Once a business implements electronic data processes, the next step for executives is to safeguard their digital assets to ensure strong work productivity for an extended period of time.

Electronic document management systems are more secure than paper files, but ultimately, the information in any system is only as safe as a company allows it to be. In conjunction with the business process software, digital asset management (DAM) will streamline operations, safeguard a company's reputation with their clients and reduce costs, CMS Wire explains.

DAM, like many electronic processes, consists of multiple tasks like annotation of files within a server and the retrieval and distribution of company information, as well as managing the system's overall functionality. DAM is meant to be a cyber security measure—protecting the company from future data breaches and theft. 

Over time, businesses will upload many files and documents into the system, which means that "more than ever, there is direct need for DAM to serve as a core application within the enterprise to manage these assets," CMS Wire contributor John Horodyski writes.

Actively updating a company's DAM will ensure that all information is stored in the correct folders and shared with the appropriate staffers. These tasks may take up a lot of time at first, but IT departments should set up a framework that works for all employees who are responsible for adding new files into the system.

Each time a file is scanned, it should be labeled to ensure it is stored in the right location for the department that relies on these documents. In the world of IT, they call it metadata. Forgetting to input metadata tags for each file can make it difficult for companies to find the paperwork in the future. A lack of organization and structure will complicate an employee's workflow.

Nowadays, cyber security is essential for all businesses. Firewalls and anti-viruses must be supported with passwords and encryption. Chief information officers (CIO) have to work with senior staffers to know which crew member deserves what level of clearance. 

Proper document hosting can expedite compliance requests with executives, clients and local governments. Electronic document management is becoming a larger part of a business' operations.

Electronic document management programs are a great investment because they can help businesses increase work efficiency and reduce lag times among suppliers and clients. Even though paper documents are becoming more dated, the sooner companies implement these solutions, the better off their staff will be in the long run. 

Even though paperless office solutions are a great way to improve workflow, some business owners are afraid to make the switch because they assume that these programs are costly and time consuming. A recent article in CIO Magazine argues that these components have become more affordable and collaborative than ever. Electronic document management is capable of being tailored to the needs of workers who utilize tablets and smartphones.

"Back in the day, with the big 'one-neck-to-choke' model, when you switched providers you had to switch everything," Thomas Young of Information Services Group told the source. "It's the difference between switching out the stereo in your car and switching out the whole car."

Many of these vendors have made it easier for companies to collaborate with multiple partners, which allows organizations to create a custom platform that suits many needs. Because it is becoming easier to mix and match, business process outsourcing will continue to be more affordable and accessible. Executives do not have to be limited to a small selection of services anymore.

How are these providers able to offer these services for less cost? Young explains that through a significant increase of labor automation, packages can be as much as 60 percent more affordable. Now is the best time for business owners to begin integrating a program that will improve their overall bottom line. 

Filing electronic personal and work-related documents may not go hand in hand, but if there was a program that facilitated such an exchange, would you go for it? It has the potential to save individuals a lot of time because all the files would be in one, central location.

The Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom invites its customers to use the company's new cloud-based, electronic document management program to store financial statements, bills and personal certificates, Computerworld UK reported. As long as the user is a Barclays Bank customer, they will be able to utilize this free service. As of now, customers are not capped for a certain amount of bandwidth space, but that could change in the near future, according to TechWorld.

"We all have so many bits of paper, documents and files floating around these days that it often feels like we need an extra spare room to house them all," Ashok Vaswani, chief executive of Barclays Retail and Business Banking, told the source. "Chances are when you need to get hold of a document at the office, you will have filed it at home somewhere, if you can remember where you put it in the first place." 

All customers have to do is log into their online banking account information and begin uploading documents into this paperless office solution. The Barclays hopes that people will use the document management program as an "online deposit box," reducing their reliance on large filing cabinets that takes up a lot of office space, FinExtra explained. Oftentimes, organizing these files can be extremely overwhelming for businesses and individuals.

