Learnings from our 1000+ DMS implementations
We’ve helped over a thousand practices implement new document management systems (DMSs) with little downtime or disruption. You and your team can have a positive experience by following the three simple stages of implementing a document management system.
Assuming you know all about the first stage of implementing a DMS — discovery — let’s jump into the second stage — migration!
Migrating to a new DMS
Make your migration easy by organizing your practice and connecting with your provider. We’ll show you how to achieve a seamless migration with some proven ways to prepare.
Putting the right team in place
Data migrations are much easier when you have access to the right information and level of authority. To do this you need some defined roles for your project including a project champion who has knowledge of the organization and can serve as the main point of contact between your provider and team. They’ll be responsible for managing comms and meeting deadlines so there aren’t any lulls in the migration process. This creates a level of accountability that’s needed in something as important as a data migration. Without them, gaps in communication can pop up and the process can drag on creating uncertainty amongst the wider team.
You’ll also want to have a technical manager who understands your setup and can liaise with your provider on more complex questions.
Gathering feedback
Don’t fall into the trap of working in a vacuum. Gather your team’s feedback early and you’ll be able to boost support for your DMS and increase the likelihood of long term success. In fact, including employees in decision making can increase success rates by 15% according to the Harvard Business Review. In this case, employees should be consulted on the formatting of files in your new system. Ask them how they like to access their documents, so staff are comfortable once the new system goes live.
The most effective way of gathering feedback is having face-to-face meetings (this includes virtual faces!) according to a McKinsey report. It’s unlikely that a single project champion will be able to gather this information themselves so gathering feedback could involve delegating to managers.
Prepping your data migration
This is the final step before you wave your old way of managing documents goodbye and dive into your new system. Before you put the tools down, here are some points to check off.
Make sure you’re confident with how data will be formatted
Have you consulted your team and worked out how information from other apps will feed into your system?
Migrate everything from your current system
Are all your historic files accounted for? Without the complete picture of your client engagements, you’ll be missing context and will need to search for hidden files.
The Do’s and Don’ts of implementing a DMS
Implementing a new DMS is straightforward. Get our complete guide containing customer stories and all three stages — discovery, migration, and onboarding your team.
