Document Management — The State Of The Art

• Acct1st EDRMS
• Doc-It DM
• CCH ProSystem fx Document
• Interwoven Worksite
• Thomson FileCabinet CS
• Thomson GoFileRoom
  

The products listed here (along with a few others that a tax and accounting firm might want to consider) are reviewed in the Document Management review in this issue that starts on page 8, as well as the Document Storage review that will be featured in the August 2008 issue of this magazine.

Since I was in the Boston area, I had time to have dinner with the publishers of Copanion GruntWorx. They explained the progress they were making on their recognition approach, the volume of 1040 workpapers they had been handling, the data center structure and the scalability of the product. It was interesting to note that this product is built using open source and runs on Linux servers. Copanion GruntWorx uses a different approach to recognition than the other main competitors in this category: SurePrep 1040Scan and CCH ProSystem fx Scan. Throughout the year, I will note other products using Linux to their competitive advantage, such as Oneir Point of Sale or Fishbowl Inventory.

Another key observation of the 2008 AIIM conference is that workflow has arrived. Workflow is the ability to electronically move documents through an organization. The two competitors with the largest market share in the accounting space are XCM Accounting Workflow and GoFileRoom ClientFlow. The tools to dynamically define workflow are improving notably as I learned from a hands-on session with AnyDoc. Additionally, radical upgrades in XCM Workflow have moved this product along nicely in 2008. CEO Mark Albrecht plans to stay ahead of the competitors with his plans for the XCM Workflow product; and from what I have seen, this is not a marketing claim.

It was pretty clear that the document management market is maturing, and that many of the products are beginning to look similar and make similar claims for their capabilities. One thing that has definitely improved is the search capability. Another notable improvement is in usability. If you are still filing documents in file cabinets or electronic folders, you are wasting your time and firm resources. The early adopters are all enjoying the benefits of their paperless systems. Shouldn’t you make your life easier, too? Be sure to read more about early adopters in Greg LaFollette’s column in this issue.