And you thought doc management
couldn't get any safer

by ALLEN PREGER, VP of global products, Newforma | June 20, 2015

If your company uses an electronic document management system – an EDMS – it’s because you want to take the most secure steps possible to manage the risk of overwriting files or working from anything but the latest versions of plans and specifications. But every company shares one trait that threatens to undermine EDMS security: it is only one source of information you call upon to deliver projects.

And we know what happens when workers have to bounce back and forth between folders, inboxes, EDMS, cloud storage, and other locations to find the information they need: People get frustrated… and the risk rises that information will slip through the cracks.

Fortunately, now there’s a way to tie EDMS workflows into your other project delivery processes. Newforma software for project information management integrates with leading document management systems to streamline workflows and to reduce the risk of mistakes.

A UNIFIED VIEW OF ALL FILES

For example, Newforma Project Center provides a unified view of all your project files, wherever they reside on your network, including files residing in document management systems such as Bentley ProjectWise, Microsoft SharePoint, and IBM FileNet.

You can check files in and out of the EDMS directly from Newforma Project Center. EDMS security provisions still govern access, and version control still applies, eliminating overwriting of files.

Newforma Project Center indexes your EDMS files so that information searches are quick and productive. The integration makes it easy to include document management files in Newforma workflows to manage RFIs, submittals, markups, file transfers and more. Integration means you can include EDMS files among those viewed on the Newforma Plans app, ensuring everyone of always working from the most recent drawings and specifications.

Our specialized software even makes it easy to file email in your document management system, increasing its value as a secure repository of vital information. And by making it easier to access EDMS documents and integrate them with other project delivery workflows, it also raises the return on your EDMS investment, and makes it practical for more of your firm to use it on more projects.

For more information on how to derive greater value from EDMS, download our new white paper, How To Generate More Value From Your Document Management System.

The author is a Newforma co-founder and VP of global products.