The Paperless Office - selection checklist
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There are a number of document
management systems available that aim to assist in
achieving a paperless office, each offer a variety
of functionalities. SpecIT consultant Oliver Haskell
details the options available in his published guidelines
for accountants. The table below describes how Cumulus
complies with this checklist.
|
| Feature |
Cumulus Compliance |
|
| Archive
file structure |
The system should be configured
to reflect the organisations current filing system.
This minimises the disruption to users when moving
to a new system, reduces the amount of work for the
implementation team, and diminishes the need for user
training.
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1
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Facility to create a document library
structure which is independent of all documents.
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YES
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2
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Provision of intuitive library
navigation through the use of hierarchy trees, memory
maps and so on.
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YES
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3
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Ability to place security restrictions
on the library structure with access to documents
determined by the filling locations
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YES
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| Version
Control |
The ability to manage multiple
versions of the same document opens the door to version
control as well as enabling users to edit and mark-up
documents within the archive.
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1
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System can keep an automatic revision
history for each document.
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YES
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2
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Validity dates and/or other mechanisms
allow only the correct version of the document to
be retrieved during standard searches
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YES
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3
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Not
all documents need to be subject to version control. |
YES
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4
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System allows in-situ editing of
documents - without the need to download, modify then
upload again
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YES
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5
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Annotations
can be readily added and stored on a document |
YES
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6
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Version control can be assisted by
workflow automated processes
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YES
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| Meta
Data and searching tools |
The ability to add user-definable
meta data to each document makes it easier for users
to find documents using keyword search strings
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1
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Meta data fields can be defined without
recourse to the software vendor.
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YES
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2
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The content of meta fields may be
limited through lists of values or other means
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YES
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3
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Meta data itself may be built into
a hierarchy, allowing drill-down searches
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YES
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4
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Searching on meta data can include
"fuzzy" techniques - soundex, synonyms etc
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NO
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Full text indexing and searching
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This facility makes the text
within electronic documents available for faster retrieval
by storing within a database index. This facility
works for word processor documents, email files and
the like, but would require optical character recognition
(OCR) for scanned images.
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1
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Full text indexing is carried out by
document management system itself
Note: Cumulus enables searching
by client name, client number, document type, accounting
date or year end, free text title and keywords. This
method ensures quick and accurate retrieval without
changing existing practices.
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NO
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2
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All industry standard file formats
can be scanned and indexed - without including the
formatting information
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NO
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3
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Indexing may be carried out as a background
task, without slowing down the process of adding documents
to the library
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NO
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4
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Full text indexing may be linked to
meta data through user-defined interpretation rules.
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NO
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Integrated scanning/
imaging
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Scanning can often be handled
by a third party system, but for ultimate control
and performance is better handled within the DMS itself,
either under end-user or automated workflow control.
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1
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The system should be able to accept
input and command any industry standard scanner, up
to the maximum throughput of the device.
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YES
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2
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The
system should be aware of the concept of a scan "job"
- not all documents are one page long. |
YES
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3
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The scanning process must be able
to feed new documents into the library as and when
they are scanned
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YES
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Integrated optical character recognition
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OCR can translate text within
a scanned image file into readable form. This is especially
useful for indexing and categorising documents based
on their content. Variants include, form recognition
- the ability to recognise and discount a fixed part
of a printed form so that only the contents of the
form are stored, not the structure. Bar code recognition
provides another way to recognise the type of document
within a scanned image.
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1
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Incoming scanned images matched against
known templates to identify the type of document and
capture key information for meta fields or similar.
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NO
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2
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The system should be capable of some,
all or more of the following auto-correction features:
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1
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Recognising he orientation of a document
and correcting if necessary.
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NO
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2
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Detecting poor scan quality and applying
sharpen/despeckle/contrast / etc filters to improve
it.
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NO
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3
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Employing built-in dictionaries
of both spelling and grammar (in any relevant language
to help ensure accurate interpretation)
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NO
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3
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Workflow processes should be available
/ definable to ensure that the recognition meets the
required standard for inclusion in the library
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NO
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4
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Handwriting recognition may be required,
depending on the provenance and type of incoming documents.
