In the Rush to the Cloud, Document Management Missed the Boat
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, most businesses quickly (and successfully) turned to the cloud, relying on the functionality of tools such as Microsoft OneDrive and Teams to support their remote meetings and document collaboration. It certainly worked and most business adapted and thrived.
However, for many companies, the process to properly map out how files should be managed, shared, controlled, and tagged, was kicked down the road.
The result? Organisations have maxed out the basic features and benefits of Teams and OneDrive and are not harnessing the real productivity and governance gains that a well-thought-out solution can deliver.
If any of the following statements resonate, then you may be at the limits of your current document management solution:
- We have or could accidentally share sensitive information.
- We don’t have a common, version-controlled system for storing and sharing documents.
- We can’t track the performance of internal documents to see which materials are proving most useful.
- We don’t employ metadata to search and find documents the right documents faster.
- Our creation of documents is expanding exponentially, and we waste time duplicating information.
- We don’t employ document governance principals to ensure proper audit trails for compliance and reporting purposes.
SharePoint is undeniably a powerful collaboration and content management platform, particularly if you’re aligned with the Microsoft suite. Implementing or reconfiguring an existing SharePoint however, is not a straightforward task: it requires investment from stakeholders from across the business to align on objectives, define their business information needs and business processes, and agree user adoption and training.
But with IT security and control now more crucial than ever, and cloud consumption costs under the spotlight, it’s time for businesses with document management and quality priorities to revisit their setup and determine the value that a SharePoint deployment can unlock.
Here’s the top five benefits that we believe an organisation can expect from SharePoint:
- Transforming Business Processes: Accelerate productivity by transforming your business processes. SharePoint can manage simple tasks like notifications and approval workflows through to complex operational workflows. SharePoint works in harmony with your other O365 products. With apps for every device, your team are enabled with the right tools to connect, and get more done from anywhere.
- Improved Information Management: By conducting a thorough review of your existing information management framework, you can identify inefficiencies and opportunities for improvement. Transitioning or uplifting your SharePoint deployment empowers you to leverage its powerful content management capabilities, including version control, document collaboration, and metadata tagging. This leads to better information management and increased overall productivity.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Collaboration is key in today’s work environment, and SharePoint excels in promoting teamwork. By reviewing your existing collaboration processes, you can identify areas for improvement. SharePoint enhances collaboration through features such as team sites, discussion boards, and document co-authoring. This fosters better coordination, communication, and allows you to collaborate effortlessly and securely with team members both inside and outside your organisation.
- Increased Scalability and Cost Savings: As your organisation grows, it’s crucial to have a platform that can scale alongside it. Reviewing your existing SharePoint instance helps identify opportunities to optimise your deployment for growth. Whether you’re transitioning to SharePoint or uplifting your current environment, its scalability and flexibility accommodate your evolving business needs. Reviewing and storing your data in SharePoint can reduce licensing and maintenance costs associated with file storage and hosting, and moving to online forms can remove the need for paper, providing further cost and ecological benefits.
- Improved Governance and Compliance: By reviewing your existing governance processes, you can identify gaps and areas for improvement. Transitioning to SharePoint allows you to leverage its robust compliance and governance features, such as retention policies, eDiscovery, and auditing. This ensures that your organisation meets regulatory requirements and effectively safeguards your critical business data.
If you’re already on SharePoint, there are more reasons for why a review of your SharePoint instance is compelling:
- Improved Functionality: SharePoint is a constantly evolving platform, with new features and functionality being added regularly. By reviewing and updating your SharePoint environment, you can take advantage of these new capabilities and stay ahead of the curve.
- Better Security: Storing your business data and maintaining stringent access control in SharePoint ensures that your data and content are protected against security threats.
- Increased Efficiency: Workflow automation and document management improvements are just a few examples of how updates can increase efficiency and productivity.
- Support for New Technologies: Upgrading and updating your SharePoint environment ensures you can take advantage of the latest technologies and stay ahead of the curve.
Mangano IT has deep expertise managing the implementation of SharePoint, particularly for professional services businesses like lawyers, engineers, architects and financial advisors. If you successfully navigated to the cloud but left document control up to your users, it might be time for a chat.
