Buying a document management system is an important decision and a long-term commitment. Given the price of most document management software, it is also a big investment for smaller businesses. So a document management solution must be chosen carefully after evaluating the acquired organization’s needs and future requirements. The purchase must be well planned, and the document management software purchased must suit the organization’s needs well.
Some questions that an organization should consider before obtaining a document management system are
- What features and functionalities does the organization require from a document management system?
- What are the needs of the organization for data management? Government agencies will need to consider the fact that they are required to comply with government standards.
- What is the organization’s budget for getting a document management system? A document management system may incur costs like service, support and training costs after purchase. These need to be taken into consideration.
Let us now evaluate a few decisions that often have to be made when an organization wants to acquire a document management system.
Options for Acquiring a Document Management System
First, there are two methods for getting a document management system. One is to buy a commercial system off the shelf, while the second is for the organization to get its own document management system built. Different document management software will possess different sets of functionalities and features, and there is no one DMS that fits all organizations. So a commercial document management software must be chosen that fits the purpose and fulfills the needs of the organization, or one must be developed. When a document management system is custom-built either in-house or utilizing external services, it can be thoroughly customized to suit the organization’s needs. But if there is a readily available DMS that fulfills the organization’s needs, buying it may be the best option.
Customization vs. Commercial Solutions
In any case, if the organization decides to build its own system, this will mean that the organization will constantly require the services of technology people such as programmers, who are either employees or outsiders, to add new functionalities or to maintain and support the document management software. But the organization can also get exactly the kind of interface and functions that it wants in the document management software without having to spend money on a bunch of un-needed features, which is often the case when buying some commercial document management software.
Choosing Between Web-Based and On-Premises Systems
Another choice is between getting a web-based document management system and buying document management software that needs to be installed on an organization’s network. A web-based system uses the software vendor’s infrastructure and the purchasing organization won’t have to install any software or maintain a server. A web-based system frees businesses from the costs of hardware, onsite installation and maintenance. With a web-based solution, there is often no need to back up any data on disks as this is often done by the vendors themselves. Thus, documents will have better protection from disasters and accidents, as vendors will often have a better environment and tools to defend against these.
Key Considerations for Each Option
If a web-based document management system is chosen, then look for a vendor with powerful and fast servers that provides adequate security for the organization’s information while letting the document management system administrators have as much control over the access of documents as wanted. In case the document management software is to be installed on an organization’s own network, then the organization must see to it that the document management software supports the technology that already exists and is being used in the organization, such as storage devices and server software.