Last week we attended the CSDA show for clerks and managers, which was really good. We chatted with several Special Districts who were very interested in Laserfiche. Many of them stored their documents on a shared drive and were very aware of how that was a liability. Here’s an overview of what we explained to them.
Enterprise content management (ECM) is a technology-enabled approach that empowers special districts to leverage structured and unstructured information in diverse formats and make it accessible and secure across their organizations. By embracing cloud-based ECM, and, dare we say, a site license deployment, special districts can better harness information across departments, systems, and applications, maintain records management and regulatory compliance, disaster preparedness, and be prepared for litigation.
So, special districts are ripe for a solution like Laserfiche, especially enterprise special districts, as efficiencies are critical when an agency is run as a business. Typically, Laserfiche is used primarily as a records management tool in the special district ecosystem. However, there are many other uses, including but not limited to back office functions:
Accounts Payable- Laserfiche can be integrated into the AP process through the Laserfiche Connector or as a database lookup. Invoices are automatically identified and verified against purchase orders and validated, approval notifications are automatically sent according to business rules, and approved invoices are submitted to financial systems and archived for audit purposes.
Human Resources-HR can obtain the required documentation for new personnel more efficiently, update training, and track certifications. And automatically notify necessary departments — including IT, facilities, payroll, and benefits — before the individual begins work.
Legal- Unfortunately, special districts are not immune from litigation. Laserfiche can automate records and keep them on their retention schedules while managing legal holds and the burden of ediscovery.
Disaster Recovery- With global warming, California's special districts must be more responsive. Digital services must include sharing resources and remote access. Additionally, rebuilding the system quickly or proving compliance with a Laserfiche-driven trusted system is critical. Importantly, trusted systems can also serve as a defense against cyber hacks.
We heard at the show that infrastructure improvements are top of mind while special districts learn how to meet citizen and employee expectations of digital services. Hence, evolving needs and rising expectations are prompting special sections to replace aging technologies and digitize manual processes. This modernization aims to improve the quality and reliability of our customer communications and minimize downtime. After several years of pandemic-related disruption and crisis response, district leaders are confronting a new challenge: Determining what the future will look like. Laserfiche is a part of that future suggestion.
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