6 Steps to buying a Document & Quality Management System
Many businesses currently using manual paper-based systems are re-examining their processes and procedures in order to ensure they avoid hefty fines for non-compliance.
There has been major advancement in technology, and with the enormous growth in the volume of digital consumer data used and stored by businesses across the EU, current systems are deemed no longer fit for purpose in the digital world we live in today.
Whether you store and hold personal data, governance, risk and compliance documents, using an intuitive document management system to organise, share and control documentation is critical.
So, when choosing to invest in a document management and or quality management system it’s essential that the solution not only meets your organisations requirements today, but is flexible enough to meet future demands.
To help you select a prospective vendor and product, we’ve put together six essential questions you need to ask them:
- Will it resolve current documentation management issues?
- How configurable and flexible is the system?
- Can the vendor provide case studies and references?
- How accessible is the product?
- What maintenance and support will we get?
- What are the initial and ongoing costs?
1. Document management issues
Many companies today, large and small are still working in a paper-based office.
Documents are vital IP assets and protecting them should be top of your list.
The software you are evaluating must ensure that it will eliminate any existing document management issues. Effectively secures your documents, especially regulated content, and provides protection from unauthorised access and the associated risks.
2. How configurable and flexible is the system?
Not all document management systems are the same, therefore investing in any new system, you need to ensure it meets with current requirements, and is flexible and configurable to meet future demands of your organisation.
Many businesses have financed having their own bespoke document management system built, and configured entirely around current requirements, only to discover that these systems are expensive to update to meet future needs, and take time to develop and test.
Similarly, organisation who initially invested in “off-the-shelf” document management system found that their future requirements changed, resulting in them going back to the vendor time again to implement expensive clunky bolt-on modules to meet current legislation and quality requirements.
Enterprise Quality Management Software (EQMS) is one of the fastest emerging solutions that can manage documents, audits, assets and more, along with business processes for quality and compliance across the value chain.
Current products like CloudEQMS™ offer an All-In-One single application / solution, with switch on/off functionality to meet organisations needs, replacing dated systems that offer expensive bolt-on modules.
Read our blog What is EQMS?
3. Case studies and references
You must research each vendor to assess their credibility, reliability and to determine how easy they are to work with?
Establish what the after sales service and support is like. Look at reviews about them and their product, ask for real case studies, and request references.
Download full article 6 Steps to Buying QMS Checklist