Document Management Trends to Watch in 2018

2017 was a big year for innovation and success in the enterprise solutions industry. It was also a very rocky year for a number of other businesses. Never before has information governance been so important. Computhink knows that the spotlight is shining on enterprise content solutions. As ever, we continue to develop and implement new technologies in our products and services. To that end, we endeavor to research and comprehend all of the latest trends in the industry, both embracing the ones the good ideas and going beyond them where we can. We would like to share with our readers and customers some of the trends we see emerging in the opening weeks of 2018.

document management trends to watch in 2018Content Services vs Software

As programs become web apps, so too products are becoming services. The reason for doing one’s computing online is that it’s accessible anywhere that you have internet access. Sometimes, with a strong enough connection, even the most advanced tasks can be carried out over the internet instead of on a local machine or via a local server.

“Content Management Software” is becoming “Content Management Services.” We’ve already seen this with a number of our customers. They either don’t have the infrastructure or the IT team to run or manage a dedicated Contentverse server. Instead, they choose a hosting package, switching to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. SaaS plans are often more cost-effective, especially for organizations with minimal to no in-house IT management.

Whether you call it Content Services or by another name, the takeaway is that corporations are more connected than ever, both within and without. It’s not enough anymore to just be online. You also have to store, share, and process online.

Cloud Environments

Being online all the time means publishing and saving to a cloud server. Of course, a cloud server is simply housed, protected, and managed by a third party. You can use remote access to look into these servers and upload files or set up programs. Our technicians have experience setting up both hosted and on-premise environments for clients. While cloud computing is rising in popularity because of the reduced in-house costs, many firms and organizations find that hybrid environments are more secure and more flexible.

By hosting an ECM like Contentverse in a hybrid setup, you can ensure the safety of files which need to be kept under careful lock and key. And with Contentverse web access and the CV Mobile App, you can search and view these files on the go, from a home office, or while abroad. But every business has different requirements for their hosting plan, so we offer a number of options in order to fit client needs.

document management trends to watch in 2018Growing need for security

After the Equifax security fiasco this past year, with the data of unwilling customers leaking to hackers, consumers are wary of trusting any company with their information, big or small. A non-profit’s passwords or law firm’s case files – these documents need to be safeguarded. Computhink understands that. 2018 will continue the conversation about security, highlighting the need for encryption – based methods and an emphasis on new tech.

Not every company can have a dedicated team or even a single individual to monitor the website, storage applications, business processes, and communications. Even manufacturing and construction companies that use a lot of tech in their line of work may not have anything more than a repair and maintenance team for the machinery. Many companies outsource their security to third parties. Oftentimes, it is easiest to simply buy software with security built-in. Save yourself the hassle of keeping a team on retainer.

document management trends to watch in 2018Is Bitcoin the progenitor for modern document security?

The concept for this tech is old by now, but the implementation in enterprise products is just starting to take root. When you think Blockchain, you might think Bitcoin. Or you might be totally in the dark. In the early ‘90s, Stuart Haber and Scott Stornetta brought up the idea of several documents connected in a cryptographically secure chain, maintained by a peer-to-peer network. In 2008, and anonymous person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto introduced blockchain. The following year, blockchain became the backbone for Bitcoin, which has grown incredibly quickly since then and gave rise to the validity of cryptocurrency.

We hope you enjoyed that brief history lesson. Blockchain today is being considered in almost every digital industry. It is a viable way to package multiple documents and ensure that they are secure through use of the cryptography and verification methods employed. Because the record of transactions can’t be altered without changing all subsequent blocks or without altering all computers in the network, participating computers have to analyze and verify transactions or document changes before they can happen. All computers in the network have to work together to authenticate a change.

2018 will be a big year for ECM, DMS, CMS, and many other digital fields. At Computhink, we like to remind ourselves that customer safety, privacy, and peace of mind, are our most important goals with any new project. If you are looking for content or document management you can trust to innovate with you in mind, look no further.

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