Trends in the Russian sed market. EDMS in the field of design

In this paragraph, we will provide a brief overview of the main electronic document management systems presented on the Russian market. Our main emphasis will be on systems that can be called “industrial” without a stretch, in the sense that they have been on the market for a long time and represent a full-fledged commercial product. Let's look at four software products that account for the majority of the Russian market for electronic office management and document management systems:

- "Case". The electronic document management system “Delo” is an industrial solution that provides automation of office work processes, as well as maintaining a fully electronic document flow of the organization. ASEDD (Automatic system of electronic records management and document flow) “Case” allows you to: streamline document flow processes; move to a unified scheme for working with documents; reduce the time required for registration and processing of documents. ASEDD "Delo" is designed to automate the following processes:

Drawing up and maintaining a list of enterprise affairs;

Formation and registration of cases in the current office work and their subsequent transfer to the archive of the enterprise;

Organization of records of cases and documents in the archive.

One of the most important features is support for accepted rules and methods of working with documents that have developed in domestic practice. The system provides the ability to work with various types of orders, mechanisms for sequential and parallel approval, delimitation of access rights to a document, and delegation of authority.

The system has the following functionality:

Registration of documents (incoming and created in the organization);

Entering orders and monitoring their execution;

Registration and control of orders from higher organizations;

Creation, coordination and signing of draft documents;

Routing and control of the movement of documents and their distribution;

Work with orders (issuance, execution and control);

Scanning and attaching electronic images of documents.

Exchange of documents by e-mail using digital signature.

Searching for documents, creating files, receiving and distributing documents, working with draft documents;

Movement of documents within the organization;

Remote access. Possibility of remote work with ASEDS "Delo-Web". The Delo system implements a full-fledged web interface for access to all data and functions, allowing you to work with documents via the Internet - a web browser is enough to organize remote work.

Thus, the Delo system provides both automation of the company’s classic document flow and management of electronic documents. This allows you to create a solution for complex automation at any level, as well as make the transition to modern office management technologies. The product is primarily of interest to organizations that are faced with the need to implement formalized office work for secretarial units, offices, and general departments.

EUPHRATS-Document Flow". The electronic document management system "EUFRAT-Document Flow" is designed to build a system for managing business processes and documents of an organization. The tools included in the delivery package of the system allow you to implement electronic document management technologies in any company, regardless of its size and form of ownership. The system is designed to work both within a small structure, for example, an office, department or local organization as a whole, and within a geographically distributed organization with a complex information flow pattern.

The system allows you to solve all typical office work and document management tasks:

Automate the registration of documents and tasks;

Search for information;

Ensure effective interaction of employees in working with documents, monitor the execution of work;

Monitor and analyze the state of ongoing processes;

Differentiation of employee access rights to information;

Organize long-term storage of organization documents.

The development company offers a wide range of products for organizations of various sizes - from a version for a small office to an option for large companies. "EUPHRATS: Document Flow" is built in the "desktop" paradigm with folders. Documents are arranged in folders, which can have any degree of nesting.

A distinctive feature is the ability to open and view any document in a format supported by the system using the built-in viewer. Unfortunately, the system does not provide the ability to track the receipt and return of documents and storage of versions, which can complicate collective work with documents.

Essentially, this product is a means of scanning, recognizing, registering documents, assigning details to them, indexing, full-text search, assigning tasks related to the document, and monitoring their execution. This is an inexpensive solution that may be useful in a small office or in enterprises that do not have high requirements for information system scalability.

DIRECTUM. An electronic document management and interaction management system aimed at increasing the efficiency of all employees of the organization in various areas of their joint activities.

The DIRECTUM system is a full-fledged ECM system and supports the full life cycle of document management, while traditional “paper” office work fits seamlessly into electronic document flow. DIRECTUM provides effective organization and control of business processes based on workflow technology: approval of documents, processing of complex orders, preparation and holding of meetings, support of the sales cycle and other processes.

The DIRECTUM system has the following capabilities:

Electronic document management. Creation and storage of various unstructured documents (Microsoft Word texts, Microsoft Excel tables, Microsoft Visio drawings, videos, etc.); support for document versions and digital signatures; structuring documents into folders; assigning access rights to documents; history of working with documents; search for documents.

Business process management. Support of document approval and processing processes at all stages of their life cycle; issuing electronic tasks and monitoring their execution; support for free and rigid routes (workflow).

Contract management. Organization of the process of approval and registration of contracts and related documents, as well as operational work with them (search, analysis, editing, etc.).

Meeting management. Organization of preparation and holding of meetings (coordination of place and time, composition of participants, agenda); generation and distribution of the protocol; control over the execution of decisions.

Office. Registration of paper documents; maintaining a list of cases with flexible numbering rules; distribution and control of the location of paper documents; organizing the exchange of electronic documents with digital signatures with other organizations.

The effect of implementing DIRECTUM is an awareness of the benefits that the implementation of document management provides:

Transparency of business processes.

Elimination of unauthorized access.

Increasing performance discipline.

Compliance with ISO-9000 standards.

Reducing the time spent by managers and employees.

Ease of innovation and learning.

Development of corporate culture. The process of introducing electronic document management establishes and maintains corporate culture.

Thus, this software product is practically in no way inferior to those listed above. Some of the disadvantages of the system are the inability to check documents for duplication during registration and the absence of a report generator in the system.

- “BOSS Referent”. This system is aimed primarily at organizations whose management strives to optimize the activities of their employees and increase work efficiency, including economic efficiency. "BOSS-Referent" belongs to the category of systems focused on supporting the management of an organization, the effective work of employees and the accumulation of knowledge.

The main purpose of the system is to create a corporate system that covers the activities of all employees at their workplaces and supports management business processes. The system supports Russian standards of office work, organizational management, control of performance discipline, tracking of contracts with external organizations, and approval of documents. Its distinctive feature is that, being a full-fledged document management system designed for the work of all employees of the organization, it already has all the necessary functionality for the implementation of office work. Another distinctive feature of the BOSS-Referent system: it implements the functions of contract control, inventory accounting, streaming scanning and recognition, electronic conference and bulletin board.

