Document management hot at FOSE

Document management is a hot topic at the FOSE trade show this week. Two vendors showing their wares in this area are Laserfiche and Xythos.

Document management enables enterprise users such as government agencies to securely access, share and manage content locally and remotely.

Laserfiche is launching Version 7.2 of its document management software at the show in Washington, D.C. One significant new feature, Check In/Check Out, was developed in response to input from federal government customers that process large amounts of confidential information.

This feature allows users to electronically check out documents on a long-term basis to prevent other users from modifying them while they are being processed. The documents can remain locked for several days or weeks until they are approved.

Version 7.2 also includes expanded support for foreign languages, drag-and-drop compatibility with Microsoft Outlook and enhanced document automatic-naming capabilities.

Laserfiche offers scalability that can range from a small office to thousands of users across a global organization, with a flexible licensing program to match. The program lets customers increase or decrease the number of licenses depending on an agency’s changing needs.

The product also includes utilities that allow users to access entire document repositories via the Internet using a standard Web browser. No additional software is required, and the documents are accessible from anywhere in the world while remaining secure.

Xythos, meanwhile, is showcasing its Enterprise Document Management 5.0 Suite, a product targeted for government users. The suite consists of four modules: Xythos Document Manager, Xythos WebFile Server, Xythos Drive and Xythos Developer Studio.

The Enterprise Document Manager offers core document library services and document classification and retention schedules. It also includes integrated workflow features designed to enable business processes on the Web.

The WebFile Server is the underlying platform for the Document Manager, and it is designed to use open standards-based Web protocols to address document management functions and work with client and server applications.

Xythos Drive turns any Windows desktop application into a Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning— a compatible collaboration and publishing tool— allowing the core document collaboration functions, including Check-In/Check-Out, to be available from within common Web browsers and desktop applications with which they are already familiar.

The Developer Studio lets developers create custom applications and customize a Xythos document manager installation.

One significant security feature is that the Xythos technology allows government users to send attachments as secure file links, which is more secure than sending the actual document. The product is also platform-independent so it can be installed in existing environments without imposing new requirements.