Why Do I Need A Document Management Solution When My Windows Network Directory is Neat and Tidy?
While more and more businesses are moving paperless, many are making the transition without the aid of a document management system. The rationale is that they have whipped their team into shape and will not tolerate variations in file naming or folder structure. In addition, they feel that the security provided by Windows for managing files and folders is adequate to prevent accidental access, edits or deletion. As for retrieving documents, the traditional system of navigating folders, proper document naming and perhaps a desktop search application are deemed adequate options.
Yet, there are some critical limitations to relying only on native Windows features to manage documents successfully and in accordance to legal requirements. Our products MaxxDocs and MaxxVault provide much more granular security in regard to document access and manipulation. Also, document retrieval is quicker since documents can be found based on any combination of several key index values. Managing the retention schedule for documents is also much easier with MaxxVault as documents can be archived or deleted based on any combination of key dates or status fields where Windows only offers Date Created and Date Modified. As for system auditing, while available in Windows, it is extremely cumbersome, time consuming and not as detailed as using MaxxVault.
Some other benefits to using MaxxVault over a Windows folder directory include:
- Easy to set up remote access using a web browser (no VPN)
- Automatic document filing and document workflow
- Version tracking
- Document linking
- Electronic signatures
- E-Forms integration
Compounding the limitations of relying on Windows is the ever growing volume of documents. As more documents are added the weaknesses inherent in Windows become critical. Managing the retention schedules and searching through 20,000 documents is a great deal more difficult than 2,000 – and it only gets harder as more documents are added.
The default Windows security and auditing tools were never designed to cope with increasingly stringent government requirements for managing records. Moreover, maintaining efficiency and efficacy grows ever more difficult as the volume grows. Don’t take any chances! MaxxDocs and MaxxVault are designed to capture, protect, share and manage your documents without an increase in complexity (or loss of efficiency) as volumes grow.