Additional modules of the BOSS-Referent system include automation of the organization and planning of events, automation of the activities of the pass office at the enterprise, and a report generator.

ASEDD "BOSS-Referent" has a number of advantages, including:

Tools for creating a unified information and management space for organizations of any complexity;

Support for various document approval routes;

Availability of information security tools.

As a result of the implementation of the BOSS-Referent EDMS, organizations, as management structures, have the opportunity to become more controllable. This system, which has a long history of use in government agencies, includes functionality for working with correspondence and instructions. This approach guarantees the ability to monitor the organization’s performance discipline at all stages of making and implementing management decisions, including in geographically distributed structures.

Positive dynamics are recorded in the Russian market of EDMS/ECM systems. In 2016, it grew by 10%, and a similar figure is expected at the end of 2017.

According to TAdviser analysts, in 2016, the growth of the Russian EDMS/ECM systems market was about 10%, while its volume in ruble terms increased to approximately 41.6 billion rubles. Speaking about the results of 2017, market participants noted its revival and further upward movement.

The continued growth of the market is influenced by both the general economic recovery and individual drivers. For the EDMS/ECM sector, this is a growing process of import substitution, a course towards a digital economy, increased mobility and the rapid development of new technologies.

Most of the participants in the Russian EDMS/ECM market, presented in the rating below, at the end of 2016 showed positive dynamics in revenue from projects in this area. Only two companies from the Top 10 recorded negative indicators.

The leader was once again the Logika Business company, whose revenue from EDMS/ECM projects grew by 25.7% and reached RUB 1.86 billion. Approximately a third of this amount came from license sales, two thirds from implementation and support services. The top three also included Croc and TerraLink (see Table 1).

Table 1. Revenue of participants in the Russian market of EDMS/ECM systems in 2015-2016.

Import substitution is trending

The document management system market in Russia is an established and mature market, and changes are slow, but the past year has brought several tangible changes. First of all, this is a significant revival in government authorities on the issue of transition to domestic software: a plan for the transfer of office software (which includes EDMS) to domestic platforms has been approved, specific deadlines and fairly clear requirements have been prescribed.

Blockchain is coming

Other interesting market trends include blockchain technology. It has gained very wide popularity and is used in a wide variety of areas. The field of electronic document management is no exception. Blockchain allows you to create ECM-class systems for secure exchange of documents outside the organization based on a distributed electronic signature, without using a single trust center, which is easier to compromise.

Potentially, this could help establish a confidential exchange of information between a large number of organizations that initially do not trust each other, even compete fiercely, but at the same time are forced to exchange information.

Getting rid of paper

One of the most long-awaited trends is the transition of companies to completely paperless document flow, including legally significant ones.

According to market experts, real projects on paperless document flow appeared thanks to the active work of the state to formalize the regulatory framework and stimulate the transition to paperless technologies. Until recently, customer concerns about the security of confidential data served as an obstacle to the transition to fully electronic document exchange. However, with the development of technologies for protecting corporate information, the market has shown its readiness for innovation.

Vasily Babintsev, director of marketing at Directum, says that his company has already received requests from large clients to switch to completely paperless work within holdings and groups of companies.

What innovations do EDMS/ECM systems receive?

All innovations that are currently being developed on the market and being implemented in EDMS/ECM systems are related to general trends in the IT market. That is why developers are developing mobile versions and creating integration gateways for seamless work with other information systems. In addition, the ability to collaborate on documents is being improved, user interfaces are being polished, and new functionality is being added.

The cutting edge seems to be the integration of artificial intelligence technologies, working with Big Data, integration with instant messengers, including support for bots. Support for full-fledged cloud and hybrid configurations, incl. storing files on cloud resources.

Geography of EDMS/ECM projects

According to TAdviser, the bulk of all EDMS/ECM projects are carried out in the Central Federal District. Also in the top three are the Volga and Siberian federal districts (see Table 2). The top 10 Russian cities by the number of EDMS/ECM projects are headed by Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

The development of human civilization is accompanied by a stunning increase in the volume of information created, processed and stored. For example, according to ASAP magazine, about 6 billion new documents appear in the world every year. According to the Delphi Consulting Group, currently in the United States alone, more than 1 billion pages of documents are created daily, and more than 1.3 trillion are stored in archives. various documents.

It should be noted that the flows of corporate information are extremely diverse in terms of sources and forms of presentation. However, they can be conditionally classified according to the form of storage: electronic and paper documents. It is estimated that currently only about 30% of all corporate information is stored electronically (both structured in databases and unstructured). All other information (about 70%) is stored on paper, creating considerable difficulties in finding it. However, this ratio is gradually changing in favor of electronic storage (in particular, through the development of electronic archive systems). According to Delphi Consulting Group, the volume of corporate electronic text information doubles every 3 years. According to the forecast of the same ASAP magazine, by 2004, only about 30% of corporate information will remain in paper form, and 70% of information will be stored electronically. It is unlikely, of course, that someday all documents will become exclusively electronic, but there is no doubt that the electronic form of document storage will prevail in the future.

These impressive figures and data only indicate that for any enterprise or organization, the issues of optimizing document flow and controlling information processing are of key importance. This statement can be confirmed by the following data. According to Siemens Business Services, a manager spends up to 80% of his working time working with information, up to 30% of employees’ working time is spent on creating, searching, approving and sending documents, each internal document is copied, on average, up to 20 times and up to 15 % of corporate documents are irretrievably lost (at the same time, according to ASAP magazine, the average employee spends up to 150 hours of his working time annually searching for lost information). There are also estimates that up to 40% of labor resources and up to 15% of corporate income are spent on working with documents.

