Where have I filed that document or email?

With the proliferation of electronic information these days, one of the biggest challenges to business is the ability to properly file and easily retrieve this information.

When I ask clients how difficult it is for them to quickly find information on their network, most say `quite easily’ even when they are not using any form of special software. What they mean is that they usually file their documents intelligently using intelligent file names. Thus a document called ‘Customer XYZ 2009 06 20 – server proposal’ filed under a network directory called ‘N:\client info\Company XYZ\quotations’ would be child’s play to locate.

I find that for me, at least 90% of the time I can rely on this intelligent filing to help me quickly retrieve the file. The other 10% are usually:

• Emails that I don’t have time to file properly.
• Documents for which I cannot recall the file name.
• Documents to or from someone but there are too many documents exchanged with this person.

The answer lies in using document management packages which give you the ability to:

• Easily save your documents or emails into central repositories.
• Enter metadata against all documents.
• Search for documents (including emails, pictures, appointments, etc) using any keyword within the content of the document as well as the metadata. Just like you do using Google or Bing, etc.

Most of my clients tell me that before they had adopted Document Search technology, they accepted that they had to spend a lot of time looking for the last 10% of documents they cannot easily find. They also accepted that they would never be able to find some documents.

With Document Search technology you may still not be able to find 100% of your information. But that would be rare. Most importantly, it enables you to find that information a lot more quickly.

Most document management packages out there are quite expensive. There are three major exceptions that I am aware of:

1. the free desktop search programs like Google Desktop Search or Copernic. These however are designed to only search your local hard drive, not the network.
2. the free MS Windows Search 4.0. This searches your network but like Google and Copernic, they hammer your network mercilessly.
3. MS SharePoint. Most Waikato/BOP businesses already own this package. It is an enterprise grade document search program and comes with many other useful functions that can help business gain productivity.

Studies have shown that 30% of workers’ time is spent looking for information. If you can save even a fraction of that time then you have achieved a major productivity boost. Quite importantly too, the cost of not being able to find some information can be huge. If you have a dispute with a client or supplier, the lost information can make the difference between winning and losing that argument.

By Alan Chew

Managing Director of the Houston Technology Group

This article appeared in the December 2009 edition of the Waikato Business News, for which Alan writes a regular column as "Your IT Adviser".