Document management trends are becoming increasingly important in today’s world. The benefits of using these trends include increased efficiency, better productivity, applied best practices for managing documents, improved document version control, and managing the complete lifecycle of documents.
Here are the 11 biggest document management trends for 2024.
Trend #1- More cloud storage usage
Document management can be challenging to maintain and follow up on, so it’s important to stay on top of trends in the industry and maximize your own performance through education.
There are many technological advancements that are gradually changing the way we store documents and access them as well. One of those trends is cloud storage, which is becoming increasingly popular among people because it is a safer and more convenient way to store files.
Your employees will be able reap the benefits of migrating to the cloud as they will be able to access documents whenever they need to on any device without being connected to the organization’s network when using the best cloud storage service.
Trend #2- Increased adoption of AI and ML
AI has had a major impact on document management. Not only is it saving time and money, but it is also making the documents more accessible. AI has started to replace old methods of document management where people would have to manually file and retrieve documents.
For examples, the best OCR software and intelligent document processing systems are integrating Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning in their software in order to increase the accuracy, better understand unstructured documents, and automate document classifications.
Trend #3- Increased use of blockchain
The use of blockchain technology for document security is increasing by the day. It is a form of digital ledger which can store any type of data, and it cannot be altered or tampered with. This type of ledger makes it possible to store documents securely and circulate them in an immutable way, without requiring a third party to verify their authenticity.
Some of the available document management systems have integrated already with this technology in order to provide high secure documents environment without jeopardizing accessibility.
Trend #4- Automated document classification
In the not-too-distant past, corporations had to classify papers manually. Just consider how much time an employee would need to look through each document, characterize the category of papers, and appropriately file them.
This procedure takes a long time and is prone to error. Fortunately, recent technological developments have made it possible to automate document classification using machine learning and artificial intelligence. The benefits of automating this process will make document categorization more accurate and less error prone.
Trend #5. Federated search
Many companies store and manage their documents using more than one document management system. This adds needless steps for employees looking for information to carry out a specific business task.
Federated search enables enterprises to overcome information silos by searching for documents using a single location and receiving results regardless of their original location.
This reduces the number of time employees spend looking for information, increasing productivity and efficiency.
Trend #6. Automate business processes
Organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of automating repetitive tasks associated with document management, such as data entry, document routing, and approval processes. Automation of business processes not only accelerates the speed at which documents move through various stages but also ensures a higher level of accuracy and consistency in handling information.
By implementing automated business processes, companies can minimize the risk of errors caused by manual intervention, reduce processing times, and enhance overall document traceability. This trend is particularly crucial in the context of the modern business landscape where rapid digital transformation demands agile and efficient document management mechanisims.
Trend #7. Leverage RPA technologies
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software have emerged as a significant trend in document management due to their transformative impact on efficiency, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness. It involves the use of robots to automate repetitive, rule-based tasks, and this capability extends seamlessly to document-related processes.
By automating tasks such as data entry, sorting, and validation, it help reduce the likelihood of human error, enhances processing speed, and ensures consistency in document management workflows.
Trend #8- Easier collaboration
Using integrated document collaboration tools, your organization will be able to streamline document workflow and enable smooth execution of related processes.
During the last pandemic, organizations and solution vendors knew they need to be able to allow employees to work completely remotely and provide full accessibility of business documents.
Solution providers are now putting high importance on providing their best team collaboration software to be more seamless and have an efficient collaboration in order to ease this process and reduce time taking to complete document related processes.
Trend #9. Increased integration with other systems
Most organizations rely on a variety of systems to do business. In order to have an efficient document management plan, there should be a wide range of integrations available to allow all systems to obtain information without the need for human intervention.
Integrations can help boost productivity and collaboration among employees from different departments or with outside organizations.
Trend #10. Overcome information silos
Information silos refer to the isolated storage of documents within an organization. When they are not shared across departments or business units, it leads to inefficiencies and can result in duplicate work. In worst-case scenarios, it can lead to business failures.
They are a problem that can be solved with AI because AI has the capability to aggregate data from different sources, and then present it in a coherent manner.
Having multiple document repositories without integration will lead to decrease in production and information chaos.
Trend #11- Flexible interface and user experience
The full potential of these applications has been constrained by the static user experience given by major enterprise content management systems or document management systems. Giving users the option to adapt the user interface to meet their everyday needs is now one of the most significant document management trends.
