By Mike Palman, Green Plane Solutions

There are now literally billions of things we store on a daily basis. At the same time, we are taught from an early age that time is a finite resource – you cannot make any more time. While this is true, advances in technology have allowed us to be far more productive and subsequently we are all far more productive than we ever could dream of being not even 10 years ago.

The challenge of getting everything stored in digital format seems to have been with us for years; now, it seems, we are finally starting to benefit from getting more and more immersed in the digital world. At work, not having to collect printed output to do our jobs is such a pleasure; not having to wait days for the delivery of documents is also another great bonus, as we can view them online, immediately. Without question, I have more time free as a result of documents going electronic, which means I can get my work done in less time.

It gets better. Because not only can we do more work in less time, we can also do that work much more effectively. The reason for this is all this immediate access to information regardless of where it is stored – bank statements, photos, audio or other supporting documents current or historical.

Another advance: information is now never touched by humans – it arrives electronically and gets actioned electronically. A good example is invoicing. Often, an invoice is sent via email or other computer feeds, it is scanned, analysed, catalogued and actioned. Sometimes it’s even approved direct, so long as it was “on the system” and within “certain boundaries”.

Clearly, with these modern day comprehensive Document Management Systems you really can do more, you can do it better in less time and for less money!

How lucky we are to live in this sparkling digital world, where almost everything is feasible. And what next for Document Management? Well my belief is that it will just keep getting better!