Document Management Software Purchasing Considerations

Choosing a document management system can be a bit intimidating, but fear not, Doc is here to help. Well, at least I'm here to tell you where to get help. In this case, a great primer on the top things to consider when buying document management software or services. This is from the folks at KnowledgeTree, who, among other things, make an open-source free document management solution.

According to KnowledgeTree, when selecting document management software, the following may be useful to consider:

• Is the software easy to use, presenting user interface and filing concepts familiar to users?

• Does it allow you to meet your organization's goals and fit your culture i.e. the software's workflow capabilities should have the flexibility to provide you tight control over your document lifecycle or a more loosely structured system.

• Is the software accessible from existing tools such as Web Browsers, Office productivity applications and email applications (such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook), and the Windows Explorer.

• Is the software available in a form that makes best sense to your organization: whether you need the document management software installed on your own network or would like to purchase the "Software as a Service" and leverage the vendor's infrastructure.

• Document management is a long-term commitment: ascertain whether the software you choose to utilize will lock you in indefinitely, or whether you have access to the software's source code and the freedom to choose how you utilize the software.

• If you intend on installing the software on your own network, it should support the technology you already utilize within your enterprise, whether this be Microsoft Windows or Linux server software, Directory Servers and storage devices.

• The software should have lightweight, modern web, and graphical user interfaces that work well over your Intranet, Virtual Private Network and even Internet, allowing your remote users efficient access to the document repository.

• The software should allow you to secure your documents in the repository, whether this is through a fine-grained but intuitive access control system, standard's based SSL/TLS encryption of communications to the server software, or the encryption of documents within the repository itself.

• The software should provide support for common tools used for the volume digitization of paper documents and integration with other devices that generate digital documents such as fax servers.

You can find out more by visiting KnowledgeTree.