What next? Moving forward with your existing ECM

So you have invested in a document management platform (DMS), perhaps just for a single department that had a specific requirement. Those users are now happy, the initial problem is solved and their needs are met.

As an organisation there was undoubtedly a significant investment of both capital and employee time getting the DMS initially deployed. Of course the new DMS will eventually bring a return on that investment (ROI) otherwise why would you have implemented a new platform? However, that ROI could well be accelerated. Not only that, your organisation as a whole could see significant efficiency savings and greater security / compliance benefits.

“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can“

Arthur Ashe

By looking at other department or employee processes (outside of the original project scope), your organisation could benefit significantly by extending the DMS usage and making use of those features that are available (licenced) but not relevant to the initial use case.

• Can the same or a very similar process be made available to other departments / employees that is currently in use for a ‘quick win’?
• Ask yourself what processes in the office frustrate you? How often do you catch yourself saying “there must be an easier way?” “Why does this take so long?” (Not just processes related to your department or role specifically) It could be something as simple as holiday approval submissions or perhaps monthly expenses.

• Talk to those departments that directly communicate / partner with the employees that now use the DMS. Arrange a conversation with the head of department if you are unfamiliar with their processes and find out where they potentially already integrate with the new system.

• Talk to the heads of department about processes in the business that frustrate them – too slow, too complex, too incomprehensible… be inclusive in your quest for ideas. Look for those process issues you agree on!
• Talk to your DMS solutions partner. One of the first discussions regarding the ‘what next’ should be with the consultant team that implemented the DMS. The representative helping design and deploy the DMS will no doubt have picked up on other processes within the organisation and may already have suggestions.

Remember - Where there is a repetitive, simple, yet time consuming process, there is potential to automate for greater efficiency.

You don’t need to be a career business analyst to identify what in your working life should be easier. Talk through any of your initial ideas with your DMS services provider (such as PacSol). With a wider working knowledge of the software and previous use cases from other clients, there is most likely a way to convert those ideas to tangible benefits. Trust me, no idea is ‘crazy’.

PacSol has always committed itself to providing a dependable service to our customers and we strive to maximise the beneficial impact of any document management or capture platform that we implement within an organisation. We have over 28 years (as PacSol) of DMS implementation, configuration and integration experience, giving us a deep understanding of which departments / processes see benefit from digital transformation. (Hint: nearly all)

Please do get in touch and we would be happy to review the current usage of your DMS as well as help identify how your organisation could further benefit from wider adoption of that same platform.

Of course, there is another, larger question - what if your current DMS cannot do what you need? Well, PacSol can probably help there too…

Toby Gilbertson, Director. June 2024

(based on an article originally published August 2020)