Question

What are the advantages and disadvantages to using a document control system?

Answer 1

A document control system helps in managing and storing the document for future use, it helps in controlling the use of that document from unwanted parties and finds an appropriate place for the document in the system.

Some of the advantages of adopting this system are:

1. Reduce storage space: a software enabled storage space saves on a physical storage space for the documents, it save the task of keeping and maintaining that space for storing the document safely.

2. Enhancing the security: it ensures that the document is safe and secured. Also it ensures that the access to the document can be controlled to only authorized parties and not every one. This way sensitive information could be stored easily. The auditing system of the software also ensures that one can track the views on the document.

3. Compliance Obligation: some documents required to be kept safely, non-conformity to which could lead to fines. Thus it helps in those situations as well.

4. Accessing remote documents and retrieving information: These controlling software allows one to get access documents which are not locally available physically. Thus saving a lot of effort. One can also retrieve any information any time from the help of the system.

5. Collaboration with other software: As the software is used in co-ordination with other software like mail, microsoft office etc to help faciliating other actions on the document.\

6. Recovery: In case of any problem where the document could be physically destroyed, this system ensures that the soft copy of the document would be safe and easily recovered when required.

7. Flexibility to access the document, saving time in locating the document etc.

Disadvantages to using document control system

1. Difficult to learn and understand the document: to make sure that the software is effectively used it would be required to make everyone understand the software which would take a lot of effort and training.

2. Software expenses: In most of the cases one has to purchase the software to use it for storage and controlling which is again an additional expense

3. Data Security: Keeping a document online would increase the chances of it getting hacked and thus increase security concerns.

4. Difficult to make small changes: For any change one has to follow the whole process of accessing the document and then saving the changes in the document which is again a lot of effort.