Managing mayhem

Firms large and small look to the next level for automated document management and sharing to enhance productivity and efficiency.

The fax machine spews out junk uncontrollably while the photocopier groans with printouts as--without supervision or monitoring--it ceaselessly churns out costly color documents. Welcome to the often chaotic world of the whirring paper hub and engine room of any given office: the print room.

Whether in hard copy or electronic "soft copy," documents are essential to our work. But managing these documents effectively is a challenge that many companies have yet to face squarely.

Many firms have deployed multifunction printers (MFP) from vendors like Fuji-Xerox, Canon and Ricoh--convergence devices that incorporate print, scan, fax and copy functions. But relatively few have taken steps to use these devices with appropriate management software to automate manual processes or to enable better document management and sharing practices.

At a recent seminar and panel discussion on the topic of document management, it was found that 70 percent of the attendees at the discussion had not implemented any formal document management software. The firms represented were not all SMEs either--large local and multinational firms were among those not implementing document management.

Step by step adoption

What constitutes document management? At the most basic level it refers to the use of devices that enable the digitization of documents such as faxes or print outs, invoices and contracts. Traditionally jammed into folders, then filed away and impossible to retrieve, such documents are often subject to old and inefficient retention policies. By scanning and storing documents in an indexed and searchable archive, staff can keep track of all documents in a shared and secure environment.

Although this sounds basic, it