In the mid 1980s my company got its first PC for accounting and a database of client/case records. It was a revolution! At that time companies had document management systems that involved extensive rows of filing cabinets and, if they were lucky, a more than competent filing clerk. What little control there was over these documents involved being responsible for the key of the one locked filing cabinet.
In 1990 I was introduced to quality management and the UK standard BS5750; ISO 9001 followed shortly afterwards. For the most part business managers wanted the certificate on the wall to aid sales, PR and because their customers “required” it. I got asked by directors of many small and medium-sized enterprises what a certificate would cost and did it come with a “quality” frame? All too often they were not interested in quality management as a means of improving the prospects and profitability of their business. Quality managers tasked with getting their companies approved to ISO 9001 often had an uphill task trying to persuade their senior managers that controlling selected documents was a reasonable requirement that would provide benefits to the company.