In order to maximize the system's use, customers are encouraged to input metadata tags with their uploads so they can be relocated in specific folders—improving future searches for specific paperwork. As a safety precaution, the bank will scan each incoming document before it enters the cloud-based server to prevent future data breaches or the chance another account becomes infected with these cyber "bots."

Businesses that transition from filing cabinets to a paperless office save themselves a lot of time previously spent manually completing administrative tasks, many of which are now done more efficiently through the support of document hosting software.

Adoption may require some additional time upfront on their part, but they can greatly reduce their efforts as they become more accustomed to a document management provider who can complete these tasks for them.

For Daniel's Harvest Financial in Napa Valley California, owner Chal Daniels found that he was able to spend less time communicating with the California Department of Corporations, the organization's broker-dealer. The 10 foot by 10 foot records storage room became the home of another full-time employee, further streamlining the business' operations. 

"By going paperless, I can spend more time with clients listening and finding their solutions," Daniels told Financial Advisor Magazine. "That is what any office system is all about,"

Transitioning toward the electronic document management system took Daniels and his team a year and a half, but Daniels plans on expanding electronic services for his clients by adding e-signatures. About 25 percent of his contacts prefer receiving electronic statements. Daniels noted that, "[s]ome people think it is more secure to get paper; that is not logical in my mind."

Daniel's Harvest Financial has been operating on this new platform for at least six years and has seen other benefits like a reduction in insurance costs. Companies that are considering paperless office solutions can find the resources they need to get started with the help of an electronic document management provider.

Law firms go through a great deal of paperwork on a regular basis, and it can be difficult for employees to effectively sort out affidavits and debriefs without getting overwhelmed. However, this does not have to be a part of a worker's daily routine with the support of document hosting software.

File folders are designed to separate documents from each other and make information easier to locate, but they're still difficult to navigate if you're looking for specific information. Electronic document management services can sort these files in a more efficient and useful way than folders and even filing cabinets. Search criteria from these programs can help "filter results faster than trying to craft the perfect search string," FindLaw author Karen Clifford wrote.

Oftentimes, associates are trying to track paperwork down from memory, which could possibly fail because even the brightest minds can only retain so much information at once. However, enterprise content management is dedicated to organize and tag these files for businesses.

Just like a search function on many e-commerce websites, records can searched using specific terms, dates or file types. Document profiling can also help lawyers sift through emails that contain information pertinent to specific cases and agreements. This highly organized program can be applied to an attorney's email as well.

Emails, similar to paperwork, enters inboxes day in and day out. A majority of messages are related to the lawyer's workflow and there is a way to manage it better than dumping them in designated folders.

Relocating these points of communication could handicap fellow lawyers who are working on similar cases, according to the Law Gazette. Instead, document management programs with email modules can fix this issue and greatly increase productivity with the metadata tags and search capabilities. Too many times, personnel find themselves panicking over "lost" records that are right under their nose.

Before transitioning to document organization software in 2008, consumer-goods giant Proctor & Gamble, based out of Cincinnati, Ohio, constantly managed an influx of paper. Many of its paper files discussed research and development for its over-the-counter medication as well as regulatory information supporting these products, according to Baseline Magazine.

After years of wading through paperwork, Proctor & Gamble decided to implement an electronic system.

"Digging through all the records is a long, laborious process," Kay Bross, senior public key infrastructure specialist for Procter & Gamble, told the source. "If a court case comes up, the process of pinpointing a document and pulling it out is extremely time-consuming and painful."

Proctor & Gamble has an umbrella of products under its belt, like Crest, Tide, Gillette and Charmin​. The best way to organize the plethora of data that comes from these individual brands is through the use of an enterprise content management system. Proctor & Gamble's platform also allows clients and other parties to electronically sign paperwork, ultimately streamlining the company's operations.

Since the switch, Proctor & Gamble has been able to save its researchers time, thus opening additional opportunities to communicate with potential partners and government regulators. Throughout the company, employees who are responsible for document management saved 30 minutes per week. Instead of finding signatures and organizing folders, all of the information is available in the database.