That is why management efficiency of enterprises and organizations not least depends on the correct solution to the problems of prompt and high-quality generation of electronic documents, control of their execution, as well as thoughtful organization of their storage, search and use. The need for effective management of electronic documents led to the creation electronic document management systems (EDMS), to which this article is devoted. The main purpose of the article is to present for Jet Info readers a retrospective of the current state of the global EDMS market, prospects for its development, as well as a fairly large number of examples of the use of EDMS in the world. You can get acquainted in more detail with all issues related to EDMS using a fairly large number of specialized Web resources (both Russian and English), for example, www.document.ru, www.docflow.ru, websites of EDMS developer companies, etc. .

Basic concepts about electronic document management systems

Purpose of the EDMS

According to industry analysts, electronic document management includes: the creation of documents, their processing, transmission, storage, output of information circulating in an organization or enterprise, based on the use of computer networks. In general, electronic document management is understood as organizing the movement of documents between departments of an enterprise or organization, user groups or individual users. At the same time, the movement of documents does not mean their physical movement, but the transfer of rights to use them with notification of specific users and control over their execution.

IDC defines the concept of EDMS as follows (meaning EDMS” Electronic Document Management Systems): “EDS provide the process of creating, managing access and distributing large volumes of documents on computer networks, and also provide control over the flow of documents in the organization. Often these documents are stored in special repositories or in a file system hierarchy. File types that are typically supported by ERMS include: text documents, images, spreadsheets, audio data, video data, and Web documents. General EDMS capabilities include: document creation, access control, data conversion and data security.”

The main purpose of the EDMS is to organize the storage of electronic documents, as well as work with them(in particular, searching them both by attributes and by content). The EDMS should automatically track changes in documents, deadlines for execution of documents, movement of documents, and also control all their versions and subversions. A comprehensive EDMS must cover the entire cycle of office work of an enterprise or organization, from setting the task of creating a document to its storage in the archive, and ensure centralized storage of documents in any format, including complex composite documents. EDMS should combine disparate document flows of geographically remote enterprises into a single system. They must provide flexible document management, both through rigid definition of movement routes and through free routing of documents. The EDMS must implement strict differentiation of user access to various documents depending on their competence, position and powers assigned to them. In addition, the EDMS must be customized to the existing organizational structure and records management system of the enterprise, as well as integrate with existing corporate systems.

The main users of EDMS are large government organizations, enterprises, banks, large industrial enterprises and all other structures whose activities are accompanied by a large volume of created, processed and stored documents.

Basic properties of EDMS

Openness

All EDMS are built on a modular basis, and their API interfaces are open. This allows you to add new functions to the EDMS or improve existing ones. Currently, the development of applications integrated with EDMS has become a separate type of business in the industrial software production industry, and many third companies are ready to offer their services in this market segment. The ability to relatively simply add many modules from third companies to the EDMS significantly expands their functionality. For example, modules for document input from a scanner, communication with e-mail, fax forwarding programs, etc. have been developed for EDMS.

High degree of integration with application software

The key capability of EDMS is its high degree of integration with various software applications through the use of technology OLE Automation, DDE, ActiveX, ODMA, MAPI etc. And when directly working with documents, there is no need to use EDMS utilities at all. Users deal only with conventional application programs: at the time of installation of the client part of the EDMS, application programs are supplemented with new functions and menu elements. For example, a user of the MS Word word processor, opening a file, immediately sees libraries and folders with EDMS documents (from where he selects the document he needs). When saving, the document is automatically placed in the EDMS database. The same applies to other office and specialized programs.

It should also be noted that most common EDMS implement integration with the most well-known ERP systems (in particular, SAP R/3, Oracle Applications, etc.). The ability to integrate with various applications is one of the characteristic properties of an EDMS. Thanks to it, EDMS can act as a link between various corporate applications, thereby creating the basis for organizing office work in an enterprise. Some industry analysts even believe that EDMS may well become the basis of a corporate information system of an enterprise or organization (there are other opinions).

Features of document storage

EDMS operate primarily on the basis of distributed architectures and use various combinations of technologies for collecting, indexing, storing, searching and viewing electronic documents. Most EDMS implement a hierarchical document storage system (according to the “cabinet/shelf/folder” principle). Each document is placed in a folder, which, in turn, is located on a shelf, etc. The number of nesting levels when storing documents is not limited. The same document can be part of several folders and shelves through the use of a link mechanism (the source document in this case remains unchanged and is stored in a place determined by the EDMS administrator). A number of EDMS implement even more powerful storage capabilities by organizing links between documents (these links can be established and edited graphically).

Any document in the EDMS has a certain set of attributes (for example, its title, the author of the document, the time of its creation, etc.). The set of attributes can change from one document type to another (within one document type it remains unchanged). In an EDMS, document attributes are stored in a relational database. For each type of document, a card template is created using visual tools, where the names of the document attributes are presented in a clear graphical form. When entering a document into the EDMS, the required template is taken and the card is filled out (attribute values ​​are entered). Once filled out, the card is linked to the document itself.

In most cases, the server part of the EDMS consists of the following logical components (which can be located on one or several servers):

  • Storage of document attributes (cards);
  • Document storage;
  • Full-text indexing services.

A document store usually refers to a store of document content. Attribute storage and document storage are often combined under the general name “document archive”. To store attributes, most EDMS use DBMS Oracle, Sybase, MS SQL Server and Informix, which provide document search by attributes.

To store the contents of documents directly, most EDMS use file servers MS Windows NT, Novell NetWare, UNIX, etc. In this case, heterogeneous combinations of network environments can be implemented. For example, a database with document attributes can run under UNIX OS on a TCP/IP network, and the documents themselves can be stored under Novell NetWare OS on an IPX/SPX network. It should be noted that the great advantages of EDMS are storing documents in their original format and automatically recognizing multiple file formats.

Recently, storing documents along with attributes in a database has become increasingly popular. This approach has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is a significant increase in the security of access to documents, and the main disadvantage is the low efficiency of working with documents with a large volume of stored information. This approach also requires the use of powerful servers with large amounts of RAM and hard drives. In addition, if the database fails, it will be very difficult to restore the documents stored in it. It is also necessary to be strictly tied to a specific DBMS.

