SharePoint as a Document Management System (DMS) - What are the benefits and concerns?

Why do you need a Document Management System (DMS)? What is SharePoint Document Management? How can SharePoint help store documents? 

In this article, you will read what Document Management is and how to use SharePoint as a Document Management System. What are the advantages of SharePoint as a Document Management System? What points should you pay attention to? And how do you get the most out of document management with SharePoint?

Documents

Documents are essential, whether it is personal documentation we keep at home, or professional documents that businesses rely on.

The future of documents is mainly about digital documents. The way we manage them is also changing. Many companies are developing dedicated management systems for digital documentation. 

Keep reading and find out why documents and their management are becoming increasingly important.

Benefits of a Document Management System (DMS)

As the number of documents increases, so does the need for management. It is almost impossible to find the right document you need if it is not properly managed and organised.

While document management on paper is done by a real person, the options with digital document management are more flexible.

The most effective method is a document management system, which has multiple benefits for the user, such as:

Safety

Unlike paper documents and digital documents that are simply placed in folders, documentation handled by a document management system is much more secure.

Access to sensitive documentation can be controlled at folder level. This means that access can be restricted to certain employees.

It also adds additional details to document access, allowing you to keep a track of who accessed the documents, who modified them and when they were viewed.

It is also a safer alternative as the dangers of paper disappear. You can back up your documents to the cloud. If the files are lost at some point, the backup can easily restore your work. This can save a lot of money.

Moreover, you can even recover older versions of documents in case you regret more recent changes. 

With guaranteed security monitored at every level and proven durability, digital documentation managed by a dedicated system is the best option for important documents.

Storage

Compared to paper documentation, using digital documents saves a large amount of physical space.

Whereas paper documents require several rooms, if not floors, for storage, a laptop can store up to generations of information.

However, digital documents can also be poorly managed and therefore take up a lot of disk space, again a document management system helps.

Better-managed documents free up space taken up by too many files due to a lack of proper document management.

Laws and regulations

Most documentation has a regulatory requirement. Whether it is an academic journal, a company document or a government notification; compliance is very important. A lack of this can mean a complete rejection of your documentation.

A document management system makes it easier to follow these rules. DMS software allows you to create presets, set up schedules, automate certain processes and follow templates.

An additional advantage is that ease of use is greatly increased when using a DMS. Document management plays an integral role in today's digital working environment.

Implementing a DMS makes it easier to stay in sync with other employees and contribute to changes before the document is finished.

It increases both the consistency of workven makes it easier to manage through different requirements.

Time saving

It can take a long time to retrieve a document that is not properly ordered, and even longer if it is accidentally saved incorrectly. Depending on the number of documents you have, it can take minutes to sometimes hours.

A document management system organises your documents in a way that makes it very easy to find the exact document you are looking for.

Besides general organisation, the system can be implemented with word and phrase search options. In other words, entering a (broad) search term. This makes it extremely convenient for you and saves you a large amount of time searching for documents.

Synchronised working environment

A document management system makes collaboration and information sharing extremely easy.

Documents in the system are synchronised for everyone and sharing and contributing information between groups and individuals is done in real-time.

The ability to share your documents with people in any place and at any time, and the ability to work on them simultaneously, offer a seamless way to collaborate. 

Having all these aforementioned benefits at your fingertips makes managing important documents easier than ever.

Every business saves money, time and inconvenience, and sensitive documents are secure and protected.

Since the market is full of companies that have digital documents that need to be managed, it is only natural that numerous companies have also created their own systems and solutions. 

Good systems benefit the user greatly. There are also options on the market that may not improve your situation, or even create new problems. 

SharePoint as a document management system

It is important to have a good system, so it is all about making the right choice. 

Of all the Document Management Systems currently on the market, SharePoint is one of the best options.

Finally, we come to the advantages and disadvantages of SharePoint. Why SharePoint as a Document Management System?

Below you will find 14 reasons those of SharePoint make a good choice as Document management system (including points of interest):

1. SharePoint is everywhere

SharePoint is used by some of the world's largest companies and organisations.

It is implemented by the many companies and has helped them immensely in managing their documentation and sharing information.

It has proven itself as a state-of-the-art system and has taken the market by storm. In fact, today the platform has nearly 200 million users worldwide.

2. SharePoint is mobile

SharePoint is available on mobile devices, meaning its availability and use extends beyond computers and laptops alone.

This adds an extra layer of convenience to the software, and also increases the frequency of use.  

People can access SharePoint and manage their important documents on the go, even when a laptop is therefore not at hand.

