4 Ways to Achieve Compliance with Online Document Management System

Online Document Management System

According to AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management), 90% of information exists on paper. Well, it’s good news that most of the information is available at hand.

However, think again!

Imagine the complexities associated with so many papers. Consider the amount of space occupied by them, difficulties in finding them, maintenance of these papers, etc. The cost of maintaining these documents is also an important factor. An easy way to handle the documents is by adopting an online document management system.

Online Document Management System

With an online Document Management System (ODMS), you can store all the documents in an electronic format. You just need to scan the documents and upload them on DMS. This solves all the problems associated with a paper document management system.

  • You can manage all the documents from a single interface with greater convenience.
  • There will be no wastage of time and money.
  • All the confidential documents will be safe and secure. The online document management system is user-friendly for both the employees and the customers.

What about the regulatory compliance?

The document management system is not just about uploading the documents in the system. It’s more than just storage software. It helps in the efficient management of documents as well.

For example, if there is an audit of an organization, the audit team needs to review the documents. With an online document system, they can easily sort the documents and verify them. Therefore, an online document management system must simplify compliance rather than just storing the documents.

Compliance Objectives

The use of documents is subjected to regulatory guidelines. The organization involved in managing these documents should comply with these guidelines. At the same time, there are authorities, which monitor whether the organizations are following the guidelines or not.

With the usage of online document management systems, maintaining compliance with the guidelines has become easy for both the organizations and the authorities.

DMS keeps the data in a structured form. The documents are saved in the form of various file formats in folders, drawers, and cabinets. Moreover, files are intact and do not get corrupted. Therefore, it’s easy to navigate through the files with accuracy and speed.

DMS developers play a major role in its development. They should develop the software by the guidelines. This will make the job easy for both the organizations and the authorities.

Efficient Retention and Deletion

Most organizations have to store data for many years. This is known as retention. Retention of paper documents for long-duration means piling up of files in drawers and cabinets. In the absence of online DMS, documents can occupy a lot of space. Moreover, it is possible that the papers get damaged due to improper and untimely maintenance.

There is also the risk of losing the documents. If the document is lost, considerable time is wasted in retrieving it – a valid reason you might want to choose an online document management system for storing the documents. You can easily store it for a long retention time. This saves documents from damages, losses, and getting misplaced.

Moreover, you can delete the files which are no longer required. Hence, it results in managing storage space.

Data Security

Data security is the most prominent aspect of the document management system. Documents are confidential and contain private information about the customers. There is an extended risk of breaching the security and viewing, transferring, and stealing sensitive information. Both internal and external factors impose a threat on the secrecy of documents.

Internal factors constitute the employees working in the organization. Online document management system ensures the safety of the documents by allowing the setting of user permissions.

Different departments can manage the permissions according to need. After all, customer’s confidential data cannot be compromised because the auditors can penalize the organization in case of any security breach.

Simplified Search and Compliance

If we consider the metadata associated with the documents, we will view them as a description of the document. It serves many useful purposes for data management.

Metadata defines the content of the documents. This, in turn, makes it more accessible to the employees. The employees can locate data with more accuracy and speed. The relevance of metadata is not only for employees but for the auditors as well.

The auditors give importance to the use of metadata for the documents. Merely using metadata does not accomplish the task. It should be correct with respect to the document. The auditors can penalize the organization if the metadata does not describe the contents accurately.

The online document management system is helpful in accomplishing the compliance objectives of both the organization and the authorities. With the advent of technology and greater transparency, compliance norms will be changed and incorporated into the latest document management systems. Without a proper document management system, it is difficult for any enterprise to manage its data and records.

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