Metadata: a documentary revolution

Sarah Seddiki

Document management with metadata, think about it !

It is 5:30 pm, no one is in the office. You need quick access to the support guide for equipment sold to a specific customer. Do you have what it takes to get there without having to go through the files one by one? This is exactly where document management with metadata becomes a smart solution for your business!

Curious to know more? In this article, we explain how metadata will revolutionize your document management to help you save time and money!

How can metadata help you better manage your documents?

It’s simple: metadata makes it easier to classify and access your documents. Specifically, metadata describes the data in your documents by providing additional information about them.

An example ?

You currently have a filing system for your client’s records. In these files, we find in particular, the quotes sent as well as the active and completed contracts. By adding metadata, you can quickly find active contracts that use a type of equipment X, etc. Very useful to react effectively in the event of an equipment breakdown or an unforeseen absence of personnel.

Metadata, how does it work?

First thing to know is that there are 3 types of metadata to define:

  1. descriptive metadata to identify the data content (e.g. specialist’s name, type of equipment required, contract’s date of delivery, estimated duration, etc.);

  2. the structural metadata to indicate how the data are related to each other (e.g. contract number, project number or any element that allows for the association of documents relating to the same contract);

  3. Administrative metadata to describe the data’s organization (e.g. creation date, type of document (contract, invoice, estimate, email, etc.)).

Depending on your business’ needs, each department or branch can have its own metadata, while other metadata applies across the enterprise.

And good news; once you’ve created metadata, they’re available to classify new types of documents. Which standardizes terminology internally and significantly reduce search time.

Document management with metadata is a winner !

The benefits of using metadata for your document management are numerous :

  • Adding additional data to classify documents (other than your current rank)

  • Creating links between various types of documents and data, regardless of their format

  • A more uniform classification of documents within your company

  • Reduced search time to access a document (search can be done from multiple angles)

  • Elimination of duplicates (each document exists in one place, no need to have copies in various files)

In summary, with metadata, you are winners all the way !

Because data collection is good, but it is especially the ability to manage and extract key information that is important! In other words, you need to know how to quickly find useful and relevant information for your company to be effective and profitable.

Need help with your document management with SharePoint? At LS2, we have the power to simplify things and support you in this technological change for a successful implementation.

Communicate with our IT experts, at no cost.

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