The ECM Purchasing Process
The alternative for identifying ECM providers is to look at industry associations such as the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM). AIIM showcases different ECM providers on an ongoing basis which allows you to see some of the smaller vendors who may have a solution that uniquely fits your needs.
Pricing/functions
The best way to identify the best players in the ECM world is to develop a set of core criteria that effectively meet the business needs established in the beginning of the buying cycle. Each vendor will refer to a function differently, effectively confusing the majority of all prospects. It is imperative that your organization ask the questions: "where is this feature applicable to my business?" or "how would you solve this business problem?" The feature/function is effectively useless if it is not addressing your business needs.
Check references
The best way to protect your organization is to check references with the vendor's clients. Perform a site visit if at all possible and speak with some of the employees utilizing the system. The people using the system are the best gauges for satisfaction when it comes to an ECM solution. It is recommended that you find a reference that operates in a line of business that is similar to your organization. If possible, perform the reference check in absence of the vendor or follow up with the reference directly after the visit to ensure that pressure from the vendor is not preventing them from voicing any concerns about the product.
Technical Considerations for Document Management Selection
Hardware Requirements:
Virtual server support (ESX VMWare)? Terminal server support? MFP device support? Minimum server requirements?
Network Requirements:
WAN support (for remote location access)? DMZ support for Internet access?
Software Requirements:
Support for XP Pro Vista Business Windows 7? Support for Windows Server 2003/2008? SQL 2005/2008? Support on-the-fly customer indexing? Electronic forms?
Licensing Requirements:
Per named or concurrent user? Maintenance requirements (includes upgrades?) Patch/Update management?' Modules (different licensing requirements?)
Training Provided:
Vendor (on-site or Web-based?) Computer-based training available? Implementation documentation? Troubleshooting guide? User and admin manuals?
Support Availability:
VM/TS as it applies to application? 24/7 or 8X5? MFP support per vendor-supported devices?
General Requirements:
SharePoint integration? Support for retention policies? Security—User level, Group level, Role-based? Granular audit trail (capture all changes, view of records)? Audit reports? Viewer supports e-forms (Adobe vs. ASP/HTML vs. Office)? Supports annotation and redaction in viewer? Validation/QA process? Workflow—ad hoc customizable and/or automated rules-based? Barcode support—full-page OCR, zonal recognition, patch code separators? Connects to ODBC for automatic indexing? Integrate with third-party apps for lookup? Batch scanning?
This checklist includes many of the decision factors in selecting a document management software solution. There are certainly others that will factor into a successful vendor selection.
iDatix has developed a sample "Buyers Guide" spreadsheet that defines some of the higher level criteria utilized when purchasing a system. This document is made available in the Document Management Buyers Kit. Note that this will not supplant the need for identifying your organization's business needs. For a full version of iDatix's Document Management Buyers Kit, please visit www.idatix.com