How would it be if you can access the information you need in seconds with one simple search? Document Management System is a computer software that enables you to get the information you are looking for from a central repository within seconds.

Document Management System is central repository of information and documents including scanned papers, electronic documents, images or emails. As all the information is at one place, you can access the information / documents securely and quickly.

Document Management System gives organizations following advantages.

Increased Productivity:
One of the biggest hidden costs that paper-intensive businesses face is the time it takes to work with paper files: employees spend valuable time walking to and from central records rooms and finding and replacing documents. Document management solution makes employees more productive, since they can work with those documents without ever leaving their desks.

Improved, faster and more flexible search:
Document Management Systems can retrieve files by any word or phrase in the document - known as full text search - a capability that is impossible with paper or microfilm. A DMS can also apply single or multiple taxonomies or categorisations to a document of folder that allow documents to be classified and stored in more than one way from a single instance something which is not possible with paper or microfilm.

Documents do not get misfiled or misplaced:
Document Management System organizes documents in various document classes and hence all the documents are always stored in a particular class. As documents are classified depending upon its attributes it highly unlikely to get the document misfiled. As there is no human intervention, documents are never misplaced as they are in electronic repository.

Improved Security:
A DMS can provide better, more flexible control over sensitive documents. Many DMS solutions allow access to documents to be controlled at the folder and/or document level for different groups and individuals. Paper documents stored in a traditional filing cabinet or filing room have the same level of security i.e. if you have access to the cabinet you have access to all items in it. A DMS also provides an audit trail of who viewed an item, when or who modified an item and when, which is difficult to maintain with paper or microfilm based systems. A DMS also removes the possibility of having confidential material or trade secrets lying around unattended in an office.

Digital documents arent subject to physical wear and tear:
Unlike physical paper documents, digital documents arent subject to any wear and tear, and a fresh copy of the document can be easily created by printing the document from the system.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity:
Document management systems typically include off-site data backups and other steps to ensure that a fire, flood, or break-in wont cripple your business.

Improved Regulatory Compliance:
The risk of non conformance leading to fines, a withdrawn licence to operate, or in certain circumstances custodial sentences when an audit takes place is reduced and in most cases removed. A combination of security control, audit trails, archiving and disaster recover ensure that an organisation is able to authenticate the validity of information stored and demonstrate compliance with regulations and requirements.

Process Consistency:
One benefit that matters more to larger companies is that a document management system will enforce consistency. No longer will consistency in filing, naming conventions, and workflow suffer as you add new employees or cover for vacationing staff.