Document
management is all about workflow, control, and risk mitigation. Its
objective is summarized perfectly by the two words in its name:
"documents" and "management". It got its start in the legal departments
of pharmaceutical companies, who were concerned to make sure that their
companies were producing documentation in full compliance with
regulatory requirements. A DMS thrives where there are a) documents
already being created as part of a business process; and b) those
documents need to be closely checked in, checked out, supervised,
edited, approved, and stored following a consistent and audit-proof
process.