You don’t have to work for the government to know that it’s a huge target for cybercriminals.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, there has been a 300% increase in cybercrimes since the beginning of COVID-19. Government entities — given their huge stores of highly sensitive data — need to ensure their information is protected while still enabling productivity.

New Normal, New Risks

The quick switch to working from home forced many teams to make adjustments on the fly… often while inadvertently exposing the organization to additional security risks.

Amid that chaos, cyberattacks against United States government organizations added up to $18.9 billion in recovery costs and downtime in 2020.

As executive orders and other “digital modernization” mandates are pushing for stricter cybersecurity protocols, government entities can’t afford to stick to the status quo when it comes to managing internal documents and records.

To protect their business operations and the citizens they serve from risk, government agencies are turning to cloud-based document management systems (DMS) to keep their valuable files secure.

What does document management mean for government?

Not familiar with document management? No worries.

At its core, a DMS is the tool your team uses to store and manage documents, including repositories, workflows, access control, information retrieval, and more. A cloud-based DMS offers advanced security that helps reduce your organization’s risk of a data breach while providing easy access to the information people need to do their best work.

Compliance-as-a-Service

Government agencies also use cloud-based DMS platforms to help them store records compliantly, as required by the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program or FedRAMP, which is a government-wide program that provides a standardized approach to security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring for cloud service providers. By using a DMS provider that has met the rigorous compliance and security standards to achieve FedRAMP Authorization, government entities can take advantage of pass-through compliance, wherein you are compliant because your cloud service provider is.

The Cost of Overcorrection

Keeping records secure and compliant is absolutely crucial for the government. Unfortunately, many end up sacrificing their team’s productivity and ability to collaborate by forcing them to jump through a dozen hoops to access the information they need or by restricting them to use legacy systems like shared folder structures that offer a false sense of security.

Rather than helping teams stay compliant, this approach often leads individuals to find non-compliant workarounds that can expose your organization to risk.

Do More Without Risking More

So how do you keep your organization protected and productive?

It’s pretty simple: You need a DMS that provides security and compliance, and promotes collaboration and productivity improvements — no compromises. With the right platform, your entire team can access benefits like:

• Anywhere Access: Maximum flexibility to work at home or in the office without sacrificing strict access controls like multifactor authentication.
• Seamless Collaboration: Easily find and share documents with internal and intradepartmental colleagues or other outside parties (e.g., government contractors, public constituents).
• Streamlined Workflows: Greater productivity, less effort.

And much more!

Check Out The Definitive Guide to Document Management

Want to see how a DMS can help your organization stay productive and protected?

Download your copy of The Definitive Guide to Document Management for Government to learn some of the many benefits of a DMS, plus how to choose the right platform for your team.