3. SharePoint is extremely complete, but integration with Office 365 could be better

SharePoint was developed by Microsoft and it is therefore available as part of the Office 365 suite.

This means that SharePoint interacts well with Microsoft's other software. It thus opens the door to a flexible way of working.

4. SharePoint saves time

SharePoint is one of the fastest document management systems available. Once successfully implemented, it saves a lot of time for the companies using it.

As a document management system, SharePoint makes sharing, managing, modifying and finding documentation easier.

5. SharePoint is customisable

About two-thirds of all organisations using SharePoint add bespoke functionality to the software.

This means that companies using SharePoint can tailor the software to their specific requirements and make it more responsive to their preferences.

This flexibility is very useful for larger organisations that need specific functionalities from their software.

It also works well with third-party security tools in case the enterprise needs a different type of security than the software provides from itself.

6. SharePoint is reliable

SharePoint is highly reliable software that keeps your data safe. Minimal server-level issues such as synchronisation progress and files being accidentally overwritten.

SharePoint is very well programmed, and has no such errors.

SharePoint stores several versions of each document, which you can use to review changes and also roll them back if necessary.

This helps tremendously in case you have made a mistake or want a previous version of your documents back.

In a market full of potentially malicious software, SharePoint shines as a name you can trust.

7. Storage is not a problem for SharePoint

SharePoint's storage capacity is sufficient for large organisations, with 1TB per organisation and or even more. The limits are determined by SharePoint Online's subscription.

Such a large amount of storage space is capable of supporting huge amounts of data, as well as all the backups needed.

8. SharePoint lets you do very advanced search

SharePoint makes it very easy for users to find their documents. Based on file names, metadata, content and phrases, the software makes searching extremely accurate and fast.

Moreover, the platform goes one step further and categorises each document by giving it a unique ID.

Confusion by, for example, similar names is avoided by this unique identification, and finding the document becomes more accurate.

The software also stores in various image and model formats. Built-in validation rules, combined with an optical character recognition (OCR) software, also enable document searches in different image formats.

All these options save a lot of time, as poor organisation can cause a lot of stress and take people hours to find the right document if they forget exactly where to look for it.

It also makes it easier to account for work errors, such as accidentally giving two documents the same name, and saves the person more time to correct it.

9. SharePoint supports good workflow

SharePoint has standard built-in workflows that allow you to collect approvals, feedback and signatures.

It also offers options to tailor workflows to the way your organisation works, making improved productivity a certainty.

10. SharePoint never stands still

SharePoint was created by Microsoft in 2001, and has been growing successfully ever since. It began as a simple server management tool, and over time has grown into a highly successful document management system.

Microsoft invests millions in the development of the platform every year and you reap the benefits.

11. SharePoint is secure

SharePoint is a highly secure platform that keeps your documents safe.

With strict folder-level security, which means that every folder and file can be customised in terms of permissions. With SharePoint, you can keep your sensitive information safe.

It also has a full trace of each document, so you know when a file was viewed, edited, copied or moved, and also keeps a backup of files that were changed.

SharePoint also allows the user to customise the software's regulatory options to any policy the company or an external source might require. This also helps save time and effort, as the rules do not have to be reset every time.

All these security measures and features make SharePoint a highly secure software that takes the best care of your documentations.

12. SharePoint not just for storing documents

SharePoint offers a solid foundation of managing documents, but what about storing e-mail correspondence? By default, SharePoint can do this, only it does not offer all the features you would want as a user. 

13. SharePoint is the foundation of Microsoft Teams

According to usage statistics, Microsoft Teams grew from just 2 million users in 2017 to nearly 150 million users by 2021. As remote working became a must-have, Teams became the go-to platform to collaborate during the COVID period.

With your colleagues probably already using Microsoft Teams to collaborate, SharePoint as a document management solution saves time and costs. 

14. SharePoint works with metadata

A key feature of SharePoint is that it supports metadata. This allows organisations to make their documents more findable, meet compliance requirements faster and avoid duplicates.  

Conclusion

With all this information and facts, it becomes clear that SharePoint offers a fantastic foundation as a document management system. However, the danger lies in lagging behind the user adoption of SharePoint because not all Office 365 applications integrate seamlessly. This puts organisations at risk of lagging SharePoint productivity and a lack of return on investment.

To get the most out of the platform, we are organising the webinar Effective Document Management with SharePoint & Outlook. In it, we talk about how to make SharePoint work seamlessly with all other Office 365 applications, to make the most of SharePoint as a DMS.