Advantages of an electronic document management system
The need to switch from paper office work to electronic document management systems has been talked about for a long time, but what are the real advantages of the introduction of electronic document management?
EDMS Advantage # 1: Increased Company Productivity
Finding the necessary documents and information in the presence of an electronic document management system takes much less time than traditional paper office work.Access to electronic document management can be obtained from any PC in your company, where the effective management system bb workspace is installed.
EDMS advantage # 2: instant access to up-to-date information
The main advantage of electronic document management is the ability to quickly and easily find the latest versions of documents. Thus, the problem of the relevance of the workflow is solved, that is, even if the same document exists in several versions, the user will be able to find the latest version of the file and work with it.
EDMS Advantage # 3: Reducing Human Factors Errors
The correct organization of electronic document management allows you to exclude errors that are entailed by the human factor. With paper workflow, it takes hours to find missing documents, while the EDMS copes with a similar task in just a few seconds.
Advantage of EDMS No. 4: reduction of material costs
Electronic document management systems significantly reduce the costs of the organization. Firstly, the productivity of the company's employees increases due to the automation of work, and secondly, the costs of consumables that are used in paper workflow are reduced.
EDMS Advantage # 5: Better Interaction
One of the key benefits of electronic document management is improved communication between departments and divisions within an organization. The introduction of an electronic document management system facilitates communication, information exchange, and also helps to break down barriers between different departments.
Advantage of EDMS No. 6: collective work with documents
Document flow automation allows several users to work with the same file at the same time, as well as search through a single database of documents.
EDMS Advantage # 7: Reducing the need for additional staff
An increase in production volumes with electronic document flow does not require a significant expansion of personnel; it is enough to automate the work of an existing team using the bb workspace effective management system.
Advantage of EDMS No. 8: reducing the cost of storing documents
The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for the storage period of documents for 5 years, the introduction of electronic document management will reduce the cost of storing documents.
Advantage of EDMS No. 10: protection of documents from damage
The use of EDS reduces risks due to fire or other force majeure circumstances. Unfortunately, it is not possible to completely switch to electronic document management and get rid of paper office work, since according to the legislation of the Russian Federation, paper is still considered a significant form of document, but the percentage of such documents in the total volume is relatively small.
EDMS Advantage # 11: Intangible Benefits of the Organization
Intangible benefits are not so noticeable at first glance and only indirectly affect the company's efficiency. For example, these benefits include improving the perception of the document or increasing the discipline of employees and customers.
Advantage of EDMS # 12: increasing corporate awareness
One of the unexpected results from the introduction of an electronic document management system can be called an increase in corporate consciousness. Each employee begins to feel like a part of a single team, clearly understanding the common goals and objectives.
Lecture 16 Advantages of document automation
1. Advantage of workflow automation
2. Why do we need electronic document management systems
3. Basic concepts and terminology
4. The main tasks solved by document management systems
The introduction of electronic document management makes it possible to reduce the number of services involved in working with documents (couriers, clerical workers, etc.).
Figure 43 shows how much the time for individual stages of work with documents is reduced when replacing a paper process with a digital one.
In the conditions of electronic document circulation, much less costs are required for restructuring the document circulation when external conditions change, for example, requirements for changing the reporting form.
Despite the fact that the effectiveness of electronic document management is universally recognized, the full transition to paperless technologies requires solving a number of legal issues, as well as investment. So today in Russia you can find all the types of document flow listed.
There are still enterprises and institutions that still work in the conditions of paper office work, most use computers and local networks in the organization of document flow, and only a small percentage use fully automated electronic document management systems. What is the reason for this situation?
Figure 43 - Advantages of electronic document management
Ideally, the development of electronic document management should be completely paperless technologies. However, today paper documents are still required to comply with many regulations - tax laws, accounting laws, etc. One of the main purposes of a document is the ability to certify certain facts. Until recently, a paper document with the necessary details and degrees of protection was the main way of proving a fact, i.e. represented legal force. Paper as a material medium has a drawback in the sense that it does not allow you to completely erase and write down new information, but this drawback turns out to be an advantage in terms of excluding document forgery. It is not for nothing that a Russian proverb says: what is written with a pen cannot be knocked out with an ax.
