This is a topic I've written about before, but lately I've been exploring it in depth, because one of my clients, Third Sector New England, is working on this question at the moment, and I'm helping out.
TSNE gets the benefit of my hand-tailored advice, but here are a few generic pointers for nervous novices in the nonprofit sector:
Electronic document management
systems can cost a nonprofit organization Real Money. Think in
terms $25,000 to $50,000 for starters. That's not including the upgrades, training, and tweaking that you will probably need on at least an annual basis.
Some vendors of document management systems are primarily in the business of providing workflow management or scanning services, and offer document management as an add-on module. The advantage to that is the tight integration with other functions that they can offer you; the disadvantage is that document management probably won't be their greatest strength. At any rate, be very sure you understand what the vendor's core business is, before you buy their document management product.
There is a significant different between a document management system model that is essentially a software licensing arrangement and one that is an online service. In the former, you install it on your server, and your precious electronic data lives in the place that you designate. In the latter, you are contracting for a service, and your electronic data is stored, maintained, backed-up, and secured by specialists on servers of their choosing. Each model has advantages but it's important to know which you're choosing.
Some vendors of document management systems are primarily in the business of providing workflow management or scanning services, and offer document management as an add-on module. The advantage to that is the tight integration with other functions that they can offer you; the disadvantage is that document management probably won't be their greatest strength. At any rate, be very sure you understand what the vendor's core business is, before you buy their document management product.
There is a significant different between a document management system model that is essentially a software licensing arrangement and one that is an online service. In the former, you install it on your server, and your precious electronic data lives in the place that you designate. In the latter, you are contracting for a service, and your electronic data is stored, maintained, backed-up, and secured by specialists on servers of their choosing. Each model has advantages but it's important to know which you're choosing.