When Proctor & Gamble began implementing its paperless office solutions in 2008, executives were aware that some of its staff would be skeptical of the change, but executives like Bross were committed to convincing the departments to get on board. In some cases, there were "management issues [on top of] provid[ing] training sessions." 

Each day, lawyers have to sift through folders full of files for a variety of cases. Instead of building stacks of paper within the office, law firms could benefit from electronic enterprise document management software. This way, legal staff are able to go add notes to one part of a document and switch to another without making a mess.

"You open a new case, [update] whatever information you got from the client, and say, 'Go,'" Stephen Holmes, chief administrator at a Hawaii-based firm, told BizTech Magazine. "It really is an amazingly well-thought-out product."

There are other solutions that help streamline operations, like a shared file drive or email system, but these options are easily overwhelmed. Going through hundreds of emails at work quickly becomes inefficient and sharing folders back and forth can slow down the computer's overall performance.

Instead, having one central place to store and access files can be a part of the firm's network, capable of backing up documents and managing multiple accounts. Not only will the business reduce waste from printing many memos, contracts and briefs, but document hosting protects information from getting into the wrong hands.

It helps that these types of programs have a search engine within their framework, assisting coworkers from multiple departments to contribute to the case without having multiple meetings with one another.

"It's incredibly customizable in terms of what sets of data you want to look at," Jordon Kimura, a litigation associate, explained to BizTech.

Having a thorough, enterprise document management system makes it easier for assistants, associates and lawyers to be on the same page.

Some federal government agencies are well underway with their paperless office solutions, but there are many more departments that are waiting to get the green light. Under the directive of the National Archives and Records Administration, all government entities should be implementing some sort of system to streamline operations.

The latest department to do so is the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which hopes to be entirely digitized in three years, according its press release.

"The [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] administers a tremendous volume of documents on a daily basis," Bill Cornelius, vice president of Xerox Federal Solutions explained in the announcement.

Each day, the department processes paperwork from individuals that live in many nations, all of whom are seeking sponsorship to come to the United States. On top of green card applications of many others who immigrated to this country, the agency has its hands full all day. Funding for the $16 million, three-year project came from the Department of Homeland Security.

Due to the magnitude of the project, the immigration office's vendor will have to open a separate facility just to manage its electronic document management system. Both parties are looking forward to finding additional opportunities for Americans to find jobs in a competitive and demanding market.

"[Our facility in Barbourville breathes new life into an area of Kentucky that will really benefit from the employment and peripheral business opportunities that typically come with a facility like this," Paul Dole, president and chief executive officer of the Kentucky Communities Economic Opportunity Council, told the United Press International.

In the world of information technology, senior staffers are beginning to think they know what is best for their business. Because files can be accessed on many devices like cell phones, tablets or cloud-based servers, they think that some programs—designed for personal use—can be translated into the workplace, according to Computer Weekly.

Gartner's Outsourcing Summit showed that this shift in control can make things difficult for chief information officers (CIOs), who are devoting so much of their time to teaching workers how to use their new business process software that may lose control of their overall strategy. Gartner estimates that by 2015, 40 percent of the IT budget will be beyond their control.

"The 'no clue' buyer has arrived. They buy what they want, but do not know how to buy it," Gartner analyst Frank Ridder told the source. "This includes apps, such as those available as a service, and devices, as a result of trends such as bring your own device (BYOD)."

This is why it is important that CIOs keep paths of communication open. About 65 percent of executives approve of technological changes, but 62 percent of respondents said they lack the skills to make the change. Even though, in actuality, many of these organizations have an IT department sitting in their building.

If there are rumors that your company is in the midst of purchasing new programs, ask senior staffers about it. Instead of resisting the change, try to work with these parties. Not doing so can waste a lot of time, as your company tries to interoperate programs or teach employees how to learn yet another, business management program.