Posts Tagged DMS

Document Management System Vs Enterprise Content Management System

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DCM ECM

One of the questions we often hear from clients is this: what is the difference between a DMS (document management software) system and an ECM (enterprise content management) system? Both are types of software are used for document storage capabilities, and both help organizations create a smarter way of organizing and accessing information in a digital format. However, the terms DMS and ECM are not interchangeable. On the contrary, these two types of document repositories have several notable differences that organizations should consider before choosing one or the other as a means of managing unstructured digital data.

What is a Document Management Software System (DMS)?

DMS systems are basically software that stores, tracks and manages electronic documents. You might think of it as a digital filing cabinet with increased security, and typically, it’s a simpler solution for most businesses that is easier to use and requires less management. DMS is used primarily to digitize and archive files and track and manage new documents throughout their lifecycle, as they are written, revised, and updated.

DMS is the core solution to the problem of helping companies organize, access, retain and safeguard their documents. However, it may only address the document management needs of big companies.

What is an Enterprise Content Management System (ECM)?

ECM systems are more like a formalized means for storing and managing an organization’s process documentation and other content. Some even look at it as a super-sized, high-power DMS. Think of it as an intelligent being able to automatically recognize the content within documents and “know” where/whom to send it to. It manages different types of content, and can also help with email management, imaging, digital asset management, document-centric collaboration, and business process management.

Essentially, ECMs help configures high volumes of unstructured information, especially for larger organizations that can accommodate a much higher price and that need a higher level of content management.

Platform Commonalities

While document management software systems (DMS) and enterprise content management (ECM) platforms are inherently different, they also bear a number of commonalities. Both platforms provide fully centralized storage of files and information in a digital format. An ECM system is technically just a more advanced, feature-heavy DMS, with applications for more demanding or specialized functions for certain industries or organizations.

By digitizing company files and documents, both types of software can help companies go paperless, make files accessible from anywhere, provide disaster recovery and superb security, and support easy file collaboration between multiple users.

Of course, specific features vary between different document management systems and enterprise content management platforms. However, quality enterprise-ready versions of both software should include features such as:

Storage system templates,

Indexing,

Workflow,

Versioning,

Audit trails,

Mobile access,

Encryption for files at rest and in transit,

Advanced system search options.

Outside of these features, both DMS and ECM should also provide the following benefits:

Accessibility, streamlined processes, and great security features,

SaaS technology,

Shared indexing, workflow, versioning, and audit trails,

Add-on tools and modules in most packages,

Fully centralized storage of files in digital format,

Provide disaster recovery,

Cost savings,

Help companies go paperless,

Templates,

Unbound by storage geography,

Benefit the environment,

Sold by organizations with integration technology,

Facilitate green technology,

Designed to consider retention regulations,

Some freeware ECM or DMS programs won’t come with all of these features, which can be a convincing argument for a paid or subscription-based service.

DMS vs. ECM: The Differences Between the Platforms

Despite their similarities, document management software systems and enterprise content management platforms also have several significant differences.

DMS software is essentially the less advanced version of enterprise content management. DMS programs are used specifically to store, track, and manage electronic documents, with the major focus being on structured documents like Word, PowerPoint, Excel, or PDF files. Enterprises typically use document management software to digitize their filing systems and go paperless. DMS systems are usually outfitted with OCR (optical character recognition), making it easy to use the programs to create editable digital versions of your print files.

Providing a similar structure to a filing cabinet—except in digital format and with stronger security and organization principles—DMS programs are useful to organizations because they simplify the entire process of document management. With DMS, you have easy digital control of the entire life cycle of every document in your library, from the creation stage to revisions and updates, all the way to document retention and ongoing file accessibility. You can even automate certain business processes with document management systems, such as archiving or deletion of client documents after specific periods of time.

An enterprise content management system, as mentioned previously, is a more advanced form of DMS technology. An ECM system is an advanced means of storing and managing an organization’s process documentation and other content. These systems can be used to do everything DMS can (digitizing documents, organizing files into an easily searchable filing system, etc.), but are more advanced and powerful.