In other words, when we receive a document with a signature on each page and there are no traces of violation of the surface of the paper (i.e. it is clear that the text was not erased or rewritten), we can be sure that this document was sent on behalf of the person who put signature and that it has not been changed during the delivery process.
In principle, modern encryption means provide the same means of authenticating a document as a paper signature.
The Federal Law "On Electronic Digital Signatures", adopted in January 2002, gives organizations the opportunity to create systems for the exchange of exclusively electronic documents, in which an electronic document can act as an original that does not need to be duplicated by a hard copy. However, today the legality of an EDS is absolute only for internal document flow, where it is actively used, since the internal document flow is regulated by the CEO.
Thus, the main reason for the presence of a mixed document flow is the fact that the issue of using EDS has not yet been resolved at the state level.
However, the exchange of documents in electronic form can be used not in all, but only in some areas of the organization.
It is also generally accepted that tactical and strategic benefits are acquired with the implementation of the EDMS. Tactical benefits are determined by the cost reduction in the implementation of the EDMS associated with: freeing up physical space for storing documents; reducing the cost of copying and delivering paper documents; reduction of personnel and equipment costs, etc. strategic include benefits associated with improving the efficiency of an enterprise or organization. These benefits include:
The emergence of the possibility of collective work on documents (which is impossible with paper office work);
Significant acceleration of the search and selection of documents (by various attributes);
Increasing the security of information due to the fact that work in the EDMS from an unregistered workstation is impossible, and each EDMS user is assigned their own authority to access information;
Improving the safety of documents and the convenience of their storage, as they are stored electronically on the server;
Improved control over the execution of documents.
Electronic document management
Office work- a set of measures to organize the workflow of an enterprise or organization. Paperwork is a term used in office practice to refer to a formal set of rules for working with documents.
Electronic document(ED) is a document created with the help of computer information processing tools, which can be signed with an electronic signature (ES) and saved on a machine medium in the form of a file of the appropriate format.
Document flow- a system for creating, interpreting, transmitting, receiving and archiving documents, as well as control over their implementation and protection from unauthorized access.
Electronic document management(EDM) - a set of automated processes for working with documents submitted in electronic form, with the implementation of the concept of "paperless office work".
Other. Obviously, there can be as many workflow systems as there are types of activities, as a result, information systems that automate private types of workflow are developing in the direction of mass.
| Saving time: employees spend less time searching for paper documents. Thanks to the central database, files are regularly backed up, which eliminates the possibility that the document will be irretrievably lost if it is forgotten on the plane, accidentally or deliberately destroyed, or simply disappears in the office mess. The loss of time for searching for files and documents, which, for some reason, were not in their place, is completely excluded. | ||
| More adequate use of physical space and technology: valuable square meters occupied by unnecessary servers and other devices for storing documents can be freed. Depending on the status and relevance of the information, documents and files can be safely deleted after their retention period. Data management not only helps to comply with corporate regulations, but also promotes more adequate use of storage space. | ||
| Increasing the transparency of the internal work of the enterprise: SED(electronic document management systems) allow managers to monitor the status of the document, throughout all stages of its approval and approval. In addition to this, SED allows you to instantly and easily call not only the requested file, but also a complete report on who created it, who had access to it and who edited it. | ||
| Maintaining a personal history of each file and related documentation: SED allow you to centrally manage customer and supplier relationships. For example, just one click of the mouse is enough to bring up all the necessary documents that contain requirements related to various types of relationships between the organization and external actors. | ||
| More flexibility regarding the physical location of employees: thanks to the possibilities of electronic access and communication, employees are able to work remotely. And even in the same geographic location, employees no longer need to wait for paper copies of files to be sent from a nearby office. | ||
| Improving the security of information and documents: As already mentioned, the central database allows you to make backups of documents, thereby reducing the risk of accidental or intentional loss of files. At the same time, less time is spent looking for the required document, if its location has changed for some reason. | ||
| Reduced costs for printing, postage stamps, envelopes and shipping: paper documents that are sent between departments or suppliers can be sent electronically. | ||
| Improving employee and manager satisfaction: streamlining daily tasks allows employees to get more pleasure from the work process. Freeing employees from often boring tasks such as handling invoices allows them to devote themselves to other activities. At the same time, department heads get more control over the work of their subordinates. Ultimately, some organizations may find that the savings allow them to move to new business levels. | ||
Any electronic document management system can contain elements of each of the categories below, but most of them have a specific orientation in one of the areas associated primarily with product positioning.
