On-premise or license-based document management systems require up-front capital expenditures on the software licenses and the hardware required to run the software. Purchasing servers require waiting for the hardware to arrive, and who knows, this could take weeks!
When your hardware arrives, your IT department is responsible for keeping it running at all times, installing the upgrades, and keeping the hardware up-to-dates with upgrades every five years. What happens when the vendor stops supporting that version in three years? You are forced to pay to implement their latest product.
Now, you are faced with the desperate hopes that you will get an ROI. But when you calculated that ROI, did you remember to factor into the cost the labor involved in server hardware maintenance, repair and replacement, software updates and hardware upgrades, patches, security needs, data backups and disaster recovery?
With an online document management software application that is subscription-based, you choose your subscription term. You can choose from monthly, quarterly, yearly or even multiple years. This way, you can more easily compare cost vs. savings, you already have the numbers. And because electronic document management allows for a paperless office, you eliminate many other overhead expenses that are involved in paper processing such as document storage space, printing and copying costs. Also, the software-as-a-service provider should guarantee up-time, on-going enhancement and upgrades, and 24/7 support so your IT team has nothing to worry about.
Go ahead, and map out the numbers! SaaS document management will help you save money in many back office areas. With these savings, why not go paperless?
Coming up next week, reason #3. In-house security is NOT always reliable or secure.
Document Management is suitable for ANY size business. And every business should address document management. This means addressing the fact that you may be holding onto information or files you should have already purged. Document management can be about implementing an automated, electronic process for paperwork with new employees. Or maybe it is having a system that will instantly find the document you need, through a simple system search.
Small businesses, you are not too small for document management. Small businesses make up a large portion of our client base and because you are so focused on staying lean and green, you have incredible success using technology tools to stay that way and grow faster! Even you can save money by reducing document storage costs and improving overall business productivity.
We are beginning a series of articles that discuss the 8 Reasons Businesses Should Use Hosted (Software-as-a-Service) Document Management. Here you go... starting with reason #1.
1. Don't add to the server closet - clean it out!
Avoid adding to the "server closet" and move your information online. The best SaaS Document Management solutions operate in a Tier IV data center with redundant hardware, networks, and power so that you don't have to worry about down time. These data centers also provide physical security with very limited and controlled access. Systems are monitored and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
A typical On-Premise Document Management solution requires a dedicated server for the application. Some even require a dedicated server for their web access service and another server for storage and yet another server for the database. That's a lot of servers that you have to worry about. That means appropriate staffing and training. Not to mention the effort involved in installing patches, updating the OS (operating system), replacing aging or defective hardware and all the other things that go with managing servers.
With a SaaS Document Management solution, your service provider is the one that has to worry about all of those things.
Stay tuned for reason #2. Don't spend all of your money...when it's not necessary, which will be released later this week.
If you work for a nonprofit organization then you know that your organization has two missions, not one. The first mission is what your organization is chartered for. The second mission and I will admit that I am using this term loosely, is to raise money to fund your first mission.
Both missions are keys to your organization's success. And, interestingly enough, they are closely related. If you are not efficient in your primary mission, it's harder to raise money. Who wants to contribute money to an organization that squanders money?
So while nonprofits are not used to thinking in terms of profits, in this case, thinking like a for-profit company can help you achieve your goals. We need to think about how we accomplish our mission as if we are looking to increase our profits. Now in no circumstance am I suggesting that you skimp on the services that you provide. I am suggesting that delivery of services often has a lot of red tape, processes and even documents. Working with this information across different types of processes and documents presents an opportunity for automation.
Nonprofits have different constituents. Some have donors; some have volunteers, and all serve different communities. Whether your nonprofit cares for orphans or shelters the homeless, to be an excellent steward means that you address the needs of your community which includes everyone involved. And you need to document your services for all.
If we look at volunteers, there is always paperwork that needs to be filled out, records to be kept and filed, and reports to be filled out. The same is true of donors. Know who did what and when or who gave what and when is crucial to maintaining or increasing participation. When someone volunteers or donates, how much paperwork is involved? Do you ask them to fill out paperwork multiple times? With a document management system you can easily retrieve information about your volunteers and donors. You can tie it into your donor management software to get the most out of it. With electronic documents and your donor management records, you have a complete picture of what your donor has contributed. The same is true for your volunteers.