Features of document routing

EDMS modules responsible for document flow are usually called document routing modules. In general, the concepts of “free” and “hard” document routing are used. With “free” routing, any user participating in the document flow can, at his own discretion, change the existing route for documents (or set a new route). With “hard” routing, the routes for passing documents are strictly regulated, and users do not have the right to change them. However, with “hard” routing, logical operations can be processed when the route changes when some predetermined conditions are met (for example, sending a document to management when a specific user exceeds his official authority). In most EDMS, the routing module is included in the delivery package; in some EDMS it must be purchased separately. Full-featured routing modules are developed and supplied by third parties.

Access control

The EDMS implements reliable means of delineating powers and controlling access to documents. In most cases, they are used to determine the following types of access (the set of permissions specified depends on the specific EDMS):

  • Full control over the document;
  • The right to edit, but not destroy the document;
  • The right to create new versions of a document, but not to edit it;
  • The right to annotate the document, but not to edit it or create new versions;
  • The right to read the document, but not edit it;
  • The right to access the card, but not the contents of the document;
  • Complete absence of access rights to the document (while working with the EDMS, every user action is logged, and, thus, the entire history of his work with documents can be easily controlled).

Tracking versions and subversions of documents

When several users work with a document simultaneously (especially when it needs to be approved by various authorities), a very convenient function of the EDMS is the use of versions and subversions of the document. Let's assume that the executor created the first version of the document and passed it on to the next user for review. The second user changed the document and created a new version based on it. Then he passed his version of the document to the next authority to a third user, who created a third version. After a certain time, having read the comments and corrections, the first executor of the document decides to modify the original version and, on its basis, creates a subversion of the first version of the document. The advantage of EDMS is the ability to automatically track versions and subversions of documents (users can always determine which version/subversion of a document is the most relevant in the order or time of their creation).

Availability of utilities for viewing documents of different formats

Most EDMS include utilities for viewing documents (so-called viewers) that understand many dozens of file formats. With their help it is very convenient to work, in particular, with graphic files (for example, with drawing files in CAD systems). In addition to the basic set of viewing utilities (included in each EDMS), you can purchase additional utilities from third parties that integrate well with the EDMS.

Annotating documents

When organizing group work on documents, the ability to annotate them is usually very useful. Since in some cases users are deprived of the rights to make any changes to the document during the approval process, they can use the ability to annotate it. In most EDMS, annotation is implemented by including an attribute for annotation in the document card and transferring to users the rights to edit such a card field. But such a solution is not always acceptable (especially when annotating a graphic document). In this regard, in some EDMS there is a so-called “red pencil” function, with which you can graphically indicate flaws in the image itself. Software tools that implement the “red pencil” function are widely offered by third parties.

Support for various client programs

Most EDMS clients can be PCs running MS Windows or Windows NT. Some EDMS also use UNIX and Macintosh platforms. In addition, all modern EDMS allow you to work with documents through standard Web navigators. Since Web navigators can be hosted on a variety of client platforms, this makes it easier to solve the problem of ensuring the operation of EDMS in heterogeneous network environments. When using Internet technologies, the EDMS has another server component responsible for accessing documents through Web navigators.

General classification of EDMS

ECM concept

The issue of EDMS classification is quite complex due to the rapid development of the market for these systems. Moreover, starting from 2001, the concept began to gain increasing popularity “Enterprise Content Management” ECM”, not electronic document management (according to Forrester TechRankings). Term ESM appeared with the light hand of a trade association AIIM International and covers all corporate information management systems.

At the same time, if Forrester Research defines ECM as integrated approach to document and web content management, then for consulting company Doculabs, enterprise content management ECM is “a category that combines the capabilities of enterprise document management systems and content management systems with the ability to manage the full lifecycle of enterprise content (with the number of content types continuing to grow).”

From the perspective of industry analysts, the ECM concept offers many business benefits. An ECM system that integrates all content- and process-oriented technologies within an enterprise provides a common infrastructure for managing its document flow, minimizing the need to deploy and support multiple technologies to implement various business functions. The essence of this approach (also called infrastructure) is that corporate content should not belong to just one application or system. It should be available to many applications and freely distributed between them. An important property of the ECM infrastructure (which includes corresponding applications from most industry vendors) is its independence from a single universal content store. The ECM infrastructure integrates many specialized (or legacy) data repositories (even from competing vendors), including, but not limited to, electronic product document repositories, email, Web content repositories, file systems, and even DBMSs. Thus, The ECM infrastructure provides a common integration (or virtualization) layer for each data repository(allowing them to be queried from anywhere across the enterprise), thereby minimizing the need to integrate electronic document management systems and content management systems from multiple vendors. In addition, with the help of the ECM infrastructure, corporate content management services such as personalization, access control, user permissions management, etc. are implemented (which simplifies the administration and maintenance of the ECM system).

The capabilities of ECM systems can be divided into several main categories:

    General Content Management Features, which refers to the ability to manage a variety of electronic objects (images, office documents, graphics, drawings, Web content, email, video, audio and multimedia). The ECM system provides a repository for all these types of electronic objects with various library services (content profiling, check-in/check-out functions, version control, revision chronology, document access security, etc.), as well as the ability to manage data objects throughout their entire life cycle.

    Process control functions, which refers to the ability to automate and manage business processes and work flows.

    Integration with other ECM systems, implying the ability to integrate an ECM system with external ERP systems, office applications, content storage, and other EDMS. Integration can be accomplished using a variety of approaches, including the use of object-oriented interfaces (such as EJB), connectors, APIs, enterprise application integration technologies EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and etc.

It should be noted that ECM exists so far only as a concept, and ECM infrastructure today to a large extent represents only a look at the prospects for the development of the EDMS market. For example, some industry vendors talk a lot about content management, but they focus their systems only on managing Web content or office documents. In addition, they lack a clear vision for how to create an open ECM infrastructure that integrates specialized repositories across the enterprise. According to analysts from Doculabs (which studied the solutions of leading developers of EDMS systems), although vendors recognize the importance of the ECM concept, they are still quite far from fully implementing it in their systems.