One of the major contrasts between DMS and ECM software is that while a DMS system is used mainly to organize “structured” Word or PDF documents, ECM can manage images, graphics, website content, emails, video and audio files, rich media assets, and more. In other words, ECM systems are a more comprehensive means of managing all of a company’s digital assets on a multimedia level.

More than just including document management software that can handle alternative media files, enterprise content management systems are also more intelligent programs than document management systems. ECM programs actually measure information in addition to storing it. They manage unstructured data by themselves, working more as an independent office manager or staff member than as simple productivity tools. ECM systems include a number of different tools and strategies that they use to automate your filing system in unique and effective ways. An enterprise content management program can analyze content and determine where it needs to be stored in your system, or whom it needs to be sent to (and when). ECM platforms also provide offline access, superior security, stricter government compliance, and greater integration and scalability features than DMS.

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Compliance-Based Enterprise Content Management Solution – docEdge DMS

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Compliance-Based Enterprise Content Management Solution

Now more than ever, businesses are affected by state and federal regulations for compliance, particularly in regard to information security, sharing, and retention. Failing to meet these requirements may lead to breaches of contracts, sanctions, and much more. While it’s a serious issue for any business, regulatory compliance impacts large enterprises especially—since the bigger the company is, the more regulations it has to adhere to. Over the years, enterprises have looked to document management systems to ease this compliance burden.

To help narrow your own search for such tools, we look at some of the most wide-reaching compliance regulations and enterprise content management solutions that can help to meet these compliance requirements.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)

According to the GLBA, customer data must be protected from any threats that could result in unauthorized disclosure, misuse, modification, or deletion under any circumstances. This federal law is applicable to financial institutions, such as commercial banks, security firms, insurance companies, and more. In regard to document management, GLBA requirements include access control, data backup, Stress-free auditing, tracking of all modifications to files, and automated alerts.

docEdge DMS maintains 50,000 major versions and 511 minor versions for each document and keeps track of all changes made to a document, including time and the initiator. It also provides a complete audit trail of all document-driven collaboration, generates automated notifications when sharing sensitive information, as well as document retention.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

SOX serves to provide transparency and accountability within an organization’s financial reporting. It affects publicly traded companies, public accounting firms, auditors, brokers, and securities analysts. The Act requires financial reports and statements to be accessible, accurate, and without any omissions. It also stipulates retention periods for various financial documents (e.g., retention of five years for invoices).

To meet SOX requirements, docEdge DMS a document collaboration solution enables version control and allows users to compare any two published versions of a document. It also tracks document approvals and changes made since a user last looked at it.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001

ISO 9001 is applicable to all companies providing products or services to customers and its main requirements for document management are: reviewing and approvals before distribution, detecting and tracking changes, ensuring confidentiality, and support of different formats (e.g., PDF, text, spreadsheets, etc.).

docEdge DMS, a web-based compliance and Enterprise Content Management Solution, supports reviewing, automated workflows, versioning, and tracking changes in documents. It ensures data confidentiality by using private folders and permission levels.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

SEC regulations are applicable to financial services, such as brokers, dealers, and exchange members, as well as other public companies. SEC rules cover such documents as asset and liability ledgers, income ledgers, customer account ledgers, securities records, trial balance sheets, etc. The SEC has the following requirements: data encryption, automated retention of documents, document versioning, user permission levels, undeletable and unalterable audit trails, and data backup.

In docEdge DMS, all documents and records are easily accessible for the duration of their existence in the system unless document deletion periods are specified by the admin. All documents can be retrieved and downloaded by authorized users. docEdge DMS has a built-in version control capability, which allows users to store and retrieve different versions of documents. Also, docEdge DMS maintains an undeletable and unalterable audit trail of any activities related to a document.

