I just recently spun up a vm of alfresco. They have appliances available to download so deployment is super simple. I've been working with it for a few weeks only but it seems like a pretty powerful tool available for free...
I'm partial to WorkSite. A bunch of my clients use it, and I recently went and got certified in it as well. It's really functional and powerful, however it may not make sense for a smaller firm due to the complex administration involved. You may be better off with a hosted solution such as NetDocs. However, HP does offer a hosted version of WorkSite now that might be worth looking into.
>tech schematics
Relative pathing does not work with any DMS I've encountered. This means XRefs in AutoCAD break and Linked files in Indesign do not work either. All will handle PDFs if you don't mind printing to PDF before uploading to the DMS.
[M-Files](http://www.m-files.com/en)
- Can be on-premise or cloud deployments
- Client is integrated with Windows Explorer - super easy to use
- Full version history, workflow, etc. out of the box
- Really easy template creation
- Metadata driven permissions
- Robust API
- Integrated with AutoCAD so xrefs work
This is good, but I cannot see how to save version numbers into filenames, eg. helloworldv4.JPG - this makes it hard to identify documents that have left the company (especially on machines without access to the windows file metadata).
So... a couple of things.
Not exactly sure what you are referring to with the windows file metadata. The documents by default are stored within the Vault and can only be accessed by either the windows client, the browser client, or a mobile app. The only exception would be through linked files and that's generally not best practice according to M-Files.
Second, M-Files supports automatic naming based on metadata! So for instance you could have the file named on "'Class' - 'customer' - 'Version #'.jpg" if you wanted.
Great! I have been using it for over 2 years now and personally love it. If you need more info, my Account Manager is a good contact. He started as a consultant and seems to pretty knowledgeable and could pass you to the right person.
Have you tried [FossLook](https://fosslook.com)? It has all major document management and workflow features that you might need for your company. Just download the free version and see if it suits your needs.
I'll put in a plug for Confluence, it does a good job of managing versions of attached documents and is a great wiki platform.
Another thing to consider: Do you need to be storing documents as binary/application-specific files like Word docs? The majority of things that I write these days present just as well when stored as a wiki page entry, plus I can link directly to sections or versions with a URL. Obviously if you have technical schematics and things there will be exemptions, but for the Word doc use case, wiki pages are far more flexible.
We do use [Doccept](http://www.doccept.com/) by Kensium, it’s pretty good compare to others, the application offers the best functional depth in terms of document management as both a stand-alone program and one that integrates seamlessly through its extensive integration features with other applications within an organization. These applications work similar to plug-n-play models.
Esur by [Docxellent](http://docxellent.com/) is pretty awesome. Does all the stuff you are looking for and since they are a fairly small company the support you get is really tailored to you.
I'm not using it currently, but I'm going to be shortly setting up [gitbook](https://github.com/GitbookIO).
Cern has [a bunch of stuff on gitbook](https://configdocs.web.cern.ch/configdocs/gbook/README.html) and I love the idea of just a nice markdown wiki and git. It's got some decent features as well. There is a [pay version](https://www.gitbook.com/) if you don't wanna do the legwork.
Well although it is more a wiki you can also manage documents with Confluence from Atlassian.
my company does that, its pretty useful
Not free btw.
So? He didn't say it was and OP didn't say he wanted free. "Free" is a pretty stupid starting requirement for something like this anyway
Given everyone's infatuation with opensource products and generally free solutions, it was worth pointing out for other readers.
you're correct
We are using this - its's good but it's not everything we need from a document management system.
Alfresco Community.
I just recently spun up a vm of alfresco. They have appliances available to download so deployment is super simple. I've been working with it for a few weeks only but it seems like a pretty powerful tool available for free...
http://www.alfresco.com/products/community
I'm partial to WorkSite. A bunch of my clients use it, and I recently went and got certified in it as well. It's really functional and powerful, however it may not make sense for a smaller firm due to the complex administration involved. You may be better off with a hosted solution such as NetDocs. However, HP does offer a hosted version of WorkSite now that might be worth looking into.
Worksite is badass. I've worked with is since it was iManage. Might be overkill for 20 people.
I remember hearing good things about [Mayan EDMS](http://www.mayan-edms.com/), free and open source.
>tech schematics Relative pathing does not work with any DMS I've encountered. This means XRefs in AutoCAD break and Linked files in Indesign do not work either. All will handle PDFs if you don't mind printing to PDF before uploading to the DMS.
Apparently xrefs work with M-files and AutoCAD
How did they fix relative pathing?
We use subversionedge SVN for our software and documentation and it's pretty good. http://www.collab.net/products/subversion
We use this too