Classification of EDMS

According to IDC analysts, currently there are the following main types of EDMS (some of the EDMS can simultaneously belong to several types, since they have functions corresponding to them):

    EDMS focused on business processes (business-process EDM). They form the basis of the ECM concept. Systems of this type (EDMS) are designed for specific vertical and horizontal applications (sometimes they also have industrial applications). EDMS systems provide the full life cycle of working with documents, including working with images, managing records and workflows, content management, etc. EDMS systems provide storage and retrieval of 2-D documents in original formats (images, CAD files, spreadsheets etc.) with the ability to group them into folders. There is an opinion among some industry analysts that (depending on the indexing scheme and applications used) this document-oriented approach can provide up to 80% of the functionality of a PDM system in a number of EDMS systems at a lower implementation cost. The most well-known developers of EDMS systems are Documentum (Documentum system), FileNet (Panagon and Watermark systems), Hummingbird (PC DOCS system), etc. Vendors that have been more successful in content management than other companies (for example, Documentum and FileNet companies) have focused its activities on the implementation of such functions in the EDMS as template management, dynamic presentation management and Web content publishing. It should be noted that while almost all EDMS systems provide a good level of implementation of repositories and library services for managing electronic content (for example, images and office documents), each of them is the strongest in its area. For example, systems from Open Text and iManage have the most well-developed management of office documents. In turn, systems from Tower Technology, FileNet, IBM and Identitech are particularly strong at managing images of high-volume products.

    Corporate EDMS (enterprise-centric EDM). Systems of this type provide a corporate infrastructure (available to all corporate users) for creating, collaborating on, and publishing documents. The basic functions of corporate EDMS are similar to the functions of EDMS focused on business processes. As a rule, corporate EDMS are not intended for use only in a specific industry or for solving a narrow problem. They are being implemented as general corporate technologies. The development and promotion of corporate EDMS are carried out by Lotus (Domino.Doc system), Novell (Novell GroupWise), Open Text (LiveLink system), Keyfile, Oracle (Context system), iManage, etc. For example, the Open Text Livelink system ensures collective work on project documents for external and internal users, conducting online discussions, distributed planning and routing of documents, etc.

    Content management systems. Systems of this type provide content creation, content access and management, content delivery (down to the level of document sections and objects for their subsequent reuse and compilation). Having information available not as documents but as smaller objects makes it easier to share information between applications. Managing Web content requires the ability to manage the various content objects that may be included in a Web presentation (for example, HTML pages and Web graphics). In addition, managing Web content requires the ability to create presentation templates that are used to present dynamic content and personalize it (based on user preferences, their profiles, etc.). Content management systems from Adobe, Excalibur, BroadVision, Documentum, Stellent, Microsoft, Divine, Vignette, etc. are known on the world market. A certain level of Web content management is also offered by FileNet, Tower and Identitech. In turn, IBM implements Web content management functions based on solutions from Interwoven and Open Market (through partnerships with them), and Tower has integrated its electronic document management software with Web content management solutions from Stellent .

    Information management systems” portals. Such systems provide information aggregation, information management and delivery via the Internet/intranet/extranet. With their help, the ability to accumulate (and apply) experience in a distributed corporate environment is realized based on the use of business rules, context and metadata. Portals also provide access through a standard Web browser to a number of e-commerce applications (usually through the interface of an ERP system). Examples of portals are Excalibur, Oracle Context, PC DOCS/Fulcrum, Verity, Lotus (Domino/Notes, K-Station) systems.

    Imaging systems. With their help, information scanned from paper media is converted into electronic form (usually in TIFF format). This technology underlies the conversion into electronic form of information from all legacy paper documents and microfilms. The basic functions of a standard image processing system include: scanning, storage, a number of image search capabilities, etc.

    Workflow management systems. Systems of this type are designed to provide routing of work flows of any type (defining file routing paths) within corporate structured and unstructured business processes. They are used to increase the efficiency and controllability of corporate business processes. Workflow management systems are usually purchased as part of a solution (for example, EDMS systems or PDM systems). Here we can note such developers as Lotus companies (Domino/Notes and Domino Workflow systems), Jetform, FileNet, Action Technologies, Staffware, etc. FileNet and IBM companies also provide a good level of work flow management in their solutions (through integration with MQ software Series Workflow), Identitech, Tower (via integration with Plexus and Staffware software), Gauss (via integration with Staffware software), etc.

The classification of EDMS proposed by IDC can be supplemented also corporate electronic records management systems. The corporate records management software market segment is already about 5 years old. Corporate records are fixed in time and immutable. They provide evidence of business transactions, various rights and obligations, etc. Corporate users must determine for themselves what content should be made a corporate record (this decision requires an assessment of the future needs of their business). Enterprise solutions that require content retention include core business systems including ERP and accounting systems, email systems (e.g. MS Exchange), reporting and output management systems, e-commerce systems, collaboration software (project management systems) , online conferencing, etc.). Examples of records management systems include software Capture from Tower Software, iRIMS from OpenText and Foremost by TrueArc.

Many important record management functions in the EDMS did not exist before (for example, classification functions). Methods for physically deleting records and indexes at the end of their life cycle (if necessary) were also not implemented. According to the Gartner Group, enterprise users need to supplement their Web sites with the functionality of records management systems. A number of developers of Web content management systems to support Web site records are already expanding their functionality with the help of records management systems. Work in this direction became especially noticeable in 2002. For example, the Stellent company integrated its content management software with the Foremost records management system from TrueArc (it should be noted that the integration of records management software with an EDMS is very difficult, since it is necessary to solve the problems of duplication of functions and repositories). After this integration, it became possible to take “snapshots” of a Web site and manage them like records. Interesting features such as recording screens encountered during an online transaction are also implemented (for example, in WebCapture software from Tower Technology). Open Text acquired records management systems company PS Software and integrated its iRIMS software as a module into its LiveLink software. Documentum, IBM, and Interwoven (among other content management software vendors) are also adding records management system functionality to their content management software.

