Manage and Secure Cloud Content On-Premises with Synchronization
Business users have always looked for better, faster ways to share information and collaborate. It should come as no surprise that they have readily adopted Microsoft® SharePoint®, Microsoft® SharePoint® Online, and other cloud-based sharing repositories.
In recent years, business users have been moving more and more content away from their on-premises enterprise content management (ECM) system and into these applications. According to AIIM, as many as 30% of users already use “unofficial cloud file-sharing tools” in the workplace.1 Unfortunately, there is a downside to this behavior—at least in terms of security and governance.
While these online applications excel for their convenient and easy-to-use portal interfaces, they generally lack robust document and records management capabilities. Content proliferation outside the ECM repository—content left unintegrated and unmanaged—exposes the organization to increased security, legal, compliance, and eDiscovery risks.
Addressing the Opposing Needs of Stakeholders
To address this situation, it is important to understand the needs and motivations of information stakeholders. Business users want easier, faster ways of working and are willing to bypass corporate policies to get things done. Those charged with managing risk and security need to ensure content is governed on premises in compliance with regulation. In fact, a 2016 AIIM study on cloud and mobility confirms less than 20% of information stakeholders are comfortable with an ECM solution that is 100% cloud-based. Security and reliability are their primary concerns.2
What is the best way forward? The best approach is to provide tools that are as effortless as the workarounds and applications users have adopted—yet provide the level of security and reduced risk the organization needs.
Hybrid ECM—The Best of Both Worlds
Hybrid ECM is an excellent and increasingly acceptable option. It consists of the following:
- A cloud-based collaboration or file-sharing application (such as Microsoft SharePoint Online)
- An existing on-premises ECM solution (such as OpenText™ eDOCS)
- An application that synchronizes content across the on-premises/public-cloud gap
In the same 2016 AIIM study mentioned above, the majority of respondents viewed hybrid ECM as offering the best of both worlds. With hybrid ECM, the entire organization benefits from using the on-premises ECM system for securing, managing, and archiving most enterprise content—and also using a cloud-based application like Microsoft SharePoint Online to enable faster, easier collaboration with outside partners and vendors.
The Synchronization Solution
Synchronization capabilities are integral to any hybrid ECM solution. They integrate the cloud-based file-sharing application with the on-premises ECM application and automatically move or copy content based on the specific scenario or use case. For example, synchronization enables:
- Archiving—content is moved from SharePoint/Cloud into the on-premises ECM system for governance and archiving.
- Publishing—content is moved from the ECM system into SharePoint/Cloud for publishing.
- Synchronization—when content is duplicated in more than one location, synchronization ensures changes in either location are applied to both.
In these scenarios, content moves either in one direction (as in archiving and publishing) or it is synchronized to ensure it remains up-to-date in all locations when changes occur. The transfer can be done manually or automated to ensure content remains governed in the ECM repository and is always up-to-date.
Implementing Hybrid ECM
When looking to implement a hybrid ECM deployment, it is wise to evaluate the system’s synchronization capabilities to ensure content is governed properly. Organizations need to understand the steps required to ensure only certain content is shareable in the cloud and only under certain conditions. They need to understand how content will transfer between the applications, include metadata binding for security and compliance, and maintain a single source of the truth.3
The OpenText eDOCS solution offers robust document and records management capabilities and a host of additional tools for the digital world. Among them, two solution modules offer easy-to-use synchronization capabilities to enable a hybrid ECM deployment:
- OpenText™ Document Management, eDOCS Edition (eDOCS DM) offers a Sync and Save client for real-time, metadata-aware content synchronization to the eDOCS DM repository with a consistent Windows experience. It simplifies content capture by tagging, automatically synchronizing, and updating content stored on desktops or in cloud-based applications with the DM repository.
- OpenText™ eDOCS for Microsoft® SharePoint® also provides easy-to-use tools to integrate and synchronize content between Microsoft SharePoint, SharePoint Online, and the eDOCS DM library. These tools can also be used to synchronize content stored in cloud-based repositories.
At the end of the day, the best solution requires little or no effort from the end user. It works seamlessly to support the use of cloud-based sharing repositories while minimizing the proliferation of unintegrated, ungoverned content and its risk to the organization. eDOCS offers automated, easy-to-use tools for synchronization and robust information governance, giving you the ability to offer your organization the best of both worlds.
To learn more, visit our website (www.opentext.com/campaigns/edocs-dm/sharepoint) or email us at edocsinfo@opentext.com.
OpenText™ eDOCS helps organizations leverage their high-value content for maximum business benefit. The solution unifies and brings structure to fast-growing libraries of dispersed content, enables flexible and collaborative business processes, and offers analytical insights—all while ensuring content is secure, governed, and compliant. Managed, secure, accessible. It’s easy with eDOCS.
1 “Cloud Access to Public Sector Content,” AIIM, April 2013.
2 Larrivee, Bob; “Cloud ECM: Harness the Power of the Cloud to Amplify the Value of Enterprise Content Management,” AIIM, March 2016.
3 “Bridging the Divide Between On-Premises and Cloud ECM Systems,” SeeUnity, 2015.