Not having the information needed when dealing with a donor or a volunteer can leave them frustrated. They can and probably will give their time or money to someone else. Make the process both painless and immediate by giving your staff immediate access to all relevant information. Think of how you feel when you call in for customer service for your credit card, or car or travel reservation. The same is true for a nonprofit. The experience needs to be smooth. That's how good companies get repeat business, and bad companies loose customers. The same is true for a nonprofit. That's one way that nonprofits can profit from great customer service.
You also have the other side of your mission, the delivery of services. Depending upon the types of services that you deliver, you might have contracts, assets or people. Again each of these comes with a host of documentation. Contract management for nonprofits can be time consuming as is asset or people management. Let's just use one example, contract management. If you contract for services for your constituents then you need to make sure that the contracts are approved in a timely manner so that the services are delivered in a timely manner. Then you have the entire audit process to make sure that the services were delivered properly. A great example of a nonprofit contract management soluiton was the implementation at Jhpiego, a nonprofit that provides for the delivery of healthcare services for less fortunate people around the world.
Whatever your mission, delivery of your services in an efficient manner saves your limited resources. Further, it helps assure your donor community that their gift was well used, and once again, your nonprofit profits from great customer service.
Credit Unions, unlike banks, are not-for-profit financial service organizations. That's something we all know. However, "not-for-profit" does not mean that they receive funding in the form of donations. Credit Unions must be self-sustaining; hence, they need to watch their bottom line.
Profit is not a bad word. While the goal may not be to generate massive profits, excess funds are returned to the members in the form of dividends. The goal is to make sure that the Credit Union is self-sustaining and delivers value to its members.
That value to the members is what truly sets a Credit Union apart from a bank. Credit Unions can typically deliver:
- Better interest rates on loans
- Low minimum balance requirements
- Control over who runs the organization
To deliver these services to their members better than banks deliver these services to their customers requires two equally important factors: not-for-profit status and efficiency.
The not-for-profit status of Credit Unions allows them to serve their members with their members' best interests at heart instead of a pure profit motive. This results in lower fees and better rates, etc...
For Credit Unions, great customer service is not just a part of having members; it can also translate into significant cost savings. Take for example, car loans. Credit Unions are known for having great rates for these. If the Credit Union combines their loan process with a document management system, they can speed up the approval process and minimize the number of interactions with the members and the potential for misplaces or inaccessible information. If the car dealership faxes or e-mails the auto information, and the Credit Union captures this with a document management system that routes the information to the loan officer, then everything needed for the loan approval is in one place. This means that loan officers can handle more loans, and the Credit Unions can close more business that requires fewer people doing tasks that do not provide revenue. Automation and routing of loan documents are just one example of improving the efficiency of a Credit Union's processes.
This provides for great customer service which always helps retain members and lowers the cost of doing business which is one way Credit Unions and their members can profit.
Please visit the following link for more examples of Credit Union Document Management.
Paperwork can be overwhelming and sometimes scary. But it really doesn’t have to be. Just like in the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy was afraid of lions, tigers and bears until she met the cowardly lion.
Just like the cowardly lion, your paperwork can be helpful; you just have to treat it right.
Make it EASY for your staff to find your documents and information. If you manage a non-profit, dealing with the paperwork can sometimes make you feel like you are walking through a forest with Dorothy. There are volunteer liability release forms, vendor contracts, donor records, operations information and tax documents you need to retain for compliance. Trying to find an easy way to manage all that information does not have to be so challenging.
There is a great quote by Peter F. Drucker that says, “
Efficiency is doing better what is already being done.” You probably know that there is a better way to manage your paper, but maybe you haven't found a solution that resolves all of the issues just yet. Here are a few ideas that may help you get more organized:
- When a volunteer completes a liability release form, scan the document and immediately create an electronic file using document management software that will store it by name, date, category etc. in an easy-to-use system.
- Need to have a quick way to look up what a donor contributed to your organization before making that follow-up phone call? If you store information electronically in a document management system, you can quickly access anything related to the donor by searching your records using only the donors name in your search.
- Want to make sure your documents are automatically retained for the legal required amount of time? Use the same solution for your records retention needs and it will alert you when retention dates have expired so you can easily dispose of any unnecessary documents that may clutter your system or increase your risk of audit and potential litigation.
- Have vendor service-provider contracts that need to be reviewed by multiple people in your organization, and signed by individuals outside of your office? An online document management system with version control and e-signature capabilities can help you automate the entire business process.
- When your volunteers or service-providers are working off-site collecting information for you, instead of having them mail, drop-off, or fax paperwork to your office, allow them the flexibility to upload a document into an online document storage system that they can access from the internet. That way you save on postage, time, and your forms are automatically stored in your secure electronic system.