Many enterprise users want to collect data from different applications running in a heterogeneous environment and generate reports electronically. This capability is especially necessary for companies using ERP systems (which always collect and store a lot of information, but do not always have the ability to flexibly generate all the necessary reports).

That is why the so-called output management systems (OMS), the main purpose of which is to generate output documents. Some OMS systems additionally include archiving and long-term storage of output reports and documents. In this regard, many of the OMS systems are classified by the Gartner Group as integrated document archive and retrieval systems (IDARS” integrated document archive and retrieval systems). However, the main reason for the popularity of OMS systems is still the market niche they occupy: the generation of documents and reports in the information systems of enterprises and organizations built using ERP systems. According to Gartner Group analysts, one of the weaknesses of modern ERP systems is precisely poor management of the generation of output documents (ERP system developers are more focused on improving the functionality of key modules of their software than on the “minor” issues of ensuring the generation of output reports that do not have, in their opinion, good market prospects). This lack of ERP systems was the main factor in the emergence and rapid development of the OMS systems market. A number of OMS systems are responsible only for the distribution and delivery of output documents (electronically in HTML, XML and PDF formats). Very often, OMS systems are integrated with document and image scanning software packages. A useful feature of some OMS systems is interaction with legacy corporate systems.

It can also be noted special electronic document management modules, built into ERP systems (SAP R/3, Baan, etc.). However, the capabilities of these modules are quite limited, since it is almost impossible to create a universal and fully functional ERP system.

Benefits of using EDMS

According to Forrester Research, 38% of Fortune 500 companies believe that purchasing a modern EDMS is critical to the success of their business. In accordance with the opinion of industry analysts (there are quite a lot of such opinions, differing in certain points from each other), the benefits for corporate users when implementing an EDMS are quite diverse. For example, according to Siemens Business Services, when using an EDMS:

  • Staff productivity increases by 20-25%;
  • The cost of archival storage of electronic documents is 80% lower compared to the cost of storing paper archives.

It is also generally accepted that tactical and strategic benefits are acquired when implementing EDMS. Tactical benefits determined by the reduction in costs when implementing an EDMS associated with: freeing up physical space for storing documents; reducing costs for copying and delivering paper documents; reduction in costs for personnel and equipment, etc. strategic include benefits associated with increasing the efficiency of an enterprise or organization. These advantages include:

  • The emergence of the possibility of collective work on d

According to the results of a TAdviser survey, the crisis stimulates demand for electronic document management systems. And this is natural, since employees cost more than equipment, software and one-time implementation services. Both business representatives and government agencies have to take this into account.

The effectiveness of document workflow automation is clearly demonstrated by the example of the Federal Tax Service. If the Federal Tax Service now worked as before (with paper), processing documents would require 40 000 employees. At the moment, they are successfully coping with this task 4000 Human. That is, the difference is 10 times!

In what areas are EDMS most in demand?

According to the same information and analytical center TAdviser, electronic document management systems are in greatest demand in the public sector ( 23% ), financial services sectors ( 8,6% ), construction ( 6,4% ), trade ( 6,1% ), mechanical engineering ( 5,6% ) and energy ( 5% ).

Opinion "SoftExpert"

We asked the head of the sales department and the SoftExpert company about the situation with the demand for EDMS in the Central Federal District of Russia. Elena Tarasova:

“Judging by the number of our clients, the demand for EDS is really growing during the crisis. Over the past 2 years, the number of orders for “1C: Document Flow” alone at SoftExpert Group has increased by 20%. The demand for EDMS “DELO” also remains stable, but since these are always projects of a regional scale, it is not possible to track the dynamics over the years.

As for the sectoral distribution of demand, nothing fundamentally has changed in our country. Both in pre-crisis times and today, the main customers of electronic document management systems at SoftExpert Group of Companies remain industrial enterprises, construction holdings and the public sector. In particular, during 2015-2016 we received orders for:

Implementation of EDMS "1C: Document Flow" at the enterprises of PJSC "Tula Arms Plant", OJSC "Kalugapribor", LLC "Haveil Motor Manufacturing Rus", LLC "Tulaoboronstroy", CJSC "Industry Service", LLC "SKS Consulting", JSC "Tsentrgaz" , Svyaz Engineering CJSC, Tropic International LLC, Tulatochmash OJSC, NPO Strela PJSC;

- development of the EDMS “BUSINESS” (automation of new jobs, updating the system, adding new functions) in the administrations of the Tula, Moscow, Ryazan, Tambov regions and the city of Tula.”

Electronic document management market trends:

1) Import substitution. Government decree dated January 1, 2016 prohibits the purchase of foreign software for state and municipal needs in all situations where domestic analogues on the market are not inferior to it in quality and functionality. Thanks to the policy of import substitution, Russian electronic document management systems are in an advantageous position. This arrangement will certainly allow them to strengthen their position in the market.

2) Integration with BMP solutions. Electronic document management systems go beyond the office. Today, EDMS are increasingly being integrated with BPM solutions (software for automating business processes), predictive search services, business analytics and employee collaboration services. The customer has requirements for a modern EDMS such as easy integration with other corporate systems and coverage of all areas of the enterprise’s activities.

3) Transition to the clouds. If earlier Russian companies, fearing leakage and loss of data, refused to deploy EDMS in the clouds, today the situation is changing. The numerous advantages of cloud solutions made entrepreneurs forget about the potential risks:

    Reducing IT infrastructure costs. Deploying an EDMS in a public cloud allows you to save on the purchase of additional server equipment, its maintenance services, and the maintenance of additional specialists on staff. (Of course, in the case of a private cloud, the load on the enterprise’s IT infrastructure, on the contrary, increases and requires an increase in capacity).

    Possibility of remote access 24/7. Transferring corporate data to a private or public cloud allows you to go beyond the perimeter of the enterprise information system and organize remote access for authorized users. Thanks to this solution, employees of parent and subsidiary companies can work together on tasks and documents online, field specialists always remain in touch, and the manager has the opportunity to approve documents outside the office, from a smartphone or any other handy device.

