What, you may ask, is a document management system?  A document management system, or DMS, is, essentially, a high-tech file server.  You can open documents like reports, pictures, or spreadsheets from it, and you can save those same documents back to it.  In this aspect, it is the same as a Windows CIFS share, a UNIX NFS mount, or a WebDAV folder.  Where it differs is also where it becomes interesting.

Features of a DMS

Basic features set a DMS apart from a file server.  Here are a few:

  1. Auditing: when users change a file, the system tracks who changed it and when it was changed.
  2. Privileges: similar to a file server's access control lists, but also have the ability to share with people who have no credentials (anonymous access).
  3. Version Control: when a document is changed, the old version is not erased, but kept in a backup so that it can be restored, if needed.
  4. Canonical Files: because the files are versioned and because modification of files is controlled, you can be always be sure you're looking at the latest revision of a document.  No more "My-Report-Tuesday.doc" and "My-Report-Tuesday2.doc" and "My-Report-Tuesday-Jim's-Edits.doc" madness.
  5. Workflow: when a report is finished, a user can mark it as "ready to review."  Their boss automatically gets an email saying "Sally's Report is ready to review."  If he reads it and approves it, the report can move on to the next step.  If he doesn't like the report, it will be kicked back to Sally show she can edit it.

In addition to these features, for our particular implementation we're looking for:

  1. Cross Platform: the DMS client should run on Windows and OS X.
  2. Linux Support: because maintaining Windows servers is expensive.
  3. Web Accessible: should include an HTML-based front-end so that remote users can connect to it.

Evaluating a DMS

In my previous post, I listed a few DMSes that we'll be trying out.  Areas that we'll look at specifically are:

  1. Ease of Obtaining: was it simple to download a demo or the community version?  The answer can often tell you about the attitude of the company that produces the DMS.  Calls from sales people are welcome and expected.
  2. Installation: I have no expectations when it comes to how easy an installation is.  This is behind-the-scenes software, and configuring such software is often complicated.  However, once it is running smoothly, good software continues to be stable.  Except for power outages and security patches, there should be no reason to muck about with it.
  3. Integration: Strong integration with Microsoft Office 2007 is critical.  If the workflow for editing a document is cumbersome, users will revert to saving files to their local disks and sharing files over email.
  4. Price: Good software costs money, I know.  But we're a small company that can't afford exorbitant licensing fees, so it's important if the licensing will be per user or per server installation.
  5. Backups and Restoration: our current file server method of sharing is braindead, but also dead easy to backup and restore.  A good DMS should have an emergency restoration procedure.  If the DMS server dies, I want to be able to get a backup running from a spare computer quickly.

So there you have it.  A brief overview of DMSes, and what we'll be looking at when we evaluate them.  The first DMS on our list is KnowledgeTree, which I've heard good things about.  See you later!