In 2017, more companies than ever will be making strides to create a paperless workplace. This is a worthwhile pursuit for many reasons, including environmental awareness. However, there are other things to be considered when selecting document management software, including your bottom line, your employees’ morale and comfort, and the security of the documents being stored.

Whether you are a controller, an IT professional, or an accountant, it’s important to ask the following questions when you are selecting document management software. Otherwise, your company may be left with the cheapest (but not necessarily the best) tool, with little return upon their investment. Worse yet, your company’s team members may find the software difficult to use or impossible to integrate with the software currently in use.

When educating yourself and your team on the document management software possibilities, keep these five questions in mind:

1. Is it adoptable?

In a perfect world, your team would excitedly adopt whatever software you chose. In the real world, sometimes it’s a tough sell. For this reason, it’s important to select document management software that has a simple, user-friendly interface. For example, with DocuPhase’s newest viewer, users can drag & drop documents from their desktop directly into the document management system. With iLink, users of Microsoft Dynamics can click an add-on button within MS Dynamics GP and pull up related documentation from the documentation management system. This single click can save team members a sizable amount of time! Features like this help to increase the adoptability and help to get your team excited about the change.

2. Can it be controlled and customized?

This is an important question if you don’t want to become dependent upon your document management software provider. Out-of-the-box solutions can be useful, but consider how you will make changes once the document management software has been implement. A year down the road, you may want to change the name of a document or the way things are sorted or organized. Maybe you’re able to determine that making a simple change can radically improve your process. Will you be able to self-educate and make that change yourself, or will you be required to pay for each change?

3. Is it secure?

In other words, you’ll want to determine to what degree the document management system will allow you to control who can view certain documents. Security is especially important if you operate within the healthcare industry, or if you’re going to be storing personnel files within the document management system. For example, consider HIPAA compliance regulations. A highly customizable document management system like DocuPhase will allow you to store various types of documentation and will allow you drill down settings, easily determining which groups within your organization can view each type of document.

4. Can it integrate with other software?

As a business in the 21^st Century, you’re already running many other programs. It’s worth taking a look at the integrations offered by various document management solutions. For example, is the document management software compatible with Microsoft Office documents? On another note, some document management software companies also develop workflow automation software, which can become a natural next step once your team has adopted the document management platform. While this may not be your short-term plan, consider the long-term possibilities for your organization. You may thank yourself later for having this foresight while selecting document management software.

5. Is it going to save the company money?

For most organizations, this is the most important question to ask when selecting document management software. What is the return on investment? How long is it going to take to see that ROI? A consultative, low-pressure sales team can help you examine whether and how their document management solution can help your organization. This can help you to present concrete evidence to your decision-making team when the time comes to decide on a purchase.

Whether you are a first-time shopper for document management software or a company that’s looking for a change from your current platform, we hope that these five questions will aid you in your journey. Above all, be thorough in selecting document management software. Going paperless is a big step for any business, and it’s important to take that step in the right direction.