Document automation or document risk mitigation?

Document automation, document assembly, and document generation – these are all ways of describing the process of using templates to create error-free documentation.

But are any of these the most accurate description of what the software actually does?

Different industry verticals identify different strategic advantages in document automation software. Organizations like banks or large law firms often use document automation technology to reduce risk by minimizing human interaction with documentation.

Legal documents, such as contracts, insurance forms, wills, etc. they are notoriously unstable: every time a governing body meets, the laws governing the documents can change. This reality, the instability of legal documents, gave way to platforms specifically designed to automate legal documentation.

When it comes to banks or financial institutions, the main value proposition that draws them from document automation software is better documentation (and again, less risk). All institutions in the sector, from global banks to local agricultural credit unions, have the same problem: non-legal experts generate and execute binding contracts worth a significant amount of money. Consequently, banks need a document assembly platform that can generate complex, business-ready contracts. The business-ready part is critical, as it is the human element in preparing contracts that can lead to legal exposure.

Document automation systems began operating in law firms in the late 1980s, but are equally applicable to any business environment where complex legal documentation is regularly produced.

For example, a document automation system could be used to capture the expertise of a senior attorney in a bank’s legal department. This in turn would allow non-legal staff in remote locations to generate legally binding loan documents with expert precision. Such a system would work by guiding a loan officer through the complex business rules of loan document preparation, providing collateral and expert advice at the point of data entry.

Then you have the benefits of using this type of software as part of a larger business process management (BPM) solution. Companies regularly integrate specialized document automation software with their chosen BPM system due to its much greater ability to tackle immensely complex documents. This is done despite the fact that many BPM solutions come complete with basic document creation tools. The requirement for a more sophisticated document production solution is to at least partially address risk.

Enterprise-grade document automation systems, while differing from expert systems in developing a procedural approach to defining business rules, have long been used for a purpose similar to that of expert systems: to capture and use data. knowledge of an expert in order to allow non-experts to achieve the same results. In terms of document production, it is again about risk reduction.

The repeated use of words like automate, build, or assemble when discussing the functionality and capabilities of this type of software furthers the idea that the naming conventions I started out with are accurate. However, I would say that the overarching theme of the industry’s use of this type of technology is to better manage risk.

Based on this observation, I propose to change the name of the software definition to “documenting risk mitigation software.” I’m not sure it will succeed, but every revolution has to start somewhere.