Adopting a new system in your company requires a lot of research. There are many things to consider, from deciding whether a new system is actually necessary to calculating cost-effectiveness.

The same goes for e-document systems. If you are used to handling paper documents, then you may be scratching your head on what to do when preparing to adopt an e-document system.

In this post, we are going to take a look into five questions to ask when adopting an e-document system.

1. Is it easy to use?

This is the most important question. Even if it requires some time to adopt and set up a system, it is crucial that the system is easy for all your users (employees, customers, etc.) to use.

Below is an example of a checklist to consider when determining a system’s ease of use.

1) Can it be used in smartphones and tablets in addition to PCs?
2) Can it be used to create and view documents anytime, anywhere?
3) Does it allow to check document progress in real-time?
4) Can it be used to receive notifications regarding document status?

2. Is it secure?

Just as it is for paper documents, secure storage is a key requirement for e-documents. It must be ensured that e-documents themselves and the data inside them are stored securely.

Below is an example of a checklist to consider when determining a system’s security.

1) Can e-documents and their data stored and sent securely?
2) Is it possible to prevent e-documents from being forged and altered?
3) Can e-documents be opened and stored properly even when they are stored for a long period of time?

3. Are document permissions fine-grained?

A document can be created and opened by different people which means problems could occur when a person who was managing a document suddenly leaves the company. So having fine-grained permissions implemented in your system is very important.

Below is an example of a checklist to consider when determining whether a system has fine-grained permissions or not.

1) Can the person who created a document also open the document?
2) Can a document be given permission to be opened only by a specific person?
3) Can a document be given write permission to a specific person?
4) Is it possible to transfer document management permission from one person to another?

4. Is it flexible?

Flexibility is important as if a system has a limit to the number of document types that can be used, then adopting such a system may not offer as many benefits as expected.
Also, if you can integrate other existing systems or company systems to the e-document system via API or other methods, you can save a lot of time in system management.

Below is an example of a checklist to consider when determining the system’s flexibility.

1) Can it handle various types of e-documents?
2) Can it integrate with other existing systems?
3) Can it integrate with your company systems?

5. Is it affordable?

The biggest risk when adopting a new system is its cost. Hence, a system’s affordability may be the most important factor for a decision-maker when adopting a new system.

Below is an example of a checklist to consider when determining a system’s affordability.

1) Is the price (per document) relatively affordable?
2) Are there any hidden/extra fees when creating additional documents?

What we talked about in this post applies not only to adopting e-document systems, but other enterprise systems as well. We hope that this post will be of help in your decision-making process!