There are many business scenarios that prompt companies to inquire into, and rollout, document management software solutions. Some companies are required by contract to implement a document management software solution to satisfy or serve a project for a particular client. Others are required to use a document management software application in order to comply with HIPPA, ISO 9000, or SOX. Unfortunately, one of the most common reason companies rollout a document management software solution is because of an extremely costly mistake that is determined to be due to outdated or inadequate document management tools.
In the last category, the client is usually managing documents in a Windows Explorer environment and maybe going as far as to attempt to track some indexed data in a separate spreadsheet. This approach, although sometimes effective with smaller businesses, becomes problematic once a company experiences growth or begins to handle multiple projects. Continuing this type of approach, once the level of documents, users or projects increases is no longer cost effective but an expensive accident waiting to happen. With increases in volume, clients experience an increase in tracking revisions, in the number of lost documents which is usually attributed to misplaced documents and loss of productivity with users spending excessive amounts of time looking for those documents
Many obvious problems are associated with this archaic document management approach. It is time consuming to search the spreadsheet and then navigate to the document you are trying to find. Also, once you find the document, there is no way to know if someone else has the document checked out. Even if you have a cell for tracking this, there is nothing to actually keep a person from taking the document. Think back to a time before electronic files when a "Librarian" would log documents in and out of a file room. There is no Librarian in Windows Explorer watching the users. Therefore, there is nothing to prevent two people from editing the same document simultaneously and someone's edits are going to get overwritten as a result. The bigger problem comes when the file is ultimately distributed and no-one realizes it is the wrong file until it is too late.
Engineering construction companies have put the wrong drawings out for bid which resulted in construction immediately followed by demolition. Manufacturing companies have manufactured thousands of parts, even shipped them, before realizing the drawings they used to make the parts were not the current approved set. Companies have literally lost millions of dollars from distributing incorrect project documents. The price of a sound electronic document management software system can be a fraction of the cost compared to mistakes that come from poor tools. .
Imagine a company who has multiple projects going on and hundreds of people accessing documents across these projects. Regardless of the reasons a company decides to take the plunge into document management software, every company that acquires and implements professional document management software ends up obtaining benefits beyond their initial objectives. User friendliness and well thought out system implementations, with respect to your organizations business rules, can create uniformity in document storage, uniformity in how documents are revised and named, and speed up document retrieval exponentially. Clients can also benefit from immediate on-the fly reporting instead of spending hours generating reports manually.
The following information is a brief summary of how electronic document management systems can store and secure a database. Security may be administered through profiles, user templates, and databases. Some applications may offer all of these levels while others are limited to one or two. Systems that include Profile and User Template security will offer the greatest amount of flexibility to administrators and allow them to set up new users with a couple of clicks.
Profiles - Pre-set security levels of a general scope including edit, view, and print. The profile will also determine which user template a user will be presented with when they log into the program. If an electronic document management program is limited to only profile security, then it will be limited to three or four levels.
User Templates - Templates can be created for every user but this may become maintenance intensive so they are usually created for a level that is appropriate for a given user in a given department. Example: Engineering will have different fields and views than Accounting and there may be three different levels in each department. Some systems will give administrators the ability to control every menu option available in the application and turn it on or off for each user template. Database Security - There are three main forms of security security. Depending on your specific goals, one of them may be more beneficial for you than the others. Below is a brief discussion of each form of document security
Database Blob - This is the most "secure" method of securing documents, but this security does not come without a price. The files are not stored in their native file format; rather, they are converted into another form in one big database BLOB "Binary Large OBject"
Blobs can become very large. A file may become 5-10 times larger when converted into a database blob. Files with associated reference files, like in CAD files, will loose their association because of name changing. Add-on products are available to address this issue, but they can be very expensive and slow down your system. Blobs will also prevent you from accessing your documents from an alternative method if your document management system becomes unavailable.
Encrypting Files - Encrypting documents changes the names of the files so that they cannot be accessed or opened from an explorer utility. A user could browse the location in Windows Explorer (outside of the electronic document management software), but that individual would not be able to identify a file or document by its filename. They would also not be able to open the file because it is encrypted and must be opened through the electronic document management application.
One of the disadvantages is that a user can delete the files if he can find them (you cannot "lock" the directory because the document management application, or desktop, needs access to the directory). You can however overcome this problem with frequent backups of the system. Encrypted files have similar naming problems as blobs because reference links are lost, and you may be held hostage by the DMS if it goes down.
Native File Format Storage - This is the process of storing files in a directory in their original format. This is the most flexible method because the files are not altered. The administrator also maintains control of the access to the documents regardless of what happens with the DMS application.
The disadvantage is that the directory must remain unlocked (as with encryption) for a desktop application to access the documents. If you need to restrict access to these documents outside of procedural regulations, then you can store the documents on a hidden directory so that the users do not know how to navigate the document repository. This method is very effective, but not 100% secure like the blob method.
The most ideal security solution would be to store the files in their native format, but only allow the users to access the system through a browser interface. The browser accesses the files through services, so the directory may be locked down to prevent accessing documents through the "back door". The browser option gives you the best of both worlds: 100% file security with flexibility and optimal storage capacity.
Bret Lawson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Software, Management Software Solutions and Management Software Solutions. Bret Lawson is a document management consultant with Practical Programs, Inc in Houston, TX. Practical Programs specializes in electronic document management for companies who use CAD files and associated documents.. Bret Lawson's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.