Irrespective of the type of business, every organization creates lots of paper and electronic documents. As the business grows, management of these documents becomes crucial so as to ensure  better  storage and retrieval. Again, adding to the operational efficiencies and reducing costs remain the on-going goal for a business to be successful. To achieve this, organizations are turning to document management (DM) solutions that help them easily manage piles of documents both print and electronic.  This is what ensures timely  access to the right document and its efficient delivery   for businesses to take prompt decisions.  Let’s have a look at the elements of  a typical document management solution.

A  DM solution comprises of three elements called Capture, Manage and Share.

Capture: MFPs and scanners  are used to create  electronic versions of  existing paper documents. Now-a-days, even digital media devices such as digital cameras  are also used to capture images of documents.

Manage: Once you are though with capturing and your documents are in order, you can easily mange them just like any other data file. You can store and create backup  of your  electronic documents.

Share: To share your electronic files, you can use  tools like printing, email, file sharing, etc.

What SMEs should look for in a DM?

All businesses today are looking for solutions to reduce cost and  implementing a document management system is the first step in the right direction. A document management system can provide SMEs with a continuity plan, effective use of space and time and also better customer support. A solution like eCopy ShareScan can help you digitize hard copies of the Resumes of candidates who have come for an interview over the last six months. Document Management System can save lots of paperwork and inefficiencies associated with manual processes.

SMEs deploy DM solutions to address specific pain points they have been facing using paper, unlike large enterprises that tend to deploy enterprise content management (ECM) system. This could be for instance slow payment cycles due to manual processing of documentation. However, SMEs can benefit from implementing DM technologies to address accounts, human resources, etc.

As of functionality, SMEs look for solutions that are comprehensive, yet affordable. With limited capital budget, an SME will seek a solution that can satiate  their needs for a minimal initial investment and also the maintenance costs. So an SMB DM solution should be ready to integrate with other such solutions, and  should be  intuitive and easy-to-use so that employees can use it without any difficulty.

Document management in an SMB starts right from  individual management level unlike in enterprises. So it should necessarily be  simple and   smart enough to  work at the backend.   It should carry features that lead to an organized workflow', says Punnet Dutta, Sr Manger , BIS Division, Canon India.

Out-of-the-box functionality enables SMEs to customize the solution to stretch it to other departments without requiring to buy additional software modules. Because many  features that are crucial for one department may not appeal to other department. For instance an HR department is more likely  to handle several formats of documents than the sales department. This is why, DM software that easily integrate with other office management systems common in SME environments like MS Office, Outlook, etc are in demand today.

Costs savings

With a proper DM infrastructure and practice in place, an SMB can save a lot. A DM solutions can give you costs benefits both in tangible and intangible ways.  It  can reduce your paper and stationary consumptions, enable easy storage, search and retrieval of information. In fact,  SMEs  brought in the concept of document management to downsize the costs associated with accessing and manging data and information that are critical to their businesses.  Let's have a look at how the cost benefit works for SMEs.

DM enables seamless information flow. At one time multiple users can access the documents from their servers and intranets, which could never have been possible in 'piles of paper' environments. Electronic documents take lesser space than hard copies , which is important keeping in mind the rising cost of real estate.

Easy retrieval of documents saves a lot of time. You no longer need to waste those man hours searching for a document.

A DM solution offers you an environment of organized files and communication.  MFDs and other document management systems offer  features such as adding notes, highlights, etc that enable you communicate better. A DM process  also saves you lot on courier  and despatch costs.

Not to mention, one  crucial  advantage that DM solutions offer to businesses is faster decision making. However, before you go for implementing a  DM system, identify the types of documents you wan t to manage, prioritize on documents most crucial to your business and pin point the challenges that you've been facing.

Interview with Puneet Datta, Senior  Manager -Marketing, BIS Division, Canon 

What DM solutions do you offer to cater to the needs of SMBs?

