We live in an age of rapid and sustained globalization, witnessing the rise of technology-driven phenomena like telecommuting, work-from-home, hybrid/flexible work models, and so on. It is more important than ever that a company’s employees – whether full-time, contract, part-time, or freelance – are all able to work together seamlessly and efficiently from any location without driving up costs. In the past, on-premise solutions and networking platforms allowed workers to connect via corporate networks like a LAN or WAN but these days with security and privacy becoming critical factors, companies in every industry have started switching to cloud-based or SaaS systems that leverage the latest internet and mobile technologies at very reasonable costs. Engineering project organizations are no exception; most nowadays are switching to cloud-based EDMS as we speak.

This shift to cloud document management systems was a long time coming. Over the years, engineering project workers have been continually changing the way they interact but until recently an enterprise-wide shift to cloud computing was lagging behind other industries. Fortunately, today’s EPC organization is more savvy and wants an EDMS (preferably available as a SaaS to control costs) that can streamline not just the logistics of document management ie produce needed information quickly from almost any location, but also ensure compliance/quality, increase productivity, and save significant costs.   

Let’s analyze the modern cloud EDMS; it is a cloud software, usually sold as  Software-As-a-Service or SaaS, that is accessible on any mobile device regardless of the user’s location, which means that if an employee has access to the Internet, he has access to the Cloud document management system. The cloud EDMS will thus allow the company to manage all its existing files (that were within the on-premise system) with complete security, while still having the flexibility to manage those files across a distributed workforce.

The top 5 benefits of adopting a cloud EDMS

1. Mobile Accessibility

A Cloud EDMS can be accessed on mobile devices (e.g., tablets, smartphones, and laptops) through the device’s web browser and without needing to download software or mobile apps. This makes collaboration easy and allows the users to share changes in real-time from any location, even if away from their office computers and even when dealing with proprietary formats like CAD files.

2. Reduced Cost

By adopting a cloud EDMS, companies can instantly reduce their IT spending. The cloud EDMS will eliminate the need for servers, disk space, and new computers and drastically reduce the need to hire and train manpower to manage and maintain all that infrastructure, plus, most of today’s cloud EDMS solutions are delivered via the SaaS model, so the company automatically gains access to the EDMS provider’s resources (which are usually top of the line, like advanced servers and other allied architectures) without needing to invest in them.

3. Assured Compliance

An advanced cloud EDMS will have built-in workflows and centralized database storage, which ensures compliance at every phase of the project. Even the most stringent regulations can be satisfied with a cloud EDMS, because it is shared by all the employees and project workers in a common environment that provides online audit trails, and there is no siloed information or isolated process. This helps drive innovation as workers are freed from the tedium of daily routine work and can focus on delivering the best possible quality by adhering to every required protocol and regulation.

4. Powerful Security

In the past, concerns about security were one of the main reasons companies hesitated to switch to cloud-based document management systems, which is understandable in projects that contain a lot of sensitive data. However, today’s technologies have advanced to the point where having anytime anywhere access to files and documents doesn’t mean compromising the security of those files and documents. In fact, the reverse is actually true – having everything ‘remotely’ in the cloud enhances security and gives you more control, not less. Today’s cloud EDMS also comes with multi-level security that starts with password-based login to the system itself, all the way to user-specific or role-specific controlled access to files. Meaning, not everyone has access to everything, and access to any file can be managed on a case by case basis if need be.

5. Scalability

Another concern that was prevalent in previous years was about the scalability of cloud based systems. On-premise solutions are obviously easy to scale up as the business grows, but with a cloud EDMS, it was less intuitive. However, EDMS providers realized this early on, and designed their system to scale up with their client’s business, ensuring that as the client’s company increased or reduced its operations scope the EDMS would be able to keep pace without affecting work outcomes. Today’s cloud EDMS, especially if implemented under the SaaS model, is incredibly easy to scale up (or down), including the data that is stored with it, without any disruption of work.