Document Management

Your offices may be crowded with bulky, inefficient filing cabinets–but there are better ways to manage documents. Streamlining how you manage your business-critical documents is mandated by governing agencies as well as your bottom line. Advantages of moving to an Electronic Document and Content Management Solution are obvious but for some this may be a new, challenging concept. This section explains what document imaging is, and why it is beneficial for any business.

What is Document Imaging, Document Management and Content Management and what’s the difference?

Document Imaging is the process of converting paper documents, microfilm, microfiche and aperture cards into electronic image files. Once scanned or imported, documents are processed and indexed using one to many parameters and stored in an electronic archive. Images securely stored in electronic archive, or repository, can be retrieved, viewed, panned, zoomed, rotated, cropped, resized, annotated and redacted. Software applications that enable imaging functionality are known as Document Management Systems (DMS).

Document Management System (DMS) is a computer system or set of computer programs used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. The term has some overlap with the concepts of Content Management Systems and is often viewed as a component of Enterprise Content Management Systems and related to Digital Asset Management, Document Imaging, Workflow systems and Records Management systems.

Content Management System (CMS) is a software system used for content management. Content Management Systems are deployed primarily for interactive use by a potentially large number of contributors. The content managed includes computer files, image media, audio files, electronic documents and web content. The idea behind a CMS is to make these files available inter-office, as well as over the web. A Content Management System would most often be used as an archive as well. Many companies use a CMS to store files in a non-proprietary form. Companies use a CMS to share files with ease, as most systems use server-based software, even further broadening file availability. Many Content Management Systems include a feature for Web Content, and some have a feature for a Workflow Process.

Benefits at a Glance: