Assessing Your Document Management Needs and Building a Holistic EDMS Approach

October 1, 2025

6 min read

As an engineering professional, you know selecting the right engineering document management system (EDMS) is critical for accuracy, compliance and efficiency. These systems are robust and built specifically for engineering needs and use cases. In an industry where even a single design flaw or outdated drawing can cause delays, safety risks and financial losses, the right EDMS platform sets a foundation for operational integrity, risk mitigation and long-term success.

In this article, we share the common reasons why you might need to revisit your document management needs as well as common pitfalls when assessing those needs. Keep reading for insight into avoiding pitfalls and building a holistic approach to EDMS planning.

6 Common Instances That Trigger the Need to Revisit EDMS Needs

Your document management approach serves various purposes from preventing costly errors to protecting intellectual property to streamlining workflows. However, there are certain scenarios that warrant a reassessment of your tech stack to make sure you have what is needed. Here are six:

1. Siloed Data

To keep engineering projects on track, your teams need to have full access to the information, documents and drawings they need in the moment they need them. If data is siloed to one team or department, but there are stakeholders in a project that belong to another team, you end up with an information breakdown. The reality is you need a document management system that can provide data clarity and access across all groups involved.

2. Outdated or Too Many Systems

If you’re using a legacy system, it’s possible certain features or capabilities have become outdated as the pace of technological advancements speeds up. Changing needs and industry or legal requirements mean you need a system with the agility to keep pace. Additionally, outdated systems may not have the integration capabilities you need to scale your tech stack leading to too many systems, most of which can’t talk to each other.

3. Compliance Risk

Maintaining compliance with the latest industry regulations is crucial to how your engineering projects operate. There are a number of engineering-specific compliance requirements, with new rules and updates being added consistently. When regulations change you need to have a document management system that can scale and adjust to meet those new requirements, but older or siloed systems may not be able to.

4. Poor Mobile Access

Your field teams, contractors and remote engineers need to be able to instantly access or update critical documents without coming up against delays. Teams working in the field or in remote sites often rely on mobile devices such as phones or tablets to keep projects moving. If access is poor, it can stall work, cause duplicate efforts or errors and even lead to safety risks

5. Mergers and Acquisitions

Should your engineering organization acquire another company, be acquired itself or undertake any kind of business merger, there will likely be discrepancies. Not only are you trying to bring together separate companies with different operating protocols, systems and processes, but it can also uncover disparate practices within your organization. Workflows will need to be unified, and redundancies will need to be eliminated to ensure seamless transition and workflows as well as compliance and data protection.

6. Expansion into New Markets

Expanding into a new market introduces new regulatory requirements, regional workflows and even languages your current system may not support. Your responsibility is to make sure the organization remains compliant, scalable and secure throughout the expansion process. This includes new approach to standardizing processers and onboarding so everyone is aligned and confident with the new market entry.

Watch: Discover the Power of Unified CMMS and EDMS

What Are Common Pitfalls When Assessing Document Management Needs?

As you think about the document management needs your engineering organization has and assess potential EDMS solutions to use, here are two pitfalls to stay aware of.

1. Misunderstanding Workflow Context

Not considering how your people use documents from day to day often leads to misalignment between system capabilities and real-world needs. This can lead to inefficiency and low adoption rates which makes the investment not worthwhile. The goal should be to align functionality with your organization’s unique processes so you deliver real value.

2. Disconnecting Vendor Offerings from Intended Use Cases

You want to avoid focusing solely on a vendor features list as solutions may look good on paper but fail in practice. For example, field technicians needing to access documents on a mobile device but having trouble due to connectivity issues. The right EDMS is one that maps to the intended use cases you have for it to avoid frustration, project delays and poor adoption.

3. Exercises to Help You Avoid EDMS Assessment Pitfalls

1. Define Business Goals

Consider what you are trying to achieve with technology and how an EDMS might help you do that. Whether it’s cost reduction, faster project delivery, improved safety or more compliance confidence, you need to be able to connect with capabilities of an EDMS system you are considering with the business objectives you have. Otherwise, it won’t be worth the investment or implementation.

2. Identify Stakeholders, Personas and User Stories

Think about the groups that are impacted by your organization’s document management approach. Engineering, maintenance, operations, compliance and IT all stand to benefit from the right system or be held back by the wrong one. Consider the personas that operate in each of these departments. Leverage their user stories to validate practical day-to-day workflows and detail the specific needs for each.

3. Map out Unique Collaboration Needs

An EDMS solution should support the way your teams actually work and collaborate, so you don’t end up trying to force adaptation to system limitations. Take field operability for example. You should evaluate mobile access, offline functionality, QR code scanning and markup tools to make sure teams can operate efficiently in low-connectivity environments. Internal and external teams and stakeholders need real-time collaboration, so consider cost and budget for per-seat pricing to ensure a scalable solution.

Take the Strategic Next Step and Start Your EDMS Planning

Aligning your engineering document management with strategic goals is something that needs to be done yesterday. If you haven’t already, now is the time to audit your current document ecosystems and management processes.

Selecting the right EDMS solutions means gaining a deep understanding of your unique workflows, user requirements, and compliance needs. Identify the business objectives, personas and workflows that need support and prioritize the must-have capabilities that will best elevate the work your teams need to do. Honest self-assessment and analyzing the right vendor fit is essential for future-proofing your investment and ensuring it can bring operational excellence.

Are you ready to assess your document management needs and start a plan for EDMS implementation? Access our EDMS guide today for a solution and vendor partner checklist.