Into Alvin Toffler’s World

Mar 15, 2007 — DQWeek (March 15, 2007) During the time when the government was trying to extradite Monica Bedi and Abu Salem, its bid to impound their passports proved futile since the government was not able to locate the passports, leading to much public embarrassment. Had the government deployed DMS solutions, it would have saved face. On an average, 80 percent of corporate information is stored in documents. A growing need for greater efficiencies in handling these business documents in order to gain an edge on the competition has fueled the rapid development of document management systems (DMS) over the last two years, immaterial of the vertical or the DMS solution provider. "More and more Indian companies are realizing the need to be more focused on their core area of business instead of concentrating on managing documents, and in this context DMS can be used for strengthening business applications," said Ravi Venkatraman, Director- Global Services, Xerox India.

DMS as a Solution
DMS is a computer system or a set of computer programs used to track and store electronic documents and images of paper documents. DMS commonly provides storage, versioning, metadata, security as well as indexing and retrieval capabilities. It allows organizations to exert greater control over the production, storage, and distribution of documents, thus yielding greater efficiencies in the ability to re-use information, to control a document through a workflow process and to reduce product cycle times. "The full range of functions that a DMS may perform includes document identification, storage and retrieval, tracking, version control, workflow management, and presentation," said CK Shastri, MD, Intense Technologies. Ashwini Aggarwal, Country Manager-Business Imaging and Printing (IPG), HP believes that DMS is going to be the next 'killer application' for corporate India. However, the public sector too is not to be left behind when it comes to DMS solutions. A large number of public sector enterprises are still paper- based meaning that India is and would remain a key market for DMS solutions. "Rapid globalization and advent of private sector enterprises has also made it imperative for adopting DMS for enterprises. The advantages offered by DMS are multiple and all encompassing, thus making it an essential element in business management and growth," said Diwakar Nigam, MD, Newgen Software. Some of the verticals which have been one of the first adopters of DMS in India include the BFSI, telecom, IT and ITeS, government, transportation and logistics, and pharmaceutical verticals.

Trends in DMS
With most organizations and enterprises worldwide now using the Internet to share and communicate important knowledge across enterprises, there is a tangible need for an enterprise-wide DMS solution as opposed to a single location data digitizing solution. At the same time most enterprises have realized that to be effective and truly efficient as a knowledge sharing and information gathering solution, DMS should ideally be dovetailed with or be a part of an efficient business process automation solution. "The trend in DMS is towards integration, control and managing within the scope of control," said Som Gangopadhyay, Assistant Director-Business Imaging Solutions, Canon. Built on the flexible principles of service oriented architecture, DMS has begun to evolve as an enterprise-wide shared service. DMS also has the ability to integrate seamlessly with other enterprise applications like ERP, CRM and accounting packages. The direct RoI in terms of paper/consumables is in the range of 1-1.5 percent of the total operational cost of the organization but the indirect savings are many.