Considering the political course, it is logical to assume that cloud EDMS in Russia will mostly be private and floating within the country.

4) Increasing demand for mobile applications. In 2015 alone, over 30,000 users installed the 1C: Document Flow mobile application. These were mainly top managers and middle managers responsible for coordinating contracts and organizational and administrative documentation for projects. However, today there is an increase in the number of users of EDMS mobile applications among the direct performers of tasks. The mobile version allows those responsible for project implementation to quickly receive information and take appropriate actions on it.

5) Use of electronic signatures. Today it is not at all necessary to wait for the project manager to return from a business trip to sign an agreement. The approving person can use an electronic signature (EDS).

6) Improvement of search tools. According to EOS document management expert Natalya Khramtsovskaya, EDMS are increasingly used as corporate repositories of information and documents. In this regard, the requirements for the development of their internal search tools and business analytics are increasing. The faster and more intelligent the search, the higher the user satisfaction with the system.

Forecasts regarding the development of the EDMS market

Over the next 5 years, we should expect the evolution of electronic document management systems. According to market experts, EDMS will fully adapt to business requirements and become more mobile. As for forecasts for the long term, they are related to artificial intelligence technologies. According to experts’ predictions, EDMS will develop so much that they will be able to independently (without human participation) prepare draft decisions on documents.

Let's look at the forecasts of market luminaries in more detail:

  • Voice control. “Mobilization” of the EDMS will prepare the ground for voice entry of information.
  • Mobile data entry. Intelligent processing technologies like Abbyy Compreno will allow you to add electronic documents to the database by photographing the originals and instantly recognizing them.
  • Complicating the content. EDMS integration with instant messaging services, IP telephony, and multimedia platforms is expected.
  • Increasing the reliability of digital signatures. In order to prevent fraud, the electronic digital signature will begin to support new security and hashing mechanisms.
  • Eternal Archives. EDMS developers will be forced to solve the problem of long-term storage of electronic documents. If the state requires that documentation in the nuclear industry be stored for hundreds of years, then the system must provide such an opportunity.
  • Using the digital footprint. We are talking about a portrait of a user, compiled based on an analysis of his online activities. Using a “digital footprint” will allow you to personalize searches in the enterprise’s electronic database (increase the relevance of search results for each specific user), improve management processes (the system will suggest which employee will best cope with a particular task), and evaluate the motivation and efficiency of staff.

Many of you have been using EDMS in your work for a long time, some are in the process of implementation, but there are also those who are still looking closely. Nevertheless, knowledge about modern company documentation and information management systems will be useful for both beginners and experienced users. Criteria for selecting an EDMS

It is no secret that well-built and optimized business processes are the key to the success of a company. One of the most important and resource-intensive processes is the process of documentation support for management. First of all, these are time costs (coordination, approval, signing, execution control), labor costs (the need to have a specialist responsible for document flow on staff), not to mention the costs of consumables and office equipment. EDMS is designed to optimize this process, and therefore significantly reduce the costs of providing it.

Despite difficult economic conditions, EDMS in the information technology market remain among the most popular systems, as they allow:

  • increase the efficiency of company management by providing management with all the necessary information for decision-making;
  • optimize employees’ work with documents;
  • preserve critical information and intangible assets of the company (information that may be lost as a result of dismissal or reduction of employees), i.e., ensure continuity of business or business processes.

Naturally, information about the usefulness of modern technologies for office professionals is not new. If you are reading these lines, then this topic is close to you. Perhaps many of you have been using EDMS in your work for a long time, some are in the process of implementation, but there are also those who are still looking closely.

Nevertheless, knowledge about modern company documentation and information management systems will be useful for both beginners and experienced users.

The market is actively developing; there are many products, business solutions, and additional options designed to solve a variety of problems. And even if your company already has a solution for office automation and employee collaboration, you are probably now wondering how to optimize it.

It is important to understand that electronic document management systems implemented in a company are not a frozen entity, but a living organism that requires significant attention, control, and development. If the system is not developed in a timely manner, then very soon it will become outdated and will no longer be used by employees.

DOW service - customer of the EDMS

Perhaps now you are asking the question: “Why do we, clerks, need to understand the EDMS market if there are “IT specialists” and it is their bread and butter to choose programs?”

It is naive to believe that IT specialists will solve this problem for you! Most documents today are created, processed and stored electronically. Employees coordinate many documents using ICQ, Skype, and email. In addition, documents are created and saved in various formats. And it is the job of clerks to manage this information.

I know of many cases where clerks actually became developers of electronic document management systems, writing down the requirements for the system “from scratch.” This is where their torment began and the long processes of development, refinement, and implementation of the system began.

At first they acted as business analysts - describing all document flow processes. Then in the role of testers, accepting the results obtained. Well, and then in the role of teachers, training employees of their organization to work with the system. Naturally, all these processes are very lengthy and take a significant amount of time - at best several months, at worst years. They later admitted to me that if they could have taken part earlier in the selection process, they would have saved themselves a lot of effort and time, and their company a lot of money! But the most important thing is that they would have long ago organized joint work in the system - theirs and the company’s employees.

Developers of custom solutions in most cases focus on user requirements. Only they do not take into account that users often do not know what requirements to present and what ways exist to implement their tasks.

Familiarity with the products on the market, understanding the principles of their operation gives an advantage when choosing and, ultimately, allows you to choose the most effective solution and save your effort, nerves and money for the company.

Which solution should you choose?

So, you have decided to understand the situation on the EDMS market and find a suitable system to solve your problems. You open the Internet, and there...

And there are so many names, descriptions, charts of analytical companies, various comparisons that you can simply drown in this sea of ​​information. Here are just some figures about the number of products on the Russian market.

As of February 2010, the catalog of electronic document management systems on the TAdviser website included about 179 items, the Docflow catalog list includes 170 products, and there are also various independent portals about document management systems, where the list of solutions includes 45 items. DSS Consulting company highlights solutions from about 15-20 companies that have multiple and successful implementation projects over several periods.

