In the complex data ecosystems of government organizations, a good document control system is critical for maintaining the security and integrity of the enormous volume of documents and records generated, circulated and handled every day.
Through the systematic control of documents at every stage of their lifecycle, from creation to destruction, document control systems help optimize productivity, efficiency and service delivery, while ensuring the correct level of regulatory compliance.
In this blog, we take a closer look at document control systems, why they’re important, and how implementing the right document control system can help government organizations streamline and secure their document management processes.
A document control system is a set of tools, processes and practices that organizations use to manage and control documents at every stage of their lifecycle, ensuring data integrity, security and regulatory compliance. Document control systems formally monitor, track and manage how documents and records are created, reviewed, edited or modified, accessed, distributed, stored, retained and destroyed in a traceable and systematic way.
By structuring and standardizing the way information moves through an organization, document control enhances productivity and optimizes workflows while ensuring regulatory compliance and data security throughout a document’s lifecycle. Document control improves accuracy, transparency, collaboration, accountability and traceability, delivering efficiency gains at every level of operation.
For organizations looking to streamline their document management processes, and particularly for organizations operating in a regulated environment, such as government agencies, implementing the right document control system delivers a host of transformative benefits that are mission-critical to maintaining the right levels of day-to-day compliance, efficiency and service delivery.
A document control system ensures that documents and records are easily incorporated into and managed within an organization’s workflows. Document control allows for faster document access and record retrieval, quick and easy sharing, more efficient review and sign-off processes, and easier collaboration between stakeholders. Document control also provides a clear audit trail of modifications through version control capabilities, reducing the risk of confusion, duplication, errors, accidental overwrites and data loss. Document control forms the foundation of data and workflow automation capabilities, which allow employees to spend less time on repetitive, manual data processing tasks, freeing them up for more meaningful work.
Through enhanced security protocols and access control capabilities, document control systems deliver tighter data security for sensitive documents and 100% compliance with required legal rules and regulations. Data control systems reduce the risk of data breaches, unauthorized access, and failure to comply with retention or destruction laws.
Without a document control system, it’s incredibly difficult to prove unauthorized or inappropriate document exposure. Document control systems provide an audit trail that accurately and indelibly tracks and records the access and modification history of every document, allowing for better transparency and accountability.
Document control systems deliver enhanced collaboration capabilities by allowing multiple stakeholders to review, edit, share and collaborate on single documents with full version control. Document control ensures that everyone is working with the most accurate, up-to-date document at all times, while providing a full record of the editing, access, and viewing history.
Document control systems provide backup and data protection functionalities that protect documents and records against loss. Cloud-based digitized systems are the most secure, storing documents virtually so that they’re safe from natural disasters, misfiling, or physical degeneration due to age or accidental water damage.
Comprehensive document control systems generally include the following key features:
Efficient and secure document storage and organization capabilities are important for good document control. Documents should be stored in a centralized repository, on- or off-site or virtually, from which they can be easily accessed. This includes a standardized categorization, naming and filing system which is applied consistently across the organization.
Document version control, also known as versioning or version management, refers to the systems and processes used to track and manage the changes made to a particular document over time. Version control capabilities are an important aspect of a document control system, as they ensure that the latest, most up-to-date version of the document is clearly identifiable for circulation, providing a single point of truth for that particular document, and avoiding duplicates.
Most document control systems include the ability to closely monitor and control document access according to user roles and permissions. This is particularly important for sensitive documents, such as health records, or documents that contain data that is regulated by law.
A document control system should manage and track a document through every stage of its lifecycle, from creation to obsolescence, automating certain processes such as the deletion of duplicate or out-of-date documents, and the correct storage of documents that need to be retained for legal compliance.
While there are many enterprise-level document control systems available, not all are equally effective. Here are a few key features you need to consider when choosing a document control system for your organization.
Choose a document control system that allows you to easily and securely customize permissions so that you can control who is able to access, view and edit various document categories according to role-based permission allocations.
Your document control system should facilitate instant, easy, accurate document search and retrieval, and remote document access for the most efficient possible workflows. This will involve a metadata tagging schema that forms the basis of your document storage protocol.
You need a document control system that’s evergreen, meaning it should scale easily as your organization increases in size and complexity in the future. Choose a system that can be easily rolled out to additional sites, and that can accommodate the addition of new document types, categories and processes as they emerge.
A document control system is only effective if it is applied consistently across the organization by everyone. Choose a system that is simple, easy to use and easy to onboard in order to maximize adoption rates and time-to-value.
Implementing a document control system often involves reconstituting your document management processes to develop a cohesive, comprehensive document management system. This may involve digitizing physical documents and records through back-file conversion, day-forward scanning and scan-on-demand capabilities. Choosing a document control system vendor that offers a 360-degree service, including high-volume scanning or imaging, content management solutions and process automation solutions, will ensure seamless implementation and a smoother change management process.
Implementing a document control system is a multi-phased process. Once you’ve made the decision to adopt document control within your organization, there are some important best practices to follow that will ensure successful implementation.
Define exactly what you are trying to achieve by implementing a document control system, then choose a solution that helps you meet these objectives. Are you trying to increase productivity, compliance or efficiency? What are your current document management pain points? Your goals will be unique to your specific organization, and they should be formalized and clearly defined to ensure you choose the right solution to meet your business needs.
Consult stakeholders from across the organization to better understand the necessary requirements around document types, workflows, and user needs. Collate feedback regarding pain points and ideal capabilities and use this feedback to guide your decision-making when choosing and implementing a document control system.
Standardized naming and metadata conventions are the backbone of any document control system. You can choose any file naming system you like, but it must be consistently applied by everyone in order to be effective. Document file names should include information about the content, version number and date of last revision, so that the latest version is easy to identify and retrieve.
Document control systems are only effective when they’re consistently and correctly applied. Ensure that all staff undergo comprehensive training on how to use the newly implemented document management system. This should include training on every phase of the document lifecycle, from how to create, upload and name documents, to editing, collaboration and versioning, retrieval and permissions, and compliance requirements.
Ensure that you correctly assign roles and permissions for document access and use, and that these permissions are consistently monitored and updated. Ensure that all role assignments are carefully recorded.
Define a clear set of success metrics for your document control system, and constantly monitor and analyze its performance against those KPIs, making continuous adjustments and improvements as you go along. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, it may take some time to configure your system for the most optimal results.
For almost 30 years, Image API has been helping government and private institutions of any size achieve unprecedented efficiency, security and compliance through full-service document control, digitization and digital content management solutions.
With Image API’s Axiom Pro advanced document control system, businesses can seamlessly manage, track and collaborate on documents, while accessing all the benefits and efficiencies of customizable workflows, automated processes and industry-leading security measures.
Purpose-built over decades, Image API’s document control system is flexible, customizable, and cost-effective, delivering a comprehensive solution to meet your organization’s unique needs.
