What is a Document?

A document is an information that a person or group of users may find beneficial. There are both digital and analogue forms of this information.
Analog and digital documents are stored using different techniques.

A paper or analogue document can be kept physically in a file cabinet, while a digital or electronic document is preserved in a server as one or
more files. Digital documents can also be part of a database. Electronic document management applications deal with electronic documents'
control, preservation, and security.
Document Control:

Document control is a set of procedures that guarantees that documents are produced, evaluated, distributed, and discarded in a systematic and verifiable method. It is a
set of guidelines and instructions that ensure the project team has access to the proper documents, data, and resources. Document changes like project plans, design
documentation, or requirements can be managed using document control. It can also be used to control changes to other kinds of files, including code, photos, videos,
and audio files.
Document Control System:

A document control system is a piece of software that tracks, manages, and stores both digital and scanned paper documents. The aim is to make key documents easier
to access. Companies may become more organised, store papers more effectively, and exchange information within the business with the use of a document control
system. Software for document control allows you to save all of your documents online in one location. To enhance cooperation and access to your information, these
technologies typically contain features like file sharing, security permissions, version control, and check-out. Document control systems are also known as document
management systems.
Importance of a Document Control System
A document control system's key advantage is that it lowers your regulatory risk. Regulatory breaches are frequently caused by inadequate recordkeeping. A document
control system makes sure that your records are kept appropriately, helping you avoid potentially crippling penalties and enforcement proceedings. Additionally, you will
be able to generate the required paperwork to prove compliance swiftly in the event of an audit.
But these are not the only benefits of a document control system, other benefits of document control systems include:

 Paperless:

Companies all over the world spend billions of pounds every year on paper. It includes not only the cost of purchasing paper, but also printing, storing, shredding, and

disposing of it. Going paperless can save your business a significant amount of money and make a major contribution to your sustainability efforts.

 Work from anywhere:

You can access your files from any location at any time using a cloud-based solution. In contrast to a paper filing cabinet, you can access your most crucial documents

without being present in the office. It enables the ability to edit, modify and supervise a document in real time. Because of such great benefits, remote work is quickly

replacing on-site labour.

 Security of Sensitive Documents:

A locked file cabinet or a spreadsheet with password protection is no longer sufficient protection against security breaches, which pose a major risk to your company and

reputation. A document control system, as its name suggests, enables you to manage who has access to which files. This indicates that only those who are authorised

can access, modify, and remove documents. Nowadays document control systems are equipped with highly secured technology that not only prevents physical risks but

also protects from digital risks too.

 Improved Efficiency:

 The most important factor of a Document Control System is the efficiency it provides to the job. It not only solves all the problems you face while working with paper but

also provides more benefits to boost your document management. You don't need to browse through countless folders on your desktop or email, nor do you need to

spend time looking for actual paper documents in a filing cabinet. Implementing a document management system will give your company's employees a safe, central

location to manage and share their documents.

You can keep track of and maintain the compliance records in your company by putting in place a document management system. They are crucial to the continued

success of your company. You might then complete the data for the audit in a few hours rather than a few days when you gather papers for audits and make sure they

have all the necessary information.

 Preventing Loss:

 Paper documentation is easily lost, stolen, or ruined by fire or water. This issue can be eliminated by a document control system, which offers a safe digital copy of your

files. By providing you with a central location to store crucial papers, records, and reports, a document control system also helps you avoid losing institutional knowledge,

which could happen when significant workers leave the company or retire.

Document Control Life Cycle

What is the Document Control Life Cycle?
A company handles its documents during their lifespans with document control. It signifies that it is a dependable, consistent, and orderly method of arranging
documents, data, and information. As a result, you will have a set of protocols for document control as well as a person or people who will be in charge of it. Whether or
not you use an electronic system for operations like numbering, versioning, and archiving will determine the specifics of these activities.
The Six Phases Of Document Life Cycle

The life cycle of a document or the data that is processed for action is divided into six phases. There are document items and corresponding document statuses in each
phase that are defined differently throughout the document lifecycle. They depend on the document workflow for each document, the type of document being processed,
and the company's document task requirements. Additionally, each processing step introduces specific needs for data management, as well as the underlying rights and
role management. As a result, the following steps are part of the digital document lifecycle:

1. Creation 4. Usage
2. Review 5. Archival
3. Approval and Document Sharing 6. Disposal
1. Creation:

The lifecycle's initial stage is document generation. There are numerous ways and sources from which documents might be produced or
generated. The document is produced or delivered to the business (by mail, fax, scan, or by e-mail). It can either be generated automatically
from many sources and data or manually created by a user on paper, a monitor, or a mobile device. This is made feasible by continually
improved software for electronic document and data management, automated text recognition, and data capturing. Depending on the type of
document, extra programmes like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel may be required when creating a document on a PC. The document
can then be prepared for further processing and kept in a central location.
2. Review:
While there may be multiple users working together in the second phase, the first step frequently just involves one user. It is now necessary to make the information
included in the paper accessible to others, as well as to organise, disseminate, record, and meaningfully index data. A Proper review of the document will ensure that
multiple individuals, possibly from various departments, can make modifications to the document concurrently or sequentially. The collaborative process is made secure
and transparent in this step thanks to the use of revision security, versioning, synchronisation, and change management/release.
3. Approval and Document Sharing:
The sharing, collaboration, and of documents by an individual or a group of users accessing real-time and non-real-time methods need proper
approval before they are done.
Through the system, documents can be shared for straightforward collaboration using expiring links or for more complicated methods like
collaboration tools, or document annotation technology.

These documents may be shared with internal stakeholders (within the company) or external stakeholders (such as subcontractors, clients, etc. You might have come
across certain documents that need to be reviewed by your supervisor or someone with more expertise in the field. As a result, many companies now include an
approvals process before making the documents available to further stakeholders in the document lifecycle

4. Usage:

The access and usage of a document and its contents are determined in the fourth phase. Read-write and release rights can be stored, access can be specified as
permanent or temporary, and content can be easily or repeatedly accessed. During this stage, the document may also change. A document gets degraded to phase
three when it is updated again, and the fourth phase is only initiated with the final version, according to the document lifecycle's architecture.
This guarantees that all modifications are accurately recorded and saved in a way that can be traced (change, change time, processor). This
stage of the document lifecycle for paper-based documents is particularly challenging since it makes traceability and unambiguity more
challenging. It is not always obvious which version is the most recent or the one that has been made public, whether all editors have finished, or
whether all comments are final. Digital systems help the business and guard against manipulation and later alterations, particularly in the case of legal papers.

5. Archival:

When all parties involved in the processing have finished their tasks and the document has been distributed appropriately, its usefulness in the present reduces. As a
result, the document lifecycle's processing phase of a document frequently ends with easy or audit-proof long-term archiving. By doing this, you can be sure that the
document will be preserved by the rules that apply to its type of document and that it won't be altered again. Paperbound archives safeguard against further document
modification, but they are challenging to search for certain files and to destroy or renew them on time. The difficulty of maintaining an overview increases.
6. Disposal :

Formally documented deletion is frequently paired with audit-compliant storage. Delays, however, can happen at this stage, particularly in businesses that work with
paper-based archives. Even though they may have already been discarded or lost, documents are nonetheless kept even though they may still be required. Therefore,
the legally compliant destruction or deletion of the document during the final stage of the document lifecycle determines when a document is no longer useful to the
company. This responsibility is automatically taken on by digital archives, which also permanently erase the document and all associated data. Even if today's digital
data repositories seem to go on forever, Big Data and unique marketing profiles generate enormous volumes of data that need to be managed and maintained.