Basically we have three solutions for SMEs.  iW360 is an integrated office productivity solution that makes any document based workflow easier. The software enables you to capture images, articles, documents, chart or even web pages, scan and edit on screen to create a professional-looking documents. You can  compile a document from Word files, presentation slides, spreadsheets and photographs and then scan, copy, collate and print. The 'Compact PDF'  lets you reduce the size of scanned documents making it quicker to send and less likely to be stopped by a firewall. 'Searchable PDF'  allows you search the content of scanned and distributed documents.

eCopy ShareScan uses existing office devices to convert paper documents into digital files. It is available both as a product that will run inside your copier – eCopy ShareScan Embedded, or as an external piece of hardware that attaches to your copier – the eCopy ScanStation. eCopy's email solutions provide audit trail and ensure that no anonymous mail can be sent from the copier or scanner.

iCMF 9340C (Scan to mail) is built to meet the need of workgroups who produce almost 70% of their print documents in colour.  It carries an easy-to-use panel to let you operate it easily.

What features should a DM solution carry?

Document management in an SMB starts right from  individual management level unlike in enterprises. A DM solution should should be simple, user friendly and   smart enough that works at the backend and requires users to learn less and use more. Most of the products we offer are embedded and don’t require hardcore dployments. Products like eCopy have an easy-to use interface and anyone can use them without any hurdle. Solutions that require users to learn less are on demand today.

Interview with Nitin Hiranandani, Director- Enterprise Sales and Services, Imaging & inting Group, HP India

What DM solutions do you offer to cater to the needs of SMBs?

HP’s DM solutions are designed to streamline SMB business workflows, help them maintain regulatory compliance, and to enable office workgroups and departments to share information more effectively.  HP offers a variety of DM solutions to SMBs.  Capture Solutions  from  our partners help organizations  streamline business processes, reduce paper-based logistics, and enable flexible and intelligent digital workflows.  Digital Sending Software (DSS) enables paper documents to be incorporated into electronic business processes at the touch of a button. From as many as 1,000 supported MFPs and digital senders per DSS server, documents can be digitized and sent quickly, with improved security features, to network folders, printers, fax service.  Smart Document Scan software  simplifies the scanning process  and  helps create custom workflow profiles. It integrates easily into existing or new workflows, and enables the preview and additional scans at the end of a scan job. Key MF products include LaserJet M3035mfp, LaserJet M4345mfp and LaserJet M5035mfp

A document management solution must be comprehensive, yet affordable, to appeal to the SMB market! Comment.

Unlike a large enterprise, where document management solutions become an integrated part of the IT infrastructure, smaller companies are still in the process of understanding their imaging and printing needs. Document management solutions are similar to ERP solutions – there are different packages for customized needs of various organizations. HP provides simple solutions for SMBs which empowers them to keep their workflow organized.

Interview with Akhilesh Saxena National Sales Manager - India Cluster, Document Imaging, Graphic Communications Group, Kodak India

What DM solutions do you offer to cater to the needs of SMBs, which enable them to capture and organize all types of documents?

Kodak offers an integrated portfolio of document scanning solutions, including the hardware as well as software for data capture purpose. We  cover the entire portfolio  from high end production scanners to entry level document scanners, with a range of more than 30 models on offer. specifically for SMEs. We have the Kodak ScanMate i1120, which is best suited to serve all requirements of  SMEs. It’s fast and affordable, and has unmatched image capturing features.

How do you plan a document mgmt solution deployment within an SMB premises?

There are quite many solutions available in market which are highly cost effective and serves all DM needs in an SMB premise, Kodak Document Scanners support almost any solution, which an SME wants to deploy. The Kodak Capture Pro Software along with Kodak Scanmate i1120 & other Document Scanners can take care of many specific needs of SMEs.

What are the available technologies in the arena of document management?

There are various solutions/technologies covering document management needs like OCR, barcode recognition, on the fly image processing, iThresholding, Auto Cropping, Auto Deskewing, Auto orientation etc. which cover the challenging requirement of any SME business.

Kodak Document Scanning technology incoporates all the above features, and our products are best suited to handle the varied and flexible requirements of all Corporates /SMEs.