Review of CNG-SAFE - 2011
Document Control: 
CNG provides typical permission controls such as view, print, create and delete authority. A detailed audit file allows users to review the entire history of the document in CNG. Permissions are applied by assigning a “sensitivity” level to documents (e.g. Public, Confidential or Top Secret). Retention periods can be automatically applied by the system or configured to be manually set by the user. Only authorized users (typically the administrator) can generate a report of documents tagged for purging, and select what data actually gets purged.
CNG’s version control feature keeps track of all the revisions of a document. Users can also compare one document version with another to identify the differences, and can even choose to promote an earlier version of a document to the current version if needed.
Special Features:
CNG includes an integrated portal module that is accessible through a web interface. The portal can be set up as a link within another portal if appropriate. An integrated scanning solution permits scanning directly into a CNG folder for direct upload. The system also supports bar code scanning to help keep the document tagging process separate from the scanning function. This is important because the scan operator(s) may not be as familiar with the nature of the documents as the person responsible for processing them.
CNG can be deployed in either a traditional on-premises client/server model or through a browser interface. There are some differences between the two, but they are essentially the same application. CNG can also be accessed as a SaaS application, with all data stored in a secure data center.
One particularly distinguishing feature is the CNG Books module that provides direct integration with QuickBooks. Features include the ability to scan a document and create the QB transaction all in the same process as the document is being viewed. A folder is automatically created for each of the user’s QB customer and vendor records.
Executive Summary & Pricing
CNG is a very impressive solution. I like the fact that it is designed as a horizontal solution that can fit the needs of many different types of businesses. The integration with QuickBooks is a valuable bonus for organizations that work with QB. The pricing model is $495 per view license, $995 per dedicated user, or $1,395 for a shared concurrent user license for an on-premise deployment. The SaaS model is priced at $50 per user per month. Volume pricing will be applied based on the total number of users for both the on-premises and SaaS models.