As you can see, the Russian market offers a wide variety of solutions belonging to the class of electronic document management systems.

Systems can be called differently: “office automation system”, “electronic office”, “company operational management system”, “content management system”, “ECM system”, etc.

It would seem, what is the difference? After all, all systems do practically the same thing - provide management of electronic documents. And document flow is a fairly formalized area and all solutions for its automation should be very similar to each other.

However, the market for software products is very diverse - there are expensive systems and economy-class solutions, there are highly specialized systems and designers that allow you to implement any client’s plans. All this market diversity stems from the fact that the same functional requirements are implemented in different ways, on different platforms, using different technologies.

Currently, the market has reached a certain stage of maturity, its leaders have emerged among the EDMS, and new solutions continue to appear, which indicates that the process of system development continues. Unlike the accounting software market, where 1C is undoubtedly the leader, the EDMS market is not so polarized; the buyer has an extremely wide choice: from the world's leading manufacturers to custom-made developments that take into account the characteristics of a specific customer. It's difficult to figure out, isn't it?

The problem of choosing an EDMS

The abundance of offers on the office software market gives rise to the problem of choice. But due to the lack of objective criteria and generally accepted methods for assessing the quality of the proposed EDMS and their compliance with the real needs of the organization, there is a risk of acquiring the “wrong” system: too weak or, on the contrary, redundant for solving specific problems. The risk can be aggravated during the implementation stage, since even a good system can be configured so that work in it will not be effective.

As a result, most organizations choose software solutions in the field of electronic document management at their own peril and risk, guided by their own criteria, intuition, or trusting the promises of developers and specialists implementing the system.

Most often, the reason for failure is not so much the quality of the software solution as its incorrect choice and errors made during implementation due to the lack of well-formulated requirements for the EDMS.

At the end of 2008 - beginning of 2009. DSS Consulting company conducted a study among companies using EDMS that implemented EDMS in 2008. To the question: “How do companies choose EDMS?” the most popular answers were:

  • chosen based on recommendations;
  • analyzed information on the Internet;
  • chose the first solution available;
  • the decision was “brought down from above.”

The experience of many companies shows that the consequences of an unsuccessful choice of EDS are not only material, temporary, organizational losses, but also, most importantly, the organization’s failure to achieve its goals and lag in development.

Consequently, there is a real need for information that would allow: based on an analysis of the documentation support system for management and business processes of the organization, to formulate requirements for the EDMS, based on objective criteria for evaluating and comparing the EDMS presented on the market, to select a suitable product and ensure its effective use .

Criteria for selecting an EDMS

Before embarking on a rather broad topic of reviewing the current situation in the Russian and international markets for information solutions of this class, as well as analyzing specific solutions, we will focus on the main criteria that need to be paid attention to, regardless of the class of software product and the market share occupied.

An organization's EDMS must solve a wide range of problems and at the same time be convenient and flexible in configuration so that it can be supported by the customer. Of course, you can take an ECM platform and get a highly customized solution that takes into account all the company’s business processes, but the implementation of such systems usually takes from several months to a year or more and requires considerable financial costs. However, you always want the implementation time to be minimal, and personnel training to be quick and preferably without interruption from production activities.

Most often, the choice of EDS is made based on the following criteria:

  • the cost of EDMS licenses and other necessary components (hardware, DBMS);
  • cost of implementation and support of EDMS;
  • the ability to expand the system through additional modules and integration with other products;
  • Information Security;
  • platform and technologies used;
  • reputation of the developer and supplier (organization implementing the system);
  • functional completeness.

Let's consider the meaning of the above criteria.

The cost of licenses has always been one of the main criteria when choosing a system. EDMS customers have long known that a cheap product is not always a good one.

The system must be accessible so that the customer can carry out some system settings himself, for example, independently connect and configure dictionaries, reference books, standard document routes, etc., without once again resorting to the services of developers or system integrators. The cost of operating the system will be lower.

The system should be a solution that allows for its further expansion by adding new modules and capabilities.

The range of capabilities expanded by additional modules may include both integration with certain applications and expansion of the system's functionality.

When choosing a system, special attention is paid to its information security, how the principles of protecting confidential data are implemented, how the access control system is organized, and whether the system supports the use of electronic signatures and encryption.

When choosing a system, as a rule, it is taken into account what platform it is built on and what technologies are used. And here priority is given not to novelty, but to stability and reliability. An important role in the choice is played by the database management system (DBMS) used and development tools.

If an organization already has a corporate standard for a DBMS, then it is more logical if the EDMS follows it. It is not advisable to expand the list of supported DBMSs unless absolutely necessary. The same is true for development tools. The more well-known and widespread they are, the more specialists who know them and will be able to develop additional components for the EDMS and the lower the risk of project failure due to the lack of such specialists.

When choosing an EDMS developer, factors such as how long it has been in the EDMS market, reputation among users and competitors, quality of technical support, and frequency of system updates are usually assessed. Equally important is the choice of a reliable company - an EDMS supplier, if the development company does not work directly with customers.

At the selection stage, it is necessary to evaluate in detail the experience of successful projects and implementations, and the level of qualifications of personnel. The possibility of finalizing the information system within a reasonable time (with acceptable price conditions) to suit the specifics of the enterprise depends on the supplier company.

Perhaps the most important criterion is the functional completeness of the system. No matter how good the system is in all other respects, its main task is to ensure the implementation of electronic document management functions.

Until now, customers have rarely used a systematic approach to assessing the functional completeness of the EDMS, relying on their subjective opinion based on studying marketing materials or, at best, on a cursory acquaintance with the product at a test bench. This is not enough for the successful practical use of EDMS.

It is almost impossible to make the right choice without conducting a comprehensive assessment and comparison of systems, primarily in terms of functional parameters, without taking into account the strategic goals and current tasks of the customer.

A preliminary analysis of the market can help in solving this problem: an initial familiarization with its main participants, products on the market, key technologies and systematization according to the main parameters.

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