What are the pros and cons of digital office management?

Advantages of digital office management:

(i) Constant communication of employees with the office: The main advantage of digital office management is that the office worker can always be connected to the office wherever he is. Any information can be provided at any time between each entity in the office. As a result, absence of a person from the office does not normally disrupt the functioning of the office.

(ii) Non-inconsistency of data: In a traditional office environment, since the same information is written in multiple files, due to inconsistency, inconsistency or mismatch may be created between different data. For example, a regular customer's address has been changed in the sales section but not in the account section. There can be no data inconsistencies in digital office management. Because the authenticity and validity of the data is verified at various stages.

(iii) Easier sharing and availability of data: There may be a need to exchange data between different departments of an office or organization. But in the traditional method, the data location is divided into different files and it is complicated to retrieve the data located in different files during data processing. This also complicates data flow and data availability is not guaranteed. As a result of digital office management it is possible to eliminate all such problems.

(iv) Ensuring Data Security: In traditional office environments, dissemination or distribution of information is out of control due to less control over data. The management level often has no way of knowing the confidentiality of information or who has disclosed information or who is changing the organization's data. As a result, there is a possibility of data distortion, data smuggling, etc. As a result of digital office management, the security of every data can be ensured.

(v) Increasing the efficiency and productivity of office work: As a result of digital office management, coordination is achieved between different levels of office management, decision making process is faster, monitoring and evaluation can be done immediately, work transparency and accountability can be ensured. As a result of all these activities, overall office efficiency and productivity increase.

Disadvantages of Digital Office Management:

(i) Lack of skilled manpower : Modern automation requires skilled manpower, who can run the office dynamically using office management systems.

(ii) Dependence on Information and Communication Technology: Modern office management means extensive use of information and communication technology. Without reliable information and communication technology especially connectivity or network connectivity, digital office management will be hampered. If there is a problem in the information and communication technology infrastructure for some reason, the office management system can also have problems.

(iii) Initial cost of office automation is high: Hardware and software are required to create modern office management. Which requires a lot of money initially. Funding for startups is a costly affair for many offices or organizations.