You might be thinking, “this sounds great, but how much does it cost?” Just like the Wizard of Oz who had a special solution for Dorothy and her friends, the right document management software can provide a customized application suitable for your not for profit. Best of all, you will find that implementing a document management solution can be as easy as clicking your heels.
Visit us to learn how DocuVantage can help you get out of the nonprofit paperwork forest.
Photo courtesy of Rob Milsom
It’s that time of year. The stores and malls are filled with shoppers. Christmas specials are on the television and everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays. Best of all, it’s the season of the unspoken corporate rule. Nothing gets done. That’s right; your employees are busy buying gifts on the Internet or planning a trip to see family. And as the boss, you calmly look the other way because you realize all employees are like Santa’s little helpers; they are just not helping your business at all. It doesn’t have to be that way.
This year help your employees get less done. That’s right. Help them shop, plan travel or get in the holiday spirit. How you ask? That’s simple; get them a document management system. Not just any system, but a document management system that automates the tedious process of finding, reviewing and approving documents.
Maybe those documents are pesky sales orders, invoices, contracts, or legal documents. You know the type of documents that just keep getting in the way of celebrating the holiday. Imagine how much free time your employees will have if the documents get routed by an automated system. Imagine how many orders, contracts or other documents might be handled quickly and efficiently if a system was in place to apply your business rules to your business documents.
Think about how much free time your employees will have to do the things they really want to do this holiday season.
Now imagine the beginning of the year. Your documents are easily found, not under an eggnog stain, but in a secure online repository neatly organized by type, customer, or any other category that is important to you. Now imagine happy productive employees who, thanks to you, had a great holiday and are now ready to move your organization's business forward.
Best of all, now that they are focused, they can focus on real issues, not just paper problems. Imagine an organization where contracts were reviewed and approved quickly, where sales orders were processed efficiently, where invoices were never lost or paid twice.
Now look out at your employees all gathered around their PC’s. Are they really working on your business? Or are they getting ready for the holidays? Make it so you don’t care. With the right system in place, and employee productivity at its peak, a little holiday cheer won’t negatively affect your end of year.
You don’t really have to imagine this at all. Give yourself the gift of a document management system this year. Both you and your employees will be jolly all year long because, just like elves, they really will be productive all year long.
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes!
Photo courtesy of chooyutshing.
According to a study done by the Accounts Payable Network, the three major challenges facing Accounts Payable departments during a struggling economy are:
1. Cost Reduction
2. Process Improvement
3. Increased Control
The story of this accounts payable department will show you how an AP department that was once over-burdened with too many invoices and purchase order (PO) documents (suffering with late payments and overpayments because of lack of organization) implemented an electronic process that reduced their costs, improved their business processes, increased their security, and organized the information in their department.
The economic fury strikes yet another business, and its AP department is forced to reduce their headcount requiring them to manage the same amount of work with half the people. What to do? The business process had to be restructured now that the department only had half of the initial staff.
This presented some major challenges, resulting in a domino effect. The staff couldn't keep up with the workload... forcing invoices to be paid late... charging the company an excess in late fees... and tragically missed opportunities for savings because they could not get organized and on track to pay invoices early or on-time.
With fewer employees, the staff was having an extremely difficult time locating and matching PO's to invoices, resulting in overpayments or even duplicate payments. They knew it was time to re-evaluate their process and come up with a solution. After thorough research, the company decided to implement an electronic document management and workflow system.
So how did this change their accounts payable process and the way they processed and managed documents?
In many instances, the vendor faxes the invoice to the organization which is then picked up by the document management application. If the invoice comes in via mail, a scanner is used to capture the document or if by email, the email/fax manager would receive the invoice, index and route the new electronic document through the system. The invoice(s) are indexed according to the associated purchase order number(s), eliminating the tedious process of an employee manually matching the incoming invoice with its purchase order.
The paper document is never touched by human hands again! The employees were also thrilled to discover that the new solution would allow them to take their existing batch of invoices and PO's and bulk-load them into the system all at once.
Now with all vital information entered into the online content management system, the AP department could easily open the image of the actual invoices online, allowing them to instantly review and collaborate electronically.
