Benefits Of SharePoint Document Management

Sorting digital documents all over your PC can create a huge mess if we don’t have a tool like Sharepoint Document Management. Even though the digital innovations have taken us out from the manual hassles of documentation, the efforts have now switched to e-paper chaos. But, thanks to technology for saving us from dawning and introducing SharePoint Document Management to fasten business operations and making documents available for everyone.
Sharepoint is the best tool to control the life-span of documents in your organization. Initiated in 2001 with the primary aim to bring efficiency, it let you have comprehensive control over your e-papers by eliminating the digital mess.  It increases collaboration, store and, archive and ultimately shares files within or outside of the organization.
It is a secure platform for collaboration and intranet building tool. Since its launch, six versions have released successfully. Today it is offered on hybrid, on-premise and cloud versions and is now $2+ billion business according to Microsoft.
This blog highlights SharePoint document management best practices which have transformed the documentation process rapidly.

Meta Data

You have often come across the word “MetaData” even if you are not a Sharepoint user. It is the structured information of your document that gives the complete details. As it is not a good practice to dump all your data in single Sharepoint library, it helps to organize and categorize data which create a better understanding of the documents. The metadata in Sharepoint is found in columns which you can search with ease. It also helps you to track the progress in percentage. Moreover, your team members can quickly search the required document if you have defined the attributes correctly. 
Note that whenever you upload or create a file it is necessary to tag it with correct categories otherwise your colleagues will spend hours searching the right document. So, summing up all metadata can help you get the files efficiently and save your time in exploring the entire library.

Documents Sharing

There has been a misconception that Sharepoint collaborates well internally, but this isn’t true, it also helps in collaboration outside of your organization.

• Customers/Vendor: If you want to share documents with customers or vendors you can do it using Sharepoint online extranet site. It is a dedicated site collection that you can use for business collaboration. The users to which you have given the access can only view the documents unless you provide the editing rights.
• Anonymous Users: You need to create a link to share with anonymous users.  Once you share it, the anonymous users can view, edit or upload the document to the folder.
• Authenticated External Users: If you want information to share with authenticated users only,  you can share the link to the site or document with them. They will need to verify their identity before accessing the document by entering the time-sensitive code sent via email.

Versioning

It is the method in which successful changes in the documents are numbered and saved. Sharepoint document management template provides three versioning options:

• No Versioning: It shows that no changes are made in the document that means you cannot access the earlier versions of the documents. This option is used for the files that don’t need changing.
• Major Versioning: Suppose you have a document which requires the feedback of your team members, how hasty it would be to mail the document to everyone and then to collate their input on a single point. Sharepoint document template makes it easy for the users to make changes in the same file which everyone can view. Through versioning, you can track the changes in the document and the name of the person who did it.
• Major and Minor Versioning: Sharepoint saved the versioning in the document with numbers like 1.0, 1.2, 2.1, etc. Versions ending in .0 are major versions while versions which end with non-zero are minor versions. Sharepoint uses major version by default whereas for unpublished documents it uses minor versioning.

Through versioning, you can track the history of the document starting from the date and time it was created till present. You can also follow the metadata changes made in the document. Not only this, if your mind shifts on the previous versions of the files you can also restore it.

Security

“Going online can hurt your organization security” – this has been said for long. But Sharepoint proves it wrong!
Sharepoint offers security at four different levels; site collections, subsites, item levels and document libraries. It has built-in features that allow you to restrict the data or block confidential information which doesn’t need sharing. The site audit features help you to track the activity and retrieve history whenever required.

Vast Searching Options

You may have experienced search results based on limited options especially when you are handling ginormous data. Sharepoint document management provides rich search features. With the options available on Sharepoint you can filter your search and modify it through metadata without spending much time. Either you want to search the author of the file, the date or progress of the document or you want quick access to recent files, Sharepoint can bring it all in seconds.

A Flexible Solution

Efficient Management of documents is the need of every organization especially Enterprise business. Sharepoint serve all your unique business needs and increase your business productivity by letting you collaborate potently.

More about SharePoint Document Management

• It is now Mobile: Sharepoint is not limited to desktop or web server only. Now you can also access Sharepoint on your smartphones and make yourself available from anywhere and anytime.
• Integration: Using Sharepoint you can easily integrate to all Microsoft apps and maximize your business productivity. Even non-Microsoft applications like SAP, Quickbooks, Salesforce or more can be integrated to help you utilize Sharepoint features expeditiously.

IF you are looking for an advanced tool for collaboration and to assemble your data neatly, then Sharepoint document Management is the right answer for you. It delivers undeniable benefits for any organization that looks to transform their business information architecture and collaboration process.  
Looking for Sharepoint Development to advance your team collaboration? Contact our team of experts who are ready to give you a free consultation, and to transform your requirements into a modified SharePoint solution.