You may already feel like your business documents are in a cloud, just not in a positive way: a large, indistinct mass that defies reliable prediction can be found in the filing cabinets and shared drives of many under-organised organisations, and the largest and most foreboding can even issue sudden unpleasant shocks. The promise of cloud computing, by contrast, is to make things much more predictable: digital document management systems (DMSs) introduce order and automation in a way that real clouds famously don’t.

Unlike simple cloud storage, which can all-too-easily become a barely-organised dumping ground, DMSs store, organise, and control access to your documents in a central hub that (in the best document management systems) integrates with other tools and automates common workflows. Instead of files being scattered across desktops, emails, and local servers, everything lives in a central, secure digital environment that your team can access anytime, from anywhere. 

Whether a DMS is right for your business depends on the nature of your business and the scale of your operations. This article will take a look at the benefits that cloud-based document management delivers, and some of the use cases you should consider.

This article is part of a series on cloud-based document management. You can read the other articles here:

• Business vs General Cloud Storage: Key Differences and Why They Matter for Your Company
• Free Cloud Storage for Businesses: Common Problems
• Backup From the Cloud: How to Balance Security and Simplicity
• 8 Business Cloud Storage Myths that Cost Businesses Time and Money
• Backup From the Cloud: Security vs Simplicity

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Reasons to move to cloud-based document management

1. You need remote access to your files 

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If you or your team are working remotely, even if only on business trips, then a DMS ensures that time on the road isn’t followed by the same amount of time syncing back up with everybody else afterwards. Your entire team can access the documents they need immediately and from directly within NetSuite or Office365, regardless of their location. It avoids the hassle of separate VPN access, and the horror of being stranded without access to the key client files.

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2. You want your existing tools to work better together

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It might sound like another desktop icon to worry about, but cloud-based document management can actually reduce the number of tools you use and the amount of time you spend flicking between them. The best document management systems integrate seamlessly with the apps you use already, like Netsuite, Office 365, TaxCalc or Salesforce. A tool like Workiro enables you to maintain a single, central version of each key document that’s accessible directly from a range of industry-standard software.  

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3. You want to be more secure

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“I’m sharing it on the internet” should always chill the spine in both personal and business contexts, but the best DMS platforms do so in a way that gives you all the benefits of global connectivity and none of the downsides. Advanced user management for your business documents  means you can make files available only to those with the correct permissions, and maintain detailed audit trails for any updates. It’s a myth that cloud-based storage is less secure, although you need to be very careful if you’re only using free cloud storage platforms.

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4. You want to be more efficient

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Tired of digging through email threads to find “the final FINAL.docx”? A cloud DMS makes it easy to find the latest version, and ensure that any updates are captured and shared for everybody. Your team members can edit documents in real-time, add comments, and see version histories, so everyone’s always quite literally on the same page. The benefits of this can be transformational, giving you a single source of truth for projects and decision-making, rather than a mass of duelling email attachments or unsynchronised shared files.

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5. You work in a compliance-heavy industry

Every business trading in the UK needs to comply with GDPR and now the ECCTA; specialist industries like accountancy and financial advice have additional requirements around data privacy and retention. A cloud-based document platform will meet these requirements as standard. Find out more in our guide to document management for compliance-heavy teams.

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6. You need reliable backups

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An obvious benefit of cloud-based storage is that it automatically backs things up, so you aren’t relying on a wheezing PC under your office desk to keep your business running. You might already be backing up your files using a free cloud storage solution - but that’s a basic fix with some very basic features, which can just be saving up problems for later on. A good DMS will maintain both order and audit histories, and handle both document control and document archiving. Find out more in our guide to balancing simplicity and security in online backup. 

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7. You want to save money on IT and infrastructure

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Maintaining an internal IT platform and associated security for it is a consistent expense marked by sudden spikes if you’re hit with a need to upgrade - or in the worst-case scenario, recover from disaster. Moving to cloud-based document management means that everything is permanently backed up and secure, with no hardware costs - our customers tell us it’s been a major cost saving for them. 

You can find out more about DMSs in our guide on the best document management systems for different businesses. If you’d like to get a steer on what’s possible for your business, get in touch with one of our specialists and they can give you an overview for your industry.