The best part of the document management system and greatest time-saving feature is the automatic invoice routing. When an invoice comes into the system, the application follows pre-defined routing rules and automatically routes the document to a specific employee's task box based on the document's attributes. Then the employee/user can electronically review and approve the information so that it will continue through the workflow process. The application can also be integrated with the accounting system so that as incoming data is pushed through, users can view the document images from either the electronic document management platform or the accounting system itself. With the implementation of the electronic document management system, the AP department now enjoys many benefits:
- They can electronically schedule payment alerts so early-pay discounts can be realized.
- Duplicate payments and over-payments are never made!
- Paper file storage needs are eliminated, resulting in tremendous savings.
- Reports can be run with ease as the information is simple to locate.
- Their information is protected securely and they have a built-in disaster recovery plan.
Now what about security?
Because the information is stored online, this AP department was initially worried about the security of their information. Their fears were calmed when they found out that the data resides in a globally known data facility that provides protection to the top ten global financial institutions. Incorporating multiple layers of security, only approved users have access to the information in the system. The administrator has the ability to restrict visibility as well so that users are only permitted access to the information they have been approved to access.
Now what about records retention and compliance?
AP also needed a solution for their records management compliance. They must retain the accounting documents for several years and were having challenges tracking the records and their disposition dates of the records in various locations. Some were stored in the buildings and some were stored in outside facilities. This cost money and time trying to locate the documents when audited. Since it was not cost effective to send staff digging thru boxes of paper they were able to solve this problem instantly since the document management platform was a suite of solutions that also included a records management tool. Now the system notifies them when a document is ready to be purged and they no longer worry about lengthy audits that use multiple staff over a course of a week. They can now give the auditor access to the area of information needed and not worry that they are not in compliance.
And the best part of all is that in the end, this accounts payable department realized that they didn't need extra staff... they just needed a better document management and workflow system.
Yesterday, Sarel, Dave and I participated in the Tampa Bay Ride Without Limits for United Cerebral Palsy. The Ride Without Limits - Tampa Bay is a one-day, multiple distance cycling event that helps raise much needed funds and awareness for UCP/Achieve Tampa Bay, to provide equal opportunities and access for children and adults with disabilities. Cyclists had the option of riding 35, 65 or up to 112 miles during this amazing ride.
Many of our supporters requested a detailed posting of our adventure for their generous donations so I will attempt a brief overview in order to update everyone at once.
Saturday began extremely early. Dave chose to ride the 112 mile course and their start time was 7:30 a.m., which meant we had to arrive at a location almost an hour away by 6:30 am. Sarel had a bit more of a drive.
Sarel and I signed up for the 35 mile course. If there had been a lower mileage course I am sure we would have done that instead. In case you don't know, Sarel and I are recreational riders while Dave is the opposite and participates in triathlons.
Dave was in the first group of riders to go out since they would be riding the longest. The next group, riding the 64 mile course went out and then they unleashed our group!
Well, as I predicted, with Sarel riding a mountain bike and me on my granny-style hybrid we were quickly bringing up the rear. I have no idea where the rest of the 35 milers went but they left us in the dust. But the weather was perfect and Sarel and I covered every topic imaginable on our 4.5 hour tour.
We potentially could have solved all governmental and education challenges, as well as the role parenting plays in these areas if we had a bit more time.
Our ride was very peaceful except for the pile of sand on a curve that I didn't see. The bike was not happy with that encounter and proceeded to throw me onto the pavement. After assessing that there were no broken bones; Sarel was able to practice his upcoming Daddy-to-be skills and cleaned me up a bit, helped me back on the bike and off we went toward the finish.
At about noon we received an update from Dave, he was at the half way point (65 miles) riding the steep hills near Brooksville, Florida on his one-speed bike. Poor guy was getting a workout. But so were we and everything was letting us know by that time.
Thankfully we were coming to the end of our work out and were looking forward to the flat benches awaiting us and the lunch that would be served.
Received updates from Dave at 90 and 100 miles. I could tell he was getting excited to be nearing the finish. He rolled in close to 4 p.m, almost 8.5 hours of riding. 112 miles! What an accomplishment, especially with the hills! 
Sarel and I actually exceeded our 35 miles due to our missed turn so we can now say we did almost 40 miles. What an accomplishment for us! We are all very proud of ourselves!
So, how did we do on our donations? Thanks to our friends, customers, families and colleagues. We exceeded our team donation goal of $2000!
A grateful thank you to everyone for the support and for supporting United Cerebral Palsy!
To see the pictures please visit
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=162776&id=128165887192&l=bccf6f6625
Since businesses' growth opportunities aren't quite at their peak right now (to say the very least), many executive managers are spending more time and attention on internal processes. Many organizations have become more involved in disaster recovery (DR) strategies and DR budgeting initiatives for the remainder of this year and for 2010.
