The 4 Best Document Management System Examples (2024)

As a project manager, organizing and maintaining documents is crucial for your success and productivity. However, managing the increasing stacks of paperwork can be overwhelming, often feeling like you need a search party to find essential documents. Ensuring document accuracy among demands significant time and energy to keep projects on track.

In this blog post, we’ll explore how document management tools can simplify project workflows. We’ll also provide tips on implementing a document management system (DMS) and share some document management systems examples to consider.

What are Document Management Systems?

Document management involves handling documents from creation to distribution. Using document management systems allows organizations to efficiently manage physical and digital documents, ensuring easy access, secure storage, and regulatory compliance. Key features like version control, indexing, and search capabilities enhance collaboration and streamline workflows, leading to improved efficiency, reduced costs, and minimized risks.

Effective document management brings order to project chaos. Instead of scrambling to find the latest version of a document, or worse, referencing an outdated document, teams can find everything in one place. A central hub for project-related documents ensures everyone can access the most up-to-date files. Document management paves the way for clear communication and seamless collaboration.

Project management can be downright impossible without it. Imagine a complex project with multiple stakeholders and piles of documents. Not even the most skilled project managers can remember why a contract changed or if a project blueprint meets industry regulations without a document management system. When these details get missed, errors and delays are inevitable.

Professionals across industries could benefit from document management to simplify their workflows. According to a survey, 33 percent of workers report struggling with version control. Research indicates that the average employee spends between 15 and 30 percent of their time searching for documents. Document management success stories are common—like Boyett Construction, a company that became a global manufacturer’s most valuable distributor after adopting a centralized data repository to store project information.

Advantages of Document Management Systems (DMS)

Aside from the obvious benefit of having organized, easily accessible documents, a document management system (DMS) offers a range of other benefits including:

  • Streamlined Operations: Teams can collaborate more effectively and can securely access cloud-based documents from any location.

  • Reduced Errors: Document templates and version control improve project delivery, cut down on errors and automate complex compliance and retention processes for maintaining regulatory requirements.

  • Cost Savings: Document management systems improve productivity, lower operating costs, and eliminate the costs of printing, filing, and retrieval.

  • Simplified Collaboration: Teams can work on documents simultaneously, add comments and revisions, and track changes.

  • Improved Workflows: DMS solutions offer workflow automation, enabling teams to route documents for approvals, set up notifications and deadlines, and assign tasks.

  • Enhanced Security: You can control who views or edits documents and use audit trails to track activity with the robust security features of a DMS.

Examples of Document Management Tools

Below we’ve included a few document management systems examples and the features you’ll want to consider as you’re exploring your options.

Quickbase

Quickbase is the leading application platform for dynamic work. It helps teams tackle complex projects and automate processes so they can get work done with greater speed and agility. As a DMS, Quickbase makes managing data and files easy. You don’t have to worry about manually tracking versions or overwriting other team member’s changes in a document.

Features

  • Create custom solutions for your most complex projects with intuitive, no-code application building features.

  • Optimize tasks and processes with drag-and-drop workflow automation.

  • Manage workflows and access information on the go with mobile apps.

  • Get real-time visibility into project performance with dynamic, role-based reports, charts, and dashboards.

  • Bring all your project data together with native integration features and extensive APIs.

DocuWare

A cloud-based Software as a Service provider, DocuWare provides document management, repository, and workflow automation functions. No matter where teams are located, DocuWare digitizes and secures information to flow effortlessly between decision-makers.

Features

  • Store and retrieve documents from any source.

  • Automate manual data entry and repetitive tasks including filing, version control, approvals, and reminders.

  • Access your business documents and workflows from anywhere.

  • Encrypt data transmissions and manage permissions to protect sensitive information.

Wrike

Wrike is a powerful work management platform that streamlines work processes and empowers teams to collaborate, manage projects, and achieve their goals. Teams can manage their projects in real-time, all from one platform.

Features

  • Share project-related files easily and securely from anywhere.

  • Integrate Wrike with other business-critical applications like Google Sheets and Gmail to speed up your workflows.

  • Drive faster decisions and accelerate projects with automation, real-time visibility, customizable dashboards, and reports.

  • Hold teams accountable by centralizing projects in one project management app.

ClickUp

ClickUp is an all-in-one productivity platform designed for teams to come together, plan, and collaborate. As a DMS, ClickUp enables teams to create docs, connect them to workflows, and execute their ideas.

Features

  • Create, edit, and organize actionable documents and edit in real-time adding style elements like banners, tables, and buttons.

  • Stay organized and on track with real-time task integration.

  • Manage project tasks, statuses, and workflows directly within your document.

  • Define who can view, edit, or comment on your documents.

How to Implement Effective Document Management Software

With so many comprehensive project management solutions and document management systems, choosing the right one is tricky. Here are some tips for selecting and implementing a DMS.