| Electronic document management systems with advanced means of storing and retrieving information(electronic archives - EA). An electronic archive is a special case of a document management system focused on efficient storage and retrieval of information. Some systems are especially distinguished due to the advanced full-text search tools: fuzzy search, semantic search, etc., others - due to the efficient storage organization: HSM, support for a wide range of equipment for storing information, etc. | ||
| Electronic document management systems with advanced workflow tools(WF). These systems are mainly designed to ensure the movement of certain objects along predetermined routes (the so-called "hard routing"). At each stage, the object can change, therefore it is called by the general word "work" (work). Systems of this type are called workflow systems - "work flow" (unfortunately, there is no exact equivalent for this term in Russian). Documents can be linked to works, but documents are not the basic object of these systems. With the help of such systems, it is possible to organize certain works for which all stages are known in advance and can be prescribed. | ||
| Electronic document management systems focused on supporting organization management and knowledge accumulation. These are "hybrid" systems that usually combine elements of the previous two. In this case, the basic concept in the system can be both the document itself and the task that needs to be completed. To manage an organization, both "hard" and "free" routing is needed, when the route of the document is assigned by the head ("scribbles" the incoming document), so both technologies in one form or another can be present in such systems. These systems are actively used in state management structures, in the offices of large companies, which are distinguished by a developed hierarchy, have certain rules and procedures for the movement of documents. At the same time, employees collectively create documents, prepare and make decisions, execute or control their execution. | ||
When implementing such systems at large enterprises, it is important to determine whether the system provides the possibility of effective administration, processing large amounts of information, integration with automated production management systems, scalability, phased implementation, accounting for territorial distribution, complex organizational structure, role-based principle of organizing access, etc. ...
| Electronic document management systems focused on supporting collaboration(collaboration). This is a new trend in the field of workflow systems associated with understanding the volatility of market conditions in the modern world and with the need to have "only the most necessary" for fast movement, without unnecessary, very useful, but heavy ballast. Such systems, in contrast to the previous ones, do not include the concept of hierarchy in the organization, do not care about any formalization of the workflow. Their task is to ensure the joint work of people in the organization, even if they are geographically separated, and to preserve the results of this work. Usually implemented in the concept of "portals". They provide services for storing and publishing documents on the intranet, searching for information, discussing, means of making appointments (both real and virtual). Such systems find customers among rapidly growing commercial companies, work groups in large firms and government agencies. | ||
| Electronic document management systems with advanced additional services. For example, customer relationship management (CRM - Customer Relation Management), project management, billing, e-mail, etc. (Note that in terms of the complexity of functions, the workflow system and, for example, the CRM service may have different proportions depending on the organization. CRM functionality is optional in the context of this article.) | ||
When choosing such a platform, the main attention should be paid to:
Functional requirements
| General | Specific |
|---|---|
| Ensuring the creation of electronic documents (Scanning, Import) | Create document discussions |
| Ability to add comments to documents | Comparisons of the content of documents, including graphic |
| Creating links between documents |
Currently, the exchange of documents between business entities and individuals is gradually moving from paper to electronic. The electronic document management system has a number of advantages over plain paper - it saves time and increases the efficiency of decisions. EDMS can be built both within a company and between different companies via the Internet.
Electronic document management is a system of processes for processing documents in electronic form. Most modern accounting and personnel programs are able to generate electronic documents in a standard format established at the legislative level. But for such a document to have legal weight, it must be signed by both parties with an electronic signature.
Electronic document flow can be divided into two large types - the exchange of documents within the company or between different companies via communication channels. It is allowed to combine these two systems into one global one.
The use of electronic document management within the company requires the purchase of the necessary software package (EDM platform), as well as equipment for its operation (network equipment, server, etc.).
In order to exchange documents between the two companies, an electronic document management operator is required. It guarantees the delivery of messages, controls the format of the forwarded documents, requires certification of work with data with an electronic signature, stores an archive of documents.
