A Document Management System (DM System or DMS) is designed to simplify the creation, drafting, and collaboration process within document intensive organizations. First embraced by law firms, the systems are gaining popularity as corporations begin to extend DM throughout the enterprise. In fact, DMS vendors have recently adopted the term “Enterprise Content Management” to describe and promote products that encompass this growing segment of the enterprise software market.

Components of a DM System
Document Profiles – In a DM environment, metadata about each document is captured in the document profile. The profile is linked to the document to provide data fields that define and categorize the document.

Database – In order to track metadata, link profiles to documents, and provide audit trails, document management applications overlay some form of database. Most leading products today use a SQL database.

Full-Text Index – Leading DM products usually create a full-text index of the contents of each document. Full-text search technologies extend searching – allowing documents to be located using words contained within the document (in addition to metadata about the document).

Storage Areas (for documents) – While a DM System may change the way documents are categorized, stored and retrieved, it does not eliminate the traditional need for physical disk space. Each document resides on a shared network drive managed by the network operating system.

Windows Application – Enterprise DM Systems provide a Windows client that integrates with various desktop productivity applications such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Acrobat, and Lotus Notes.

Functionality
Drafting and Collaboration – A DM System ensures that documents can be located and shared easily among various authors and typists. The system maintains document integrity by ensuring that only a single user can make changes to a document at any one time. Without this functionality, it is possible that multiple users may access and update a document simultaneously resulting in document inconsistencies and/or missing edits.

Active Application Integration – Once installed, the DMS takes over the traditional “Open” and “Save” functions within desktop applications. Known as “Active Integration”, these features allow users to open, edit and save documents directly into the DMS. By comparison – and not to be confused with true document management – web-based collaborative tools offer a more passive approach whereby users are expected to take additional steps to add or “post” documents to a shared web space.

Version Control – Leading DM Systems include the ability to store, search and retrieve multiple versions of any document. This enhances the collaborative nature of the system by tracking a document's history and facilitating the use of document comparison tools that produce redlined comparisons from one version to the next.

Searching – To be most useful, a DM System must make it easy for users to locate work product quickly using metadata and/or full text searching. The DMS must not only facilitate document retrieval for one's own document but also ensure that users can efficiently locate and share documents created by others.

Security – A DMS must provide sophisticated security functionality that can control the documents and metadata that users can access.

Other Considerations
Records Management – Often, the corporate records retention schedule is incorporated into the DM System to ensure that documents are retained and purged according to the corporate Records Management/Retention Policy.

Knowledge Management (KM) – While the collecting and categorization of documents through document management does not solve broad Knowledge Management issues, it can be a fundamental building block in a sound KM strategy.

E-Discovery - Best practices dictate that corporations proactively develop procedures and practices enabling a rapid response to discovery demands, in a manner as complete as possible and consistently applied. A DM System can help organizations meet this growing challenge by providing process consistency, complete document history, and robust audit capabilities that can be accessed quickly during the discovery phase of litigation.

More information
A further explanation of Document Management and Enterprise Content Management can be found on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_content_management.

Jason Mervyn jason.mervyn@gowlings.com is the Director, IT Business Solutions at Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP in Kitchener. In his role as the lead of the Gowlings Business Solutions Group, Jason counsels corporate law departments of national and multinational organizations on their technology strategies and oversees all Gowlings client access sites including IP Portfolio Extranets, Deal Rooms, and online Matter Management tools.