.
Dematerialization reduces document processing costs by 91%.
Oodrive/Informatique news
Advantages of electronic document management
Advantage no. 1: a long-term solution
Paper gets damaged, lost or forgotten at the bottom of a drawer. In digital format, it's protected. There are even ultra-secure backup systems that guarantee duplication on several servers.
Advantage no. 2: a powerful search tool
A document can be assigned several characteristics, thanks to metadata, so that the search engine can find it via several access paths.
For example, an invoice can be found by entering the customer's name or the product name.
Advantage no. 3: structured filing
Documents are stored in a virtual library, accessible to all thanks to a tree structure. The tree structure guides users through the organization of folders, sub-folders and files.
Benefit no. 4: cost reduction and time savings
No need to print out everything and store it in space-consuming cardboard boxes - it's all done digitally! Not to mention savings in human resources, electricity and machine maintenance.
Time is saved at every level: in document retrieval, filing, distribution and the automation of certain tasks (indexing, etc.).
Benefit no. 5: collaborative working and traceability
Edited files are updated in real time, with everyone working on the same documents, simultaneously, from multiple locations.
Earlier versions are accessible via a history, with the date and name of the collaborator who made the changes, thanks to time stamping. This is known as versioning, and prevents duplication.
Benefit no. 6: secure information assets
You can manage access rights to protect your information.
There are also integrated digital safes for indexing, retrieving and archiving sensitive files with probative value, in a highly secure environment.
Although complementary, this tool does not intervene at the same point in a document's life cycle. The EDM deals with "living" files, while the document safe deals with documents when they are no longer in use.
The disadvantages of electronic document management
Data diversity
These days, data is increasingly coming from a wide variety of sources (web applications, e-mail, electronic forms, wikis, blogs, or rich media advertising including images, video and sound). This makes the challenges associated with EDM more complex in terms of archiving and indexing.
This is why electronic document management solutions are gradually evolving towards web content management systems (CMS).
A human and financial investment
At the outset, a minimum investment is required in terms of internal organization, auditing, training or support, and the complete dematerialization of existing paper documents.
Implementing an EDM requires a complete overhaul of the organization and its habits, if it is to be as effective and rapid as possible.
57% of decision-makers identify a strong paper culture and fear of change as obstacles to the digitization of document processes.
Source Markess - juillet 2017
How do you go about setting up an EDM in your company?
Step 1: Gather your documents
Digitize all your existing paper documents.
It's a tedious task, but a very important one. Once you've done it, you'll never need to do it again.
NB: thanks to LAD (Automatic Document Reading) technology, it's possible to extract information from scanned images, thanks in particular to OCR (Optical Character Recognition), barcode recognition and ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) techniques. This can save precious time.
What about original documents?
AFNOR (Association française de normalisation) standard NF Z 42-026 (May 2017), which backs up standard NF Z 42-013 (evolving towards archiving for probative preservation of the durability and integrity of copies) focuses on the reliability of digital copies.
Destruction of paper originals becomes an option when :
- digitization guarantees the reliability and integrity of digital copies,
- their long-term preservation is ensured by an electronic filing system (Système d'Archivage Électronique - SAE).
Step 2: process your documents
Index your digitized documents to facilitate search engine operations:
- by type (formal description of the document using metadata such as author, title, source, date, etc.)
- by concepts or keywords.
Some software packages can do this for you automatically.
Step 3: Archive your documents
Archive them on the medium of your choice, taking care to respect the principles of :
- authenticity: copies are identical to the originals,
- Durability: your data is usable over the long term,
- confidentiality: your sensitive data is protected.
Step 4: organize document distribution
The EDM makes it possible to determine the distribution of documents within the company according to predefined procedures and work methods ( workflow).
To ensure that its implementation is useful and benefits everyone, distribute these procedures to all your employees.
Step 5: Add value to documents
Exploit your data. Content Analytics is the analysis and exploitation of your company's big data content, transforming it into indicators, trends, situations and decisions.
Choosing the right EDM software
Selection criteria
1. Compliance
You are responsible for your choice of software. Your company must comply with very specific storage and distribution procedures. Make sure the solution you choose complies with ISO 9001 and the RGPD (General Data Protection Regulation).
This will reassure your partners, suppliers and customers, and give you peace of mind in the event of an audit.
2. Mobility and collaborative working
An efficient EDM system enables you to consult your files at all times, wherever you are and whatever medium you have at hand (smartphone, tablet, computer).
A web application responds to new working practices thanks to the Internet (mobile working, telecommuting, etc.) and enables greater responsiveness, as the document base is accessible to all collaborators.
3. Compatibility
You don't have to waste time or productivity. Opting for an EDM must make your life easier, and its implementation must be simple and adapted to your other software.
APIs [Applications Programming Interfaces] are therefore a key criterion.
These are application programming interfaces that enable :
- enable your EDM solution to evolve, thanks to available functionality bricks,
- offer better adaptation and synchronization with your existing tools,
- facilitate successful adoption of the tool within your organization.
💡 Some bonus tips:
- Carry out an audit and specifications: list your needs according to the specific features of your business, the functionalities you're looking for, the users and the business tools you use. The solution you choose must blend in with the rest of your IT environment.
- Storage on a mailbox, server or hard disk, with no consistent naming or tree structure, is as obsolete as paper archiving!
- Everyone knows about file storage and sharing services like Google Drive or DropBox, but they're not designed to classify and archive files in an optimal, secure way.
- Opt for a support service. The tool is important, but the method and implementation even more so.
- Your EDM solution can be deployed on a local network or in the cloud [in SaaS mode] for greater flexibility.
Software selection
- 🛠 Dokmee is an advanced EDM, archiving and electronic data capture solution for all structures, particularly SMEs and ETIs. It provides a software development kit that enables integration with any business process management system, and customer support is highly responsive to specific requests.
- 🛠 J-Doc is an ergonomic solution focused primarily on file sharing and transfer, offering interesting EDM functionalities. The software guarantees optimum confidentiality with data hosting in France, as well as a digital safe.
- 🛠 Netframe is a tool designed to "break down silos" in the enterprise. Its functionalities range from a corporate social network (CSN), to task management, to a simple EDM, to combine information sharing and corporate knowledge structure. Its features include document time-stamping and a document library.
- 🛠 Zeendoc is a French EDM in SaaS mode that lets you centralize and add value to all your administrative documents. The solution analyzes them, then automatically archives them in the right place, enabling you to find them by keyword, share them and send them securely and traceably. Collaborate as a team thanks to chat mode comments and validation circuits, while controlling access rights.
Turn the page on paper!
Once again, think carefully about which tool is best suited to your company and your medium-term strategy.
A complete electronic document management system enriches and consolidates your information system. Combined with other software or business applications, it can meet broader needs, such as Business Process Management (BPM), communication or project management.
If you haven't yet embraced the dematerialization of documents, make life easier for yourself and get into the digital age!
You'll have to do it sooner or later, and your increased productivity will confirm your decision.