Business owners, managers and executives understand the importance of proper document management. Staying involved during the lifecycle of a document, whether it's a contract or any other important form, is crucial. However, documents must be managed efficiently, which hasn't always been the case.
A study conducted by Oce Business Services reported that while 90 percent of executives and managers are taking an active role in managing the lifecycle of their documents, only 12 percent said they are doing so efficiently. That means there are major steps that need to be taken before companies can be comfortable about their document management strategies. While this study was from 2008, efficient document management is no less important today than it was back then.
Take contract management for example. If contracts are efficiently managed, the entire organization will benefit. Less time will be spent trying to locate either a specific contract or particular wording within a contract and businesses will be able to focus on complying with obligations, rather than trying to find out what those obligations are.
Efficient document management can also help reduce organizational costs. Oce Business Services President and CEO Joseph R. Marciano said as much at the time of the study.
"Executives surveyed indicate that their most urgent business goal is to improve operational efficiency closely followed by reducing costs," he said. "The executives see document management processes as having a high impact in meeting these and other goals."
Managing contracts in a central repository that allows users to quickly search for key contract elements and view them in real time will go a long way toward boosting efficiency and assisting with cost-cutting efforts.
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