Many organizations believe document management (DM) and records management (RM) require the same processes. However, there are key differences. A document management system is designed to facilitate functionality for living documents, which can be versioned. There are various states to a document such as draft, routing for approval, approved, and more. With the right DM system, you can review and approve documents and release them for digital use. On the other hand, you can retire a document. Therefore, it is outdated and is called a record or static entity.A records management system manages outdated documents or records -- sometimes they are also called non-living entities. They are stored and attributed. Based on retention policies, you can permanently destroy them. An RM and DM system needs end-users to search, retrieve, and view content. As you can see, there are foundational differences while also having some overlap.Below is a list of differences to consider when expanding your RM and DM systems:
Document management
Document management will track the document process from creation to completion to ensure accountability and transparency. It may also automate tasks such as routing, approval, and quality assurance. The essential steps are described below, which include:Creation: The initial version of a document is created from a blank template.Drafting: A contributor creates the document’s content, which may include typed text, formatting, hyperlinks, formatting, and other document-based elements. The process may also incorporate several contributors who can work without overwriting other contributions.Check-out and check-in: A single contributor can check out the document, while other users have “read-only” privileges. Once the user has achieved their objective, the document is checked back in for another contributor to check out. Each time a document is checked in and updated, a recent version is created with a tracking of changes made between each version. If an update is made, that does not work for the team, they can roll the document back to an earlier version. Multiple users can work on a document in parallel with internal locking based at the granular level. For instance, depending on the system, you could lock a document at the paragraph level. Complex documents may require assembly that includes terms and conditions for utilizing and revising the document. Depending on the document, you can insert a formal approval process with a signature. Contracts are one example. In other cases, a document is approved by publishing without a formal approval needed. An editor may review the content for spelling, grammar, flow, information, and more. The DM system may have business rules that assigns a role to an editor to complete a review before taking the next steps. After the review, the content creator can make additional changes. After a document has gone through every step, you can store it in a repository for end users to access.As a result, a DM system enables content creation with transparency and accountability.
