A Comparative Analysis II

Traditional Enterprise Content Management Systems
Vs.
Hosted, Web Based Document Management

Hosted, Web-based Document Management – HyperOffice as a Typical Case Study

The Hosted, Software-as-a-Service Architecture

In recent times, there has been a shift of perceptions & discernible trend towards hosted, web-based applications. More and more companies, big and small, are embracing these solutions. This holds true not just for the document management domain, but for just about any software technology.

Software as a service (SaaS) is a delivery model where a vendor develops a web-native software application and hosts and operates the application at its own servers for use by customers over the Internet. Customers do not pay for owning the software itself, but rather for using it. This approach is especially beneficial for small to mid sized companies, which now have access to enterprise-class software without the costs and hassles of implementing, securing, updating and maintaining it.

HyperOffice was founded in 1998 with a background in collaborative technology. HyperOffice, with its flagship product of the same name, specializes in providing hosted, web-based document management and collaborative solutions to the small to mid sized segment. It is very popular in this domain with more than 150,000 customers to boast of.

Features

HyperOffice offers a robust, out-of-the-box document management solution over the internet. Customers require no servers, repositories or downloads on their end. They just need to sign up, and can access the solution over the internet for a fee of around $7 per user per month. Company users can access the document management system on any web browser at a yourcompany.hyperoffice.com domain or the company’s own domain for a small extra charge.

The main advantage is that customers can have ready access to features of enterprise class-solutions without having to bother about the hassles of backend – implementation, configuration, maintenance, security, updates, etc. Its main features are as follows:

Storage – HyperOffice acts as a centralized repository of documents that company employees with the adequate rights can access, share & collaborate on. Documents have to be uploaded onto the system and physically reside at HyperOffice’s servers. Windows integration allows files and folders to be uploaded in batches right from the desktop.

Organization – The solution is organized into workspaces, i.e., dedicated password protected areas in the site for individual & groups. For example, an employee would have access to a personal area, and other groups he is part of – department, division, customer extranet group, etc. These workspaces further have libraries where documents can be organized in folders & sub folders. In addition to libraries, these workspaces have other productivity tools like task management, announcements, to do lists, calendars, contact lists, etc. The workspaces roughly correspond to eRooms for Documentum.

Remote Access – Users can access and collaborate on documents from any PC, Mac, or web browser. The solution is also optimized for mobility, and can be accessed from most mobile or handheld devices including iPhone.

File types Supported – The system is file type agnostic and all files can be uploaded and stored. The local system, however, where the files are accessed, needs to have the supporting software.

Access Control – Access can be controlled at many levels. Firstly, one needs to be a member of a group to be able to access the document library of that group. Within a group, one needs to have rights to access individual folders, sub-folders and documents. Rights can be set up easily at any level. For example, a scenario is an HR executive who has access to the HR group workspace, to the “recruitments” folder within the group, to all records in that folder, but not to the “salary” sub-folder within the folder.

Rights can further be of read, write or delete type. Another level of control is the “profiling” system. This allows certain information to be invisible for some users if the administrator does not wish them to see it.

Administration of access controls is fairly simple. Assigning or withdrawing rights just needs a few clicks. The overall administrator can easily pass on administrator rights to lower levels, who can further pass them down.

Search – HyperOffice allows meta-data to be associated to documents through the “document details” feature. This allows names, author, description, etc. to be added to each document through which it can be searched.

Versioning & Audit Trails – As different people work on the same document, and it passes through many revisions, the system assigns versions to the document, and also captures information on the person responsible for the changes. One can easily revert back to earlier versions of a document.

Commenting – Comments are allowed to be made to documents, which add a layer of additional information and discussion to a document.

Locking & Notifications – Also useful features for collaboration. Locking ensures that a document is automatically locked for other users if a user has opened it for changes. Automatic notifications can be sent out to all users for a document whenever a change is made.

Email Integration – The system has an inbuilt email client that communicates seamlessly with the documents. Moreover, documents can also be “interlinked” with email records, such that associated email and documents can be easily associated. A small “HyperShare” downloadable plug-in allows HyperOffice users to integrate & synchronize with the local Outlook client.

Total Collaboration – HyperOffice has a wide range of other inbuilt collaboration tools, which takes care for many, if not all, of a company’s collaboration needs. These are tools like forums, contact management, task management, calendaring, etc. These tools can be further published to dedicated intranet and extranet workspaces. The intranet/extranet publisher also allows for a great deal of customization, where the look, layout & tools for each workspace can be finely managed.

Why are SAAS Solutions Suitable for Small/Mid Sized Companies?

No Implementation – Since the backend of the solution is taken care of by the vendor, users don’t have to bother about hardware, software downloads, server security, configuration, etc. Implementation cycles of months are cut down to just a few days. For example, HyperOffice just requires a signup, and customers can get the basic solution up and running within minutes. Administrators can then gradually keep adding users and workspaces for different departments, or extranet workspaces as the need arises.

Cost Effective – The cost structure of SAAS solutions is usually a reasonable monthly per user fee. This ensures that minimal costs are locked in, unlike enterprise CMS’ where thousands of dollars are committed. This makes opting out of a system much easier. Moreover, there is no uncertainty about costs, as terms are clearly laid out, which allows for greater predictability of costs for different future scenarios.

Features – A range of enterprise-class functionality is available to users, but they don’t have to bother about the complex backend that goes with implementing this functionality, since that is the vendor’s headache.

Flexibility & Mobility – These solutions are developed with a view to delivery over the web, as opposed to traditional applications like Documentum, to which web delivery was a later add-on. This ensures that the system with full functionality is available over a web browser, saving users from tiresome downloads or implementations on local workstations. Moreover, since these solutions are children of the internet & mobility era, they also allow access over mobile devices. HyperOffice allows almost full functionality over many web-enabled mobile devices, including the iPhone.

User Friendly – These solutions are out-of-the-box. Emphasis is on ease of use, with the messy backend taken care of. SAAS vendors realize that the needs of small to mid sized companies are simple, non-technical solutions that are quick to deploy. The entire HyperOffice solution can be managed from a central console and needs no technical expertise at all – truly child’s play!

Customizability – Although these solutions are out-of-the-box, they allow for some degree of customizability within these parameters. The attempt is to allow companies to tailor solutions to their unique situations without overwhelming them with complexity. HyperOffice’s intranet/extranet publisher allows companies to create workspaces whose look, brand, layout and tools can be finely tailored. Even entire websites can be created easily.

Backup & Security – Solutions like Documentum require additional add-on software to take care of backing up information. Moreover, backup servers and magnetic tapes have to be maintained, frequency of backups has to be managed, and more.

Security of data and servers is also a company’s own hassle. This requires purchase of additional antivirus software contracts, monitoring of the systems, and physical storage & security of servers. Disaster recovery plans also have to be put in place in case of events like fire or natural disasters.

Although the above is an integral part of hosting and maintaining an application, this is a part of the messy backend taken care of by the vendor. An additional advantage is that these vendors have developed an expertise in hosting and securing applications, since this is their core operation. A company cannot hope to develop such expertise in-house, which in any case would only distract focus from core operations.

Updates & Enhancements – Whenever Documentum updates their product, users have to download it and reconfigure the system. But in the case of SAAS solutions, since the application resides on the vendor’s servers, the vendor can simply add updates, enhancements and new features on its end, which are instantly available to the users of the application.