Why good for use a Lotus Notes/Domino-based as document management solution
Benefits of staying with an all-Domino solution
For many of you, this represents the most cost effective option for document management. There are some serious benefits to staying within Domino.
Leverage your existing Domino infrastructure
There’s no additional infrastructure (and associated cost) required.
Flattens the learning curve
You already know the backend. You already have the Domino admin and development skills, so you just need to focus on the nuances of the application.
Even if you don’t have the skills, the costs to obtain will be less than the equivalent J2EE resource. This is unlike the scenario we discussed last week, where you would have had to learn both a new backend (DB2 and WebSphere) and the document management application.
Quicker and easier data migration
You’re going from one Domino app to another. More specifically, you’re migrating from one Notes document to another. Customizations could be easier to move as well.
R8 support and other Domino servers
Leverage one server for mail and applications. Upgrade to R8 to take advantage of the new functionality.
Customizations and integration
You know Notes and Domino. Customizations will be familiar to you in this environment, leveraging your Domino development skills. Plus, if everything’s built into Domino, your document management solution can talk to your other Domino solutions without having to cobble together some sort of weird interop hack.
DAOS
One of the weaknesses against Notes and Domino was the 60GB file storage capability of the NSF file. With the introduction of DAOS (Domino Attachment and Object Service) in R8.5, this storage limitation is essentially eliminated, making sophisticated, well-architected Domino-based solutions on equal footing as their J2EE cousins.
Make sure you get a real document management solution
There are several mature solutions available from Lotus Domino ISVs in Australia, China, Europe and North America, including my own Docova Document Management product.
Lotus ISVs provide great bang for the buck value, saving you thousands of dollars for the latest document management technology.
A word of caution: the term “Document Management” is overused, so make sure it’s a full document management solution by looking for the following:
Workflow
The solution you install should be programmable, flexible, retractable, and provide support for both parallel and serial reviewers/approvers.
Integration with Microsoft Office
Overwhelmingly, SMBs use Microsoft Office. The solution should integrate with the popular office suite.
Microsoft, of course, is pushing Domino.doc owners to migrate to SharePoint and this is their key selling point. But SharePoint isn’t a full document management solution either, and since a number of Domino-based document management products offer excellent Office integration, Microsoft’s claim to SharePoint’s utility is rendered moot.
Web-based
A Web-based solution allows you to share information with those customers and partners who don’t have the Notes client.
Also, look for Web-based products that will edit in-place files and attachments (negating the manual requirement to download to make modifications).
Document lifecycle
Manage, control and share a document from creation, publishing to archiving, and destruction.
Robust security
This goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. Any document management solution must have manageable security levels from the top library straight down into the individual documents.
Easy to customize
It’s all about being able to customize. This is the biggest extra cost, the biggest thing to pay attention to, so make sure you can get in their and tweak.
Scanning Integration
You should be able to connect to your network scanners (“MFP”) and automate capture routing and delivery.
Notes and Outlook email integration
You’ll want good email integration. As a bonus, some solutions will let you drag and drop messages and/or files from email and relate them in context of the documents
Audit logging and tracking
Any solution you install should easily track all the changes (who, what, when) made to documents and folders.
Versioning
Likewise, any solution you put in place should provide a rich, deep methodology, plus allow you to roll back versions and be integrated with archiving
Migration tools
Migrating from Domino.doc could be a challenge. See if the partner has a tool to make your life easier.
Financially viable
Review how long the business partner has been in business, and how long their document management solution has been available on the market. This is especially important these days.
Archiving and review policies
You may need to automate your government, industry and organizational compliance requirements.
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