The Most Cost-Effective Document Management Program? Simplicity.

Now is the best time to go back to basics. Here's Why:

One of the things I’m hearing more and more lately is this: organizations are slashing their budgets.

And when budgets shrink, the first to go are often innovation projects.

But here’s what I tell people:

This is actually the perfect time to reduce complexity and find cost savings.

Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.

What it’s not a good time for? Introducing big dramatic changes to the way people are supposed to work.

You’ve probably heard me talk about this idea before - about growing out from the simplest possible solution instead of jumping to the most complex. Shelly Smith and I have had this exact conversation recently.

We both agree: IT often makes things way too complicated.

When I talk to customers, they often think the solution has to be big:

• A major system migration
• A new web-based platform
• Digitizing ALL their processes ALL AT ONCE

But the reality is that simple is better.

If you’ve got a file share... you're OK... Just add AI Search so that your users can search easily, you’re already in good shape. In fact, for 99% of the use cases I see, that’s enough and it disrupts nobody.

So, if you're losing your budget, here’s my advice: go back to basics. Ask yourself: “What’s the easiest thing we can do right now?”

And the answer is usually: Email + File Share + Search

You know you need email. You also know you need to find documents. The real question is: “Where’s the the lowest cost place to put them that users won't complain?”

That means:

• Does it work with all my users apps?
• Does it require training? (If so, that’s a red flag.)
• Is it inexpensive and good enough?

And here’s why this simple approach works:

1. It works on-prem or in the cloud
2. Everyone already knows how to use it
3. It’s compatible with our apps
4. It’s cheap
5. It can be secure (with the right controls like read-only access and clear records management)

This is your baseline.

It’s the simplest, most realistic way to operate and that’s exactly what you need right now. The second you add layers onto this, you add cost and complexity. In a down economy, the smart move is to be seen as the simplest solution, not the flashiest.

Don’t go from 0 to 100. Go from 0 to 1.

TLDR; Ask yourself: “What’s the simplest way to do it?” Anything beyond that puts your project at risk.

The New Approach

I’m reminded of a great story from a recent conversation with Cheryl Smith. During her time as the CIO of WestJet, she was brought into a project to introduce in-flight WiFi. Most people would see this as an IT project, but Sheryl didn’t.

She said, “This isn’t an IT project. This is a marketing challenge.”

The real work wasn’t in implementing the technology, it was in marketing it to passengers in a way that made it easy to buy and understand. IT had a say in implementation and security, but the focus was simplicity and value.

We should take the same approach with document management.

Make it simple.

Make it make sense.

Then sell that simplicity to the business.