According to an article written by Jerome Wendt of DCIG regarding a study done by Applied Research, as upper management gets involved with disaster recovery committees, they're "seeing the true state of disaster recovery within their organizations and they are getting a reality check."
With more attention paid to DR, that "reality check" is many organizations have realized they have spent large sums of money on back-up software and hardware in the past, but they can still only recover a portion of their information within the time needed to recover. Executive managers are becoming more aware of company disaster recovery requirements and taking the initiative to change practices in order to follow compliance and be disaster ready; even if that means making strategic investments to be safe and removing the potential costs on recovering information down the road.
With this being said, companies are finding great value in investing more on internal processes now, so their businesses can avoid future risks and ultimately in the long run, save money and time.
While business is slower, it is beneficial to use the downtime as an opportunity to consider reevaluating your disaster recovery plan. Look for ways to protect information and store documents electronically in a secure data facility. Start researching solutions for more secure workflows and consider meeting with a document management workflow expert. You may be surprised at how becoming more process and security oriented can not only help you with business continuity, but can also immediately reduce costs surrounding business processes and remove the costs associated with potential data loss.
"Don't automate an undisciplined workflow. The computer won't solve what the customer's management can't."
This simple advice from Larry Bernstein illustrates the importance of looking at all angles of a situation before automating a document workflow.
If you are thinking about implementing business process automation software to help you better manage your business processes, you will need to provide a complete outline of the processes to your software provider. Defining and documenting processes can be challenging, and it will take some time. Here are a few simple, yet critical steps to help you get started:
1. Gather all of the participants of the business process to discuss the process.
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This will help you get a big-picture understanding of the way information is routed currently and why.
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Consider bringing in a moderator that knows nothing about the process. It encourages team members to explain things in more detail. If you are using a document and business process automation vendor, more than likely they have business process management expertise and can assist, teach you how to conduct the process definition sessions or provide this service for you.
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Don't count solely on management's perspective; they don't always know what is really happening in the trenches related to work processes.
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Don't count on just the staff's perspective; they don't always know why a task is executed or why a piece of information is gathered, they are typically a piece to the puzzle. You may have to travel up the ladder to find out why a certain step is taken.
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Make sure that the discussion is held in a safe place where individuals can express the truth. Sometimes you will have to follow up with them after the group meeting to get the real story on why things are done the way they are done. Could it be that someone refuses to change their ways and the same document goes to the same person 10 times for no reason at all?
2. Document the process with pictures and words.
Seeing a large drawing of your workflow can help you pinpoint places for improvement more easily; use craft paper if possible and encourage the participants to insert key information.
3. Look for ways to improve.
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Thoroughly understand why things are done the way they are today.
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Keep asking who, what, where, when, why, and how.
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Start with the straight forward path first, then come back and look at the exceptions to the rules.
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Look for ways to eliminate, shorten or automate a process.
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Remember, you can't always automate; sometimes you just need to document the process and procedures and then enforce the process.
4. Develop an outline of how information will be stored and accessed.
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Determine what information and documents are needed to complete the steps within the process.
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Categorize documents into repositories that are simple to understand, easy-to-find and allow quick access i.e. Accounts Payable/Invoices or Corporate Documents/Board Minutes.
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Determine who needs access to what information so you may set restrictions on viewing rights.
5. Consult your legal department.
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There may be laws regarding the way information is stored, routed and accessed. Be sure you have reviewed these policies and have covered your bases in your workflow outline.
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Have you met all the requirements for compliance? Your legal department will offer assistance to make sure you are retaining information correctly for their required period - this too can be automated in some systems.
6. Highlight the areas that may be automated.
7. Practice before launching.
Other considerations to keep in mind:
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How many workflows can be automated?
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How often do workflows change? If change is frequent, it's important to have flexibility and tool in the software so that you can easily make the changes without the vendor's assistance.
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How large is the team? The more people, the more important it is to enforce the workflow process and reporting.
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How computer-literate is the team?
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How sensitive is the workflow to error? It's important to understand what types of errors are likely and which are most acceptable. Some errors have a significant impact on a business's functionality or even revenue, while others are easily fixed.
If you are thinking that this sounds a bit overwhelming or time-consuming to do yourself, DocuVantage offers assistance to help you navigate through this process. Contact us today to set up a free 30-minute consultation to see how we might be able to help.