Document Management – is it safe to destroy originals?

There are undoubted advantages in adopting eDM but also perceived barriers to change. Paper documents and files are extremely vulnerable to loss and destruction but they are tangible and, if untampered, give absolute proof. This understandable comfort blanket effect will stop many businesses from grasping the eDM nettle or at least doing so whole-heartedly. “Destroying the physical evidence” feels unnatural so it’s important to know that the eDM you choose is not only a good software choice, but that the ensuing improvements to operational process will not put your organisation at risk.

If you’re considering a document management solution but are concerned what documents you should retain and what you can dispose of once stored securely in your repository, Invu’s new whitepaper titled Electronic Document Admissibility and Retention is worth a read.

Providing guidance on which key documents will need to be retained and best practice the whitepaper also contains updates on The Civil Evidence Act 1995 and BS 10008:2008 best practice.

Download your copy of Invu's Electronic Document Retention and Admissibility Whitepaper

Derwent Living recaptures a quarter of a year previously lost looking for invoices.

Derby-based Derwent Living Housing Association provides affordable living for a variety of lifestyles. The combination of 11,000 properties, increasing tenant numbers and a wide range of suppliers meant that existing manual processes were under strain. Derwent Living also faced a number of other practical issues like dwindling off-site storage and higher staff workloads. This was set against the inevitable background of a cost-control requirement.

Conservatively, Derwent’s finance department spent at least 30 minutes a day locating invoices for approval – an annual time loss of 12 ½ weeks looking for invoices, a cost of £26,000.

After a review of its key business systems, Derwent Living identified document management as a priority. The systems review pinpointed the need for instant access, secure storage documents and automation of an increasing number of manual processes.

Derwent Living selected Invu Document Management with Invu Workflow. Its scope and simple integration, notably with with QLX were seen as winning features. Following implementation, all documents are stored within Invu Document Management including invoices, training guides, release notes and employee timesheets. The benefits have been outstanding.

The Finance department has capitalised by implementing an automated invoice approval process. Richard Cookson, Head of Accounting and ICT explains, “Our finance department knows exactly where an invoice is in the chain and it’s now impossible for anyone to pass invoices above their authority. This saves time and we can be sure that during the audit process finance regulations will be adhered to.”

Richard has identified key operational, service level, compliance and security improvements, “We are no longer apprehensive of loss of organisational intelligence. Even in the event of a disaster we know our documents are protected.”

Plans for the future include increasing the licence numbers to ensure all staff have access to the software. The additional workflows is also under consideration for expense forms, overtime forms, new starter forms and house completion paperwork e.g. energy efficiency rating documents, gas certificates etc. Richard summarised “By incorporating these workflows, all documents will be available instantly via Invu.

No more searching through thousands of documents. This has certainly been a huge step forward for use – it’s hard to imagine how we dealt with a paper system.”

To download the full success story visit our testimonial page

Invu document management - a natural choice for IRIS users

Accountancy firms need to comply with the increasing amounts of document and record retention legislation. Mayes Business Partnership is no different. Having to retain client files for six years has created a paper overload and exhausted the available storage space for paper documents.

Storing all documents on site also created vulnerability in the event of a major disaster when all critical information would have been lost. A document management system was needed to mitigate this risk.

MBP researched the document management market to find a solution to suit its needs, Invu’s flexibility and user friendliness caught the eye. Managing Director, Anne Parkinson explained “Flexibility was a driver for our selection. We already used IRIS so it made sense to use Invu with the IRIS integration, rather than spend more time developing another DMS to it."

Benefits to the business include

• Reduced expenditure
• Improved client service
• Efficiency gains
• A step closer to environmental aspirations.

Read how Mayes achieved all this with Invu

Candis magazine 10 years on from implementing Invu: a quarter of a million pounds saved and an additional £100,000 pa revenue

Hoylake based publisher Newhall Publications Ltd has donated over £53million to charity through it's Candis Magazine and Club.

Since 2000 the business has used Invu to increase efficiencies, accelerate tasks and reduce costs within the organisation.

Invu has enabled Newhall Publications to save a quarter of a million pounds and generated an additional £100,000 pa revenue by reuilitising the unused storage space to house a new call centre operation.

To read the full story visit Newhall Publications case study

Thinking of EDM? Download our new checklist to aid your planning

Part of the planning for success whitepaper set, this document acts as a simple impartial checklist to aid preparation at any phase of your intended Document Management (eDM) or Content Management (ECM) project.

There are three main stages:

• Stage 1 – Before. This covers the pre-sales stage i.e. up until the software purchase decision is made.
• Stage 2 – During. This concentrates on the period between the purchase decision and your solution becoming operational.
• Stage 3 – After. This stage covers post deployment activity.

Further reading can be found in the planning for success whitepapers.

Download all of Invu's documents on our website

If you'd like more information, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us on 01604 859893 or email marketing@invu.net.

Document management becomes more of an intranet or knowledge base for smaller practices

Accountancy practice Bulcock and Co, based in Northwich, Cheshire, installed Invu to make the working life as easy as possible for all.

Rather than storing reference materials in a folder on the server, they store it in Invu for easy access. Mike Bulcock, Principal commented “We store technical information including Institute documents, articles, tips and tricks that can be shared, distributed by group Intrays or searched for by keyword and brought back instantly. Invu Document Management becomes more of an intranet or knowledge base for smaller practices.”

The processes of the practice have also been improved by Invu which is core to the way the practice works. It provides the practice with a complete client view and is much more accessible than searching in Outlook.

The time savings are also considerable. Tasks are much quicker and dual screen processing makes reviews so much easier than working with a pile of files. Mike continued “I can’t imagine how much time I’ve saved and the same is true of all my staff. Our day to day office life is so much easier with Invu. Administrative tasks are massively reduced so I don’t need an administration employee, saving me £15,000 a year. My employees have become more chargeable giving me a swift return on investment.”

Invu also has a positive environmental impact. Mike explained “All historical files are gradually being scanned, the paper shredded and re-cycled. We believe that this is contributing significantly to being environmentally friendly.”

To read the full case study click here

Stage 3 of "Planning for Success" Whitepaper now available!

If you've read stages 1 and 2 of our Planning for Success whitepaper you might be interested to know Stage 3, covering the easily neglected area of post-deployment activity, is now available.

With your solution operational, this is where the planning and investment of stages 1 & 2 should begin to reap rewards. This is the lengthiest of the stages and covers a series of distinct phases from the launch, through the bedding-in period to the genuine business adoption when it becomes embedded into everyday operations.

If you already have a document management system, download this guide to see if you're still on track to reap the rewards, or perhaps missing something that could increase your efficiencies even further.

Download the Planning for success Whitepaper Stage 3