1. Define your requirements. Consider the features that will benefit your project management workflows the most. For many companies, this list of features often includes document versioning, collaboration, security, and integration with other project management tools.

2. Evaluate scalability. When you bring on more team members, you’ll want a DMS that can keep up. As your projects expand and the volume of documents increases, scalability will be an important factor.

3. Prioritize integration. Your DMS should complement your existing project management software, CRM, and other business systems.

4. Assess user-friendliness. If your DMS isn’t easy for your team to learn and quickly use, they’re less likely to use it consistently. Consider the system’s interface and ease of navigation and what support resources are available.

5. Create a detailed implementation plan. Before rolling out your new DMS, create a comprehensive plan that includes software configuration, data migration, user training, and change management.

6. Provide comprehensive training. Training predicts future success. When users understand the features and functionality of your document management system, they know how to properly use it and what’s expected of them.

7. Establish clear policies and procedures. You need clear-cut guidelines right out of the gate. This includes naming conventions, access controls, workflows, and any other procedures that will help govern how users collectively use the DMS.

8. Optimize your DMS. As you use the system more, you’ll discover ways to better configure your workflows and improve its effectiveness for project management.

Conclusion

Document management systems (DMS) streamline team collaboration by organizing documents and reducing chaotic email threads. DMS helps new team members quickly get up to speed by providing access to project requirements, status updates, and critical information.

Ready to reclaim time spent hunting down documents and take control of your workflows? Explore how Quickbase’s project management software can support your document management needs. And don’t forget to share this article with other project managers you know who could use a lifeline!

The 4 Best Document Management System Examples (2024)

FAQs

What is an example of a document management system? ›

Revver is a comprehensive document management system that offers businesses an intuitive solution for organizing, securing, and sharing their vital documents. It allows users to upload files in various formats and categorize them according to their needs.

What are examples of file management system? ›

Examples of File Management Tool
  • eFileCabinet.
  • Microsoft OneDrive.
  • Dropbox.
  • Apple iCloud.
  • Google Drive.

Is Google Drive a document management system? ›

Additionally, Google Workspace has the following features for document management: File storage. Google Drive includes plenty of cloud storage with a powerful search for all of your documents and files. Access permissions.

What is a management system example? ›

The most well-known management systems include ISO 9001:2015, ISO 27001, and ISO 45001 for occupational safety. These management systems can be the subject of ISO certification. Other management systems include Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and ISO 56002 for innovation management.

What are the four types of records? ›

There are four types of records: official records, transitory records, non-records, and personal records. Some records are kept for a short amount of time, and some records have long retention periods. Retention periods for records are approved by Retention and Disposal Schedules.

What is the basic record management system? ›

A records management system is a record-keeping system companies use to track, store, and organize their records. It manages records from creation until disposal, and it does this to assist teams in information governance, regulatory compliance, and risk management.

What is the best example of file systems? ›

Examples include FAT (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32), exFAT, NTFS, ReFS, HFS and HFS+, HPFS, APFS, UFS, ext2, ext3, ext4, XFS, btrfs, Files-11, Veritas File System, VMFS, ZFS, ReiserFS, NSS and ScoutFS. Some disk file systems are journaling file systems or versioning file systems.

What are the four main functions involved in file management? ›

What are the 4 main file management functions of OS?
  • File Creation: Create and allocate storage for new files.
  • File Access: Read, write, and execute files, enforcing access permissions.
  • File Modification: Edit, update, or delete files.
  • File Organization: Maintain file hierarchy and provide directory management.
Mar 27, 2024

What are the 5 major activities of file management? ›

There are five major file management functions that an operating system controls.
  • Creating and deleting files.
  • Creating and deleting directories.
  • File manipulation instructions.
  • Mapping to permanent storage.
  • backing up files.
Oct 16, 2021

Is SharePoint a good document management system? ›

SharePoint is not meant to streamline document processing but focuses on yielding the best collaborative effort. Document management software treats your documents as strategic business assets, enabling maximum control and optimization.

Is OneDrive a document management system? ›

OneDrive for Business (ODfB) and SharePoint (SP) are both components of Office 365, incorporating shared architecture and features that allow businesses to store and manage their documents in different ways for different reasons.

How do you do a document management system? ›

Here are 7 steps to create and implement a document management strategy:
  1. Determine Who Will Take Charge. ...
  2. Assess the Current Filing System and Determine Strategy Requirements. ...
  3. Identify Each Document. ...
  4. Establish Procedures and Requirements, Then Document. ...
  5. Preparing the Strategy. ...
  6. Purge Unnecessary Documents.

What is another name for document management system? ›

Documentation Management - What is another name for document management system? Software for organizing and controlling a company's electronic documents and data is known as an electronic document management system (EDMS).

What is considered document management? ›

What is document management? Document management is a system or process used to capture, track and store electronic documents such as PDFs, word processing files and digital images of paper-based content. Document management can save you time and money.

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