Attention! One of these services is. Documents received through it are legally significant if they have a mark from the EPC of both sides of the document flow.
Electronic document flow has undeniable advantages over paper:
Despite the obvious advantages, EDM systems also have disadvantages that can stop a company from implementing.
These include:
Any document management system must ensure the implementation of many actions:
Attention! Electronic document flow should provide the same ability to work with documents as a traditional paper one.
Large developed systems provide opportunities:
After the transition to electronic document management in the organization, at first it will still not be possible to completely abandon paper documents.
This can happen for several reasons:
However, there are fundamental differences in working with electronic and paper documents. For example, a paper document needs to be printed and brought to the manager for signature, while an electronic document is signed in the system itself. Paper accounting documents sent to a counterparty can get lost in the mail during transit, while electronic documents reach the addressee.
The main difference between working with two types of documents is their storage. Electronic documents immediately enter the system, where all users can work with them. For paper documents, an archive must still be organized, where they will be stored in an orderly manner. At the same time, after entering the company, the paper document must be scanned, and this scanned copy must be uploaded to the system for further work.
Attention! Thus, work within the company should still be carried out only in electronic form. If a paper document arrives, then only those who receive it or sign it are seen. At the same time, working with an electronic copy allows you to protect the original from almost any loss, and allows several users to work with it at once.
There are many document management systems on the market, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The most common systems are:
| System | Peculiarities | Price |
| A business | One of the largest EDI programs. Great functionality, simplicity and ease of use. | From 11 to 13.5 thousand rubles. for one workplace |
| Logics | Can be used in companies of any size, easy to learn, flexible customization for the user | From 4900 to 5900 per seat. |
| Euphrates | It is considered the most advanced of the systems, the delivery includes its own database system, light and pleasant design | From 5,000 rubles per workplace when deployed on an organization's server, from 10,000 rubles. when placed on the developer's equipment. |
| 1C: Archive | Full integration with any 1C products, the ability to store any files - text, graphic, video and audio. | From 12 to 57 thousand rubles. for the entire program. |
| DIRECTUM | The optimal system for small and medium-sized enterprises, you can combine electronic documents with paper. | From 7 thousand rubles. up to 2 million rubles. for a license |
| OPTIMA-WorkFlow | A new system that is just beginning to actively develop. There are several features that are unique to this system. | From 55 to 75 thousand rubles. for a license. |
Taking its place in the electronic environment of the organization, the EDM system should freely support other business applications already functioning in it during operation. For example, you need to freely process accounting documents - invoices, acts, invoices, powers of attorney, etc.
In addition, the electronic document management system must work with everyone in concert, and operate with the same data. Therefore, it is necessary that the system be able to maintain reference books that are used in an electronic environment and be able to update the data in them.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account the work with external data - e-mail, marketplaces, etc.
When choosing EDF, it is necessary to pay attention to the possibility of its interaction with other means and data sources available at the enterprise. Usually, popular, and therefore actively developing systems, include many modules for the most popular programs - 1C, Parus, Oracle and many others.
For example, the electronic document flow of the 1C program can allow you to form, receive and send electronic accounting documents directly from it, while confirming them with a qualified signature.
Electronic document management has advantages and disadvantages, pros and cons to use in an organization.
To weigh the "pros and cons" of the introduction of an electronic document management system in a company, this is a very important part when planning the structure of a company and the type of its document flow. Although many managers do not pay enough attention to the issue of automating document flow and business processes in general, these are only those managers who do not know the benefits of electronic document flow.
The main advantages of electronic document management are manifested in the fact that when using it, all departments and structures of the company will work in one information space. In this regard, the speed of processing documents within the company is greatly increased. Also, an important factor that puts electronic document flow an order of magnitude higher than usual is the safety and security of documents. Modern systems use data encryption, which can prevent attempts to create information leaks. When using this type of workflow, the productivity of employees increases and the likelihood of errors in document processing, which depends on the qualifications of the employee, decreases. The introduction of an electronic document management system gives a significant economic effect, but its quantitative assessment is a difficult process, since there are many factors to consider.
The direct effect of the implementation of the system allows you to save money spent on consumables, payment for postal and courier delivery services, photocopying of materials, and reduces labor costs. An indirect effect is those advantages of management that are significant for the functioning of the organization: transparency of management, control of performance discipline, etc.
