SmartDocs – What They Are & Why You Need Them
It doesn’t matter what industry you are in or the size of your business; paperwork comes with the territory. As we all know, digital transformation is becoming more and more critical for companies who want to improve processes and efficiencies, increase productivity, and save costs while providing a superior customer experience.
The fastest way to do all of that is by moving away from a manual and paper-filled environment to a digitalised one. And this is where smart documents play a key role. But before we get into the advantages of smart documents and why you need them, let’s have a quick look at what they are.
What are smart docs?
Smart docs are electronic documents that require some form of collaboration. And, as a result, are programmed with relevant functionality to assist with that collaboration. These types of features include, for example, workflow or security features.
Why your business shouldn’t be without them!
One of the most manual-intensive processes any business has to navigate is contract-related. From the moment an agreement is drawn up to the final moment it is signed, the process can require numerous internal and external stakeholders’ involvement.
Smart documents allow you to easily track all changes made to the contract. It is like having a built-in audit trail. Meaning that any amendment or edit can be viewed down to the last detail. Including dates, times, and who made or accepted any changes. And lastly, eSignature functionality ensures that contracts are securely and easily signed.
The automation of the contract management process substantially reduces the time taken to finalise agreements. In addition, agreements are kept secure, and only authorised individuals are able to participate. In other words, your confidential agreements will never mistakenly be sent to the incorrect recipient or signed by individuals who aren’t authorised to do so.
One of the biggest time wasters in any business is when you need to review an old contract. The first challenge can often be retrieving the agreement as the original has been archived or, worse, gone missing. The advantage of smart docs is that you can quickly retrieve your agreement and immediately review the audit trail in the case of disputes etc.
But the above applies to many workflow processes within any business. When it comes to digital transformation, the key objective, in simple terms, is always about finding a better way to do things.
Advantages of smart doc
As mentioned, the requirements around contract management apply to many processes within a business. For example, smart documents give you more control over your business practices and workflow.
- Version control
Smart documents ensure that there is only one version of the truth. That is fairly obvious regarding agreements, as you always want to ensure that you are reviewing the latest version, but it is also applicable to other areas.
Especially when it comes to brand changes, any company that has made minor or major adjustments to its brand knows how difficult it is to ensure that only the latest documents are being used. If all your documents are digitised, it is simple to implement changes to specific elements. Ensuring that your branding is immediately consistent across all forms of communication your customers receive.
- Security
Access control can be implemented instantly across any smart document. Which dramatically increases your ability to manage who can access which documents and who has read-only versus editing rights. The permutations are endless.
- Increased productivity
Any automated process will increase productivity as you and your employees can focus on what is important instead of manual processes with little value add—no more wasting time printing, arranging for delivery, and retrieving documents. Everything can now be done with a few clicks.
Final Note
Many different solutions are available, from the most basic right through to highly complex requirements. We always recommend that you first look at your current business processes and see which ones would benefit the most from digitalisation. Then you can start off slowly, choosing a solution that provides scalability as your digital transformation strategy grows.