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In the digital age, most businesses use a whole host of software systems in addition to their document management system. With the adoption of hybrid working, there has been an exponential growth in the number of tools used by organisations of all sizes, with many adopting electronic signature platforms, comparison solutions, dictation software, template management tools and much more to improve digital workflows.
With this, end-users are often tasked with navigating multiple applications and systems to facilitate their work, each with its independent purpose and distinct user interface. This creates complicated user journeys, which can breed confusion and lead to time waste.
In this guest post, Tiger Eye highlight three core benefits of integrating enterprise technology with your iManage document management system and demonstrate how you can reduce time waste by uniting your solutions through integration.
1.Boosting Efficiency
Put simply: moving between disparate software systems is time-consuming. Whether entering separate passwords or manually moving content between solutions, there can be valuable minutes lost when employees are required to use a number of systems to complete their tasks.
An apt example of this type of inefficiency is the recent influx of firms adopting electronic signature platforms without integrating such systems with a DMS. Without effective integrations, firms rely on complex, inefficient processes to send and save digitally signed documents. In such instances, users are required to visit their iManage system, download documents, manually upload them to their electronic signature platform, send the content for signing, download the signed copies to their desktops and finally upload them back to iManage. The process is time consuming, complicated and confusing.
Our customers have recorded significant time savings when using our seamless electronic signature integrations for iManage, boosting efficiency by minimising the need for manual processes in the digital signing workflow. From streamlining staff onboarding to supercharging contracts, integrating electronic signature solutions with your DMS can significantly boost firmwide efficiency by mitigating the need for monotonous upload and download processes.
2.Reducing Security Risks
According to a recent report by iManage, 68% of business leaders claim “information contained in digital documents and files” is the most important thing to their organisation. With firms valuing their information so highly, it’s easy to see how losing it could pose a risk to their businesses.
When users are required to use multiple siloed systems in their everyday workflows, information can easily fall between the cracks. It becomes scattered in different formats, which can be hard to secure – and even harder to track. Documents can become trapped on personal desktops, and sensitive personal information can remain in online data stores. This poses a risk to firms from a compliance perspective, as client data is no longer secured in the organisation’s trusted iManage system.
From a practical perspective, firms open themselves up to risks by requiring staff to move data between disjoined systems. Such manual processes are prone to human error, with busy staff at risk of forgetting to upload finished documents. Without integrations between systems, firms are also unable to track user interventions or record actions taken within a given process, which means that information can be accidentally manipulated and uploaded to the DMS. When sensitive client information is involved, this can pose a significant security risk for businesses.
For example, many firms use bundling software to enable users to export iManage files into court bundles, which are then uploaded to relevant sites. With effective integrations in place, this process can be carried out seamlessly, reducing the risk of multiple documents being stored locally before being uploaded to such websites.
It is also common for firms to use external data rooms and file sharing sites to communicate with their clients. Without effective DMS integrations, users are required to access iManage, download copies of DMS documents and then upload them to the external site manually. This can be a risk from a compliance perspective, as users often forget to delete the downloaded copy, and with this personal data can remain within documents on the member of staff’s local drive. However, with effective file sharing integrations such as those enabled by Tiger Eye Accelerate, documents can be easily moved from iManage to other sites directly, without the risk of documents being saved – and trapped - on local desktops. Changes can also be tracked via iManage’s version control process, and actions can be recorded via Accelerate’s user logs, meaning that any activities can be reported on if necessary.
3.Increasing Productivity
Moving data between repositories, constantly logging in and out of platforms and other unnecessary admin efforts are low value tasks that can eat into an employee’s working day. Where multiple tools are needed to complete a given piece of work, juggling software solutions can be distracting, overwhelming and interrupt thought processes, leading employees to lose focus. All of this drains staff productivity, which can fundamentally impact a firm’s bottom line.
Integrating systems with your iManage document management system takes away the need for users to toggle platforms. This reduces distractions and interruptions, meaning that employees can focus on high-value output – rather than the systems needed to produce their work.
For example, with frequently used tools such as template management systems integrated with iManage, businesses can reduce the need for users to move between solutions to create letters, contracts, and other common work-related documents. With this, teams can focus on completing tasks rather than worrying about accessing, using and updating separate systems. By adopting a template management system that directly integrates with iManage, users can also fully utilise the range of data – and metadata – already stored in the DMS, reducing the need for manual data entry. For example, Tiger Eye Template Manager enables users to create and use templates with iManage data fields, which automatically populate when templates are in use. Whether pre-filling iManage document numbers, or document authors, client names, and data fields, Tiger Eye Template Manager’s powerful integration with iManage can offer significant time savings for busy staff, and significantly increase document output.
Summary
iManage integrations can offer a broad range of benefits to modern law firms – but they can also lead to greater trust in your document and email store. With reliable iManage integrations, every employee can be confident that information in the central DMS is always accurate, up-to-date and secure, as documents are saved directly into the firm’s trusted document store. This valuable trust can support firms to significantly reduce time waste and boost productivity, by negating the need for users to leave the iManage system to double-check data accuracy.
In summary, whether designed to minimise manual data entry or reduce risk, iManage integrations are essential for magic circle giants and boutique firms alike.
How could iManage integrations benefit your team? Contact Tiger Eye to learn more, and discover their custom integration development services.
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