So, the introduction of electronic document management systems allows:
1. fully automate the process of working with documents;
2. to ensure the organization of work with remote users and user groups;
3. provide integration with external e-mail systems;
4. build up the basic capabilities of the electronic document management system using modularity and the presence of built-in tools;
5. to ensure the process of simultaneous work in the system of an unlimited number of users;
6. to improve the efficiency of work with documents;
7. to improve the corporate culture of working with documents;
8. significantly reduce the volume of paper workflow;
9. to significantly reduce the time for processing and sending documents, the time of searching for documents, the time of agreement and approval of draft documents;
10. to provide all documentation processes with the simultaneous use of electronic and paper versions of documents;
11. streamline the process of registration of all types of documents (registration from e-mail and web-forms, support for streaming scanning, registration of files of any format);
12. to provide workflow management (transfer of documents between performers);
13. provide a process for working with related documents;
14. to ensure the management of the document throughout the entire life cycle;
15. to ensure transparency of all processes from the moment of document creation to the moment of its submission to the archive;
16. Saving the history of working with documents (keeping track of time and authors of all actions with a document, saving working comments, supporting versioning of attached files);
17. trace the history of document creation;
18. to provide a clear process of agreement and approval of documents;
19. build a well-functioning system of orders;
20. to ensure strict control of the performing discipline;
21. sort documents according to any criteria;
22. provide information search by various attributes and full-text search;
23. ensure the automation of the collection and analysis of statistical data on the movement of documents;
24. provide archival storage of electronic images of documents;
25. ensure the regulation of access rights;
26. provide instant access to documents;
27. to reduce the quantitative loss of documents;
28. increase labor productivity;
29. to reduce the cost of preparing documents for submission to the archive and archival storage of documents;
30. to give legal effect to electronic documents;
31. reduce the cost of courier and postal services;
32. reduce the number of internal and external couriers;
33. ensure the maintenance of the information and reference base;
34. Provision of advanced search capabilities (attributive search, advanced search, full-text search taking into account the morphology of the Russian language, support for dynamic search folders);
35. Support for the registration of paper and electronic documents in accordance with the requirements of the GDOU.
36. Support for routes of movement of documents (sequential, parallel, free routes, routes with conditions, deferrals)
37. Support for mixed workflow (preparation of paper documents and reports by templates, printing out the registration card of the document, keeping records of the storage of original documents);
38. Availability of tools for analyzing workflow, creating reports, as well as monitoring the executive discipline of employees (the ability to generate reports and analytical references, automatic logging);
39. Ensuring information security (support for digital signature, data encryption, logging, differentiation of access rights and role systems, the presence of built-in data integrity control and automatic backup).
But with all the advantages of the electronic document management system, it has its drawbacks. They should be taken into account when making decisions on the implementation of electronic document management systems. If a company has been implementing an electronic document management system from its very foundation, then it will not cause "stress" for employees. And if the decision is made by a company that has had a regular workflow for quite a long time, then you need to take into account the fact that reforming the system can cause a number of "stresses" for employees. Everything is new, it is accepted with difficulties. Also, you need to take into account the fact that the company may incur the costs of purchasing programs and document management systems, as well as their implementation and further maintenance.
There are also information security gaps. Since the market is flooded with "pirated" disks with uploaded databases of serious government agencies with good protection, what can be said about small and medium-sized businesses. Competition is the law of business. It is more difficult for an unscrupulous competitor to obtain information posted on paper: documents can be stored in different rooms, cabinets (tables, safes), scattered folders. It's easier with electronic databases. Modern hackers use remote access to break into expensive programs with the highest degree of protection.
The next drawback is a sharp increase in the flow of workflow. As a result, the servers cannot cope, and labor productivity drops. In the presence of paper workflow, such a sharp jerk is impossible.
And one more drawback is an increase in labor costs as a result of an increase in workflow. The employer does not have time to adequately respond to such leaps in decision-making on personnel issues. The volumes are increasing, while the staff remains the same.
After considering the electronic document management system, we can conclude that it has its advantages. And the shortcomings and its implementation in the organization depends on the leader. Since each leader is personally responsible for how productive his business will be.