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NO
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5
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Barcode recognition (in the relevant
formats) may be required
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NO
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| Document
relationships and dependencies |
An ability to create document
- to - document relationships and dependencies not
only allows version control to operate, but also provides
another mechanism of categorising and indexing documents.
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1
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Relationships
between documents may be defined. |
NO
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2
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Relationships between documents may
need to be derived by the system. For example related
content may be implied by looking at how and when
documents are viewed over time.
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NO
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Subscription and notification facilities
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The capability to manage and
deploy user subscription lists allows users to be
automatically be notified of changes to documents
of interest to them with no need to central administration
or action. Combined with workflow document approval,
this provides a very potent time saving device and
communication aid.
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1
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System allows personnel to subscribe
to documents and be notified of key events in the
document life cycle (publishing, revision, retirement,
etc.)
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NO
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2
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Subscription may be to an area of
the library or a stored multi-criteria query, to allow
subset of documents to be derived on an on-going basis
(e.g., subscribe to all document relating to football/complaints/food/company
X/etc.)
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NO
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3
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It may be useful to have a variety
of notification methods - detailed or digest, email
or post, SMS and so on.
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NO
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| Role-based
security policies and templates |
The ability to apply security
policies to documents and users is essential to protect
confidential information. Role-based security can
control access rights by groups, rather than treating
each user individually.
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1
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Document security can be applied by
activity, controlling user rights to view, update,
comment, or delete documents.
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YES
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2
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Role-based security templates, with
option to include a user in more than one group
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YES
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3
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Security policy should go through
the whole application, specifically including all
the search facilities.
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YES
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4
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The ability to look up users from
microsoft active directory invaluable in larger organisations
with large numbers of DMS users
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NO
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| Useage
Log |
Tracking user access to documents
provides an audit trail, plus valuable feedback on
how useful particular document or set of documents
is.
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1
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System can maintain full audit trail
of all activity on each document - who has done what,
to what and when.
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YES
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2
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The audit trail can be used to track
document popularity - for example to build up faq
lists, or to provide quality feedback.
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NO
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3
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The audit trail should include, details
of any workflow - driven actions performed.
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YES
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| Workflow
features |
Workflow functionality automates
approval processes; with more sophisticated tools
providing extra tracking and reporting capabilities.
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1
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Users have a personal log-in page
that includes workflow notifications and "to-do"
lists.
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YES
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2
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The system allows users to approve/decline
documents and task electronically.
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NO
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3
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Alternative
workflow paths or escalation processes provided. |
YES
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4
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Real-time
reporting of where each task is. |
YES
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5
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Workflow processes can be defined
without complicated programming knowledge.
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NO
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6
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Support for external users via email
without remote users having to access the system.
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YES
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| Web
interface and deployability |
"Zero footprint" solutions
such as web-browser applications can have significant
effects on deployment costs for medium and large organisations.
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1
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Users can get full functional access
through a standard web browser
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NO
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2
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The user's view can be configured
to reflect the client organisation's corporate identity.
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NO
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3
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Documents within the system can seamlessly
integrate into a company intranet.
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YES
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4
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The system caters for a variety deployment
scenarios, including multiple sites and languages,
with support for mobile users and so on.
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YES
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| Help
and training facilities |
Built-in help materials are
particularly important for a document management system.
After all, the software should be able to manage its
own documents. Workflow tools can establish a framework
for training and tutorials.
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1
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Relevant user documentation is available,
preferably via context-sensitive help system.
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YES
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2
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Printed
documentation also available. |
YES
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3
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Client organisation can add and edit
on-line documentation to reflect its own processes.
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YES
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| About
SpecIT |
Oliver Haskell is a principle consultant
with SpecIT, an on-line software selection knowledge
base operated by the Marlborough Group Consultancy.
Medium-to-large organisations typically use SpecIT
to identify key requirements for business systems.
The organisation is now working to make similar analysis
tools and software consultancy available for smaller
organisations.
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