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)

PCI DSS was developed to protect businesses and their customers against payment card theft and fraud. PCI DSS is applicable to all companies that accept, store, and transmit payment card information. PCI DSS requirements include protecting cardholder data, encrypting transmission of cardholder data across public networks, restricting access to cardholder data, tracking and monitoring all access to network resources and cardholder data, developing and maintaining secure systems and applications, etc.

docEdge DMS, a Enterprise Content Management Solution by PERICENT, ensures the security of cardholder data. It provides automatic SSL/TLS encryption of all uploaded or downloaded data. SecureDrawer supports user groups to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

HIPAA was established to protect the privacy of individuals receiving healthcare and guides almost all information circulating in the healthcare industry. The Act is applicable to employers and all healthcare providers that transmit employee/patient information electronically for claims, benefit eligibility, referral authorizations, etc. The main HIPAA requirements for document management are access control, protection against unauthorized modification/deletion of documents, audit trail tracking, version control, etc.

To ensure HIPAA compliance, docEdge DMS, an Enterprise Content Management Solution, supports permission levels for individuals or user groups, thus, restricting access to sensitive information. It gives an instant email notification when someone tries to access, modify, or delete any documents. docEdge DMS also provides versioning and audit trail tracking, which helps to determine who accesses or modifies healthcare information.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA compliance affects food and drug manufacturers, traders, and wholesalers. In terms of document management, FDA requirements include guidelines and regulations regarding copying, access control, permissions, records protection, audit logs and tracking, version control, and electronic signatures.

docEdge DMS’s Enterprise Content Management Software provides access to files only to authorized users, depending on an assigned permission level. It stores all versions of all files and records, and documents are easily retrievable due to assigned metadata. It also supports an audit trail that is secure and can’t be modified. The audit trail includes user ID, date and time stamp, action is taken, document name, type, etc. docEdge DMS also helps to manage electronic signatures that are linked to a specific version of a document and cannot be deleted, copied, or transferred to falsify an electronic record.

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Definition of Document Management System

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Document Management System

What is a document management system?

Document management, often referred to as Document Management Systems (DMS), is the use of a computer system and software to store, manage and track electronic documents and electronic images of paper-based information captured through the use of a document scanner.

Benefits of Document Management Systems?

A Document Management System (DMS) can be seen as a set of standardized practices that:

  • Control the creation and authentication of documents
  • Exercise version control where multiple versions of a document are maintained
  • Manage storage of documents in a way that facilitates convenient retrieval of a particular document when needed
  • Ensure security and safety of documents with the dual objectives of preventing unauthorized access to documents and allowing recovery from physical damage or loss of documents
  • Creates the policy for archiving old documents and disposing of them at the end of their life

The DMS can be manual or electronic, though the latter has such overwhelming advantages that wherever the investment is justified, an electronic document management system (EDMS) should be installed in full or part.

According to ISO 12651-2, a document is “recorded information or object which can be treated as a unit”. While this sounds a little complicated, it is quite simply what you have been using to create, distribute and use for years.

Document management is one of the precursor technologies to content management, and not all that long ago was available solely on a stand-alone basis like its imaging, workflow, and archiving brethren like docEdge DMs. It provides some of the most basic functionality to content management, imposing controls and management capabilities onto otherwise “dumb” documents. This makes it so that when you have documents and need to use them, you are able to do so.

 Key Features in Document Management Systems

  • Check-in/check-out and locking, to coordinate the simultaneous editing of a document so one person’s changes don’t overwrite another’s.
  • Version control, so tabs can be kept on how the current document came to be, and how it differs from the versions that came before.
  • Audit trail, to permit the reconstruction of who did what to a document during the course of its life in the system.
  • Annotation and Stamps
  • Stress-Free Auditing

Document management systems today range in size and scope from small, standalone systems to large-scale enterprise-wide configurations serving a global audience.  Many document management systems provide a means to incorporate standard physical document filing practices electronically. These include:

  1. Storage location
  2. Security and access control
  3. Version control
  4. Audit trails
  5. Check-in/check-out and document lockdown.

Document management, while still recognized and utilized independently, it is also a common component found within an Enterprise Content Management environment.

 

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