23. September 2016

More than just software required for revision security

When it comes to the so-called legally-compliant scanning of documents, many companies assume initially that “certified software” will remove all of their work and problems.

However, this is a great fallacy. Companies neglect a large portion of the requirements that are associated with revision-proof document processing. However, there are no universally valid certificates for hardware and software that can guarantee revision security at the same time. The critical components that are often ignored involve the process or the security of the overall procedure, and the protection against modification and falsification.

The focus must be on company-specific processes

The focus here is on considerations pertaining to company-specific processes. These should be checked in great detail in advance of the software implementation and, where necessary, adapted to the company’s revision security in accordance with the requirements. Again and again, we notice in projects that the processes, the organisation or other corporate structures cannot stand up to these requirements. This applies more to the processes that are actually practised and not those just written down. In concrete terms, this means, for example, that rights and authorisations are not defined clearly and transparently, or unauthorised users have access to information and documents, which may result in certain files being modified or even deleted. In accordance with revision security, it is precisely these authorisation concepts and processes that have to be mapped and documented in detail, and strictly observed. Revision security also means being able to track potential modifications to information and documents clearly and find out who exactly made these changes. The efficiency and robustness of this process is put to the test whenever problems occur and whenever business partners demand information about certain issues. At this point, many companies fall into a type of “panic mode”, using a large amount of internal resources as they attempt to collect information and check to see whether this information represents the “latest” status.

Competitive advantage through robust and efficient processes

Internal effort can be reduced significantly if processes and structures are set up and established in such a way that you can find information and documents easily, rather than having to waste time searching for them. This competitive advantage can also be seen to a large extent in day-to-day processes. If you take, for example, the time required to deal with customer requests right up to the finished quote, a robust and efficient process, alongside quick access to information, will illustrate this advantage. This is basically just a matter of working and dealing with information from different sources (mail, telephone, chat, ERP, paper, notes, etc.). Processing and dealing with information, coupled with inefficient processes or media disruptions (different IT software, switch between software and paper) can often lead to disorder, misunderstandings and idle time, which in turn can result in discontent among employees and a drop in performance of up to 40%.

Software for revision security only the basis

Software and hardware systems can provide a certain basis in the case of these requirements. However, only the combination of an efficient process correctly applied, the organisation and the support of a corresponding software solution contributes to revision security.