Robustness - The document management system should be feature rich, and perform as specified in the product literature. Rigorous testing during the free trial phase will help verify this.Â
Pragmatic - Rather than being surrounded with high blown tech talk, the document manager features should help with practical day to day problems a business has to face. For example the ability to organize and store your company’s documents and data in an easy, familiar and systematic manner.Â
Economical - Since this blog is targeted towards small businesses, the cost-benefit ratio is very important. Most web absed systems come at a low per user per month cost, and fulfill this criteria.Â
Collaboration - In the modern business world, it is not enough just to be able to store and organize corporate documents, but also collaborate on them with remote colleagues. Collaboration features like versioning, commenting, audit trails, notifications etc are a must.Â
Design - Design is the single most important factor is the adoption of a software in a company. Amazing software fail because the design is not compelling enough for its users. The design should be simple, intuitive and compelling. "Sticky" as they say.
Versatility - The document management software should be versatile enough to be usable in diverse business contexts. For example asynchronous document collaboration, real time document collaboration; the ability to integrate with existing company systems; and access from different devices - PC, Mac or mobiles. Â
Web based - Though an online document management system may not be suitable in all situations, it certainly brings great benefits to a small business - short implementation cycle, short learning curve, free upgrades, ease of use, manageable cost and so on. Â
Integrated - Online document management software is essential, but more may be gained if it comes integrated with other collaboration software - workspaces, forums, calendars, address books, workflows etc.
