Are your documents piling up? Maybe your virtual docs are scattered to the four corners of your hard drive. Whether at home or in the office, document management software can be a handy work companion to help you get things done more efficiently. Really, there are many advantages to using document management software. Bruce Peters came up with eight. You can find them below.

Document management software is designed for use by organizations of all sizes. This seamless solution controls and manages information created from disparate sources while stored in different forms, including paper files, archival box storage, document images, digital application files, computer print files, emails, faxes, web site pages, and many others. Document management software is designed to accept and combine these various information sources, organize them, distribute them via workflow, store them, and provide secure access when needed.

Document management software solutions provide these advantages:

1. Versatility

Content management systems combine integration, document imaging, digital file management, e-forms, and business process management into a cohesive, single application process.

2. Immediate access to information

As a web browser-based system, programs give users access to information where and when it is needed. All that is needed is a computer with a browser and Internet access.

3. Savings on storage costs

Space is one commodity that is not on the increase. Whether a business archives hard copy files in-house or outsources their storage, taking these records virtual realizes savings of both money and space.

4. Immediate disaster recovery

Virtual storage of paper documents ensures that recovering lost data happens quickly and efficiently.

5. Unlimited access

Many programs come with a licenses for unlimited use. There are no restrictions on the number of users or the number of projects it can contain.

6. ASP or In-House

Users may host their own data files in-house, or a hosting company can host it for them.

7. Easy to set up and use

If an employee can use a web browser, he or she can access needed information with a web-hosted program.

8. Physical file and box tracking

Select web-based programs also offer the ability to manage, access, and control paper files and archival box storage. By creating colored labels with bar codes, hard copy can be requested, checked in and out, and tracked from a central location or be requested by email.

Learn more about document management software at http://www.gbscorp.com

Project managers understand the importance of an effective project management software for organizing, executing and completing jobs with success. But projects are not limited to project managers. Professionals in a wide range of fields find themselves with the task of creating and completing projects. Even homeowners face projects that could make use of project management software. Cindy Brock gives some tips on why this software can be so useful to practically anyone.

You are the epitome of the multi-tasker. You can do it all…and probably more. Yet, is there something out there that may help you to do your job even better? Why not consider project management software?

Project Management software seems to have a black cloud surrounding it. That’s because it’s perceived to be only for managers and it’s a big and complicated undertaking. In reality, this type of software may be ideally suited for what you do. Here’s why:

1. It shows what’s on your to do list in a more “formal “way. No more writing down lists on paper or sending yourself emails. This project management software becomes the one place where everything goes. Initially, simply try and get your tasks into the software. Don’t worry about all the heavy hitter functions it offers right now.

2. You can better see how the hours in a day might be used. Wonder why it seems like you work from morning to night all the time? This is a perfect way to find out exactly what your doing, how long it’s taking, and why there is so much left to do. Assign dates/times to all your tasks and prioritize those tasks so that none of them overlap.

3. Fit in those unexpected, last minute tasks. If you have the list and you’ve assigned dates/times, when something appears, you can plug it in and with the click of a button watch everything else adjust itself. (I call this the “waving the magic wand” affect). After you’ve done this, you may have to adjust dates/times again and re-prioritize - but that’s OK!

The Software: Determining What Features You’ll Need

Initially, when you begin investigating project management software, you may find that most are “overkill.” Again, that’s because they were designed for very complicated, long-term projects such as software development. Yet, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a program for you.

• For an effective evaluation, setup your tasks in some format (maybe in MS Excel) to get an idea as to what you need to track, what type of categories and subcategories will be used, and (most importantly) if your want to track costs associated with projects, tasks, and/or resources.
• Begin searching for software options. Almost every software vendor offers a free, trial version of their product. Some trials offer limited functionality - e.g., you may not be able to save more than “X” number of entries, or print the most popular report. Regardless, using the trial version familiarizes you with the software capabilities (i.e., does it have the functions you need), so that you’ll have enough information for making a case to management as to why they should allow you to purchase it.
• Don’t rule out web-based options. Buying software doesn’t always mean something that comes in a box that you install. There are plenty of web-based application out there.
• Ignore price until you’ve made 2-3 choices. Then do a detailed comparison.
• If you still can’t find something you like, ask others you know what they use for project management.

Once You’ve Made a Selection

• Very important: do not reinvent the wheel. Select a starting point - either only new projects coming in (which is what I recommend) or on a certain date. If you try to go back and retrace your steps for an existing project, you’re going to lose your mind in the process and waste a bunch of time.
• Do a trial run - maybe with 3-5 smaller projects - to develop your own system. This will be less of a shock to your daily workload then jumping in feet first with everything.
• If you cannot figure out how to do something, use the online help or find a forum. People love to share information and will be more than happy to tell you how to do something faster, quicker, and better.
• Push the limits and see what happens. Think back on a hectic day you had and try to replicate it while using the software. Watch what happens as you add in “urgent” projects and everything has to be shifted. Plus, pay attention to which tasks keep getting pushed off. Those are tasks that either (a) you really don’t need to do and you can probably take off the list, and/or (b) that you can farm out to someone else since they really aren’t that critical.

Project Management software can be a blessing in disguise - if you take the time to find the one that fits your specific needs.

Cindy Brock spreads her passions across a multitude of life areas. Whether she’s in her role as Aromatherapy Aficionado, Decuttering Diva, Feng Shui Fanatic, Virtual Assistant Virtuoso, or Writing Wonder Woman, her mission is the same: to share life’s abundance with others. Since the age of 18, Cindy has been a writer and trainer. She has taken her years of experience and spread them across an array of endeavors, while never straying from her path of helping others. To contact her, email cindy@cindybrock.com.

Business process management software is a growing field in an increasingly competitive market. Creating systems which help businesses organize and complete tasks with greater efficiency is what process management is about. Business Process Management or BPM focuses on processes that are applicable to businesses, whether large corporations or small operations.

To understand business process management software or BPM software, it’s important to understand that BPM software is not the kind of software that does a specific thing (ex. a word processor facilitates the creation of text documents) but rather it is a combination of many kinds of software all created to serve one end goal.

The term encompasses multiple types of software which may have different functions, but ultimately serve to improve a business through the enhancement or support of a company’s workflow and operational processes. A business process is a collection of interrelated activities or chain of events that ultimately lead to the delivery of a product or service.

Core BMP software applications can be customized to suit the needs of any organization. They’re built around the skeleton of business process modeling notation or BPMN, which is the standard method of graphically representing business processes in a workflow. This is then used to design or evaluate an organization’s operational processes and activities.

However, the scope of BPM software is not limited to planning. Instead, the innovative use of computer software in BPM ranges from process modeling to sharing and security applications to business activity monitoring applications and more. These management tools help optimize the resources available to any given organization.

In the past, BPM meant sitting down with the key people of a corporation to literally drawing out plans in diagrams and then delegating tasks and giving new instructions. Business process management software has changed the face of BPM with business process automation (BPA). BPA integrates software applications into the company or organization’s workflow in order to automate tasks that can be done without manual labor, thus cutting costs.

BPM software and BPA are the way of the future.

Appian is the leading provider of business process management software suites. They use their own software to optimize their business processes, proving that they have the utmost confidence in their own products. For more information about business process management software, visit www.appian.com or call 703-442-8844.