Definition:

Document management is the process of handling documents in such a way that information can be created, shared, organized and stored efficiently and appropriately. For many businesses, the focus of document management is on the organization and storage of documents. They want to be able to store documents in an organized and secure way that still allows documents to be found easily.

There is a move within large organizations to use document management software to help them do this. This may or may not involve using a document imaging system. While document management software is designed to make handling electronic files more efficient, it doesn’t let you convert paper files into electronic files like document imaging systems

The trend towards a paperless office is more realistic for some businesses than for others. Most businesses still operate in a “mixed” environment of paper and electronic data, so their document management system has to expedite the handling of paper documents as well.

The computerized management of electronic as well as paper-based documents. Document management systems generally include the following components:
• An optical scanner and OCR system to convert paper documents into an electronic form
• A database system to organized stored documents
• A search mechanism to quickly find specific documents Document management systems are becoming more important as it becomes increasingly obvious that the paperless office is an ideal that may never be achieved. Instead, document management systems strive to create systems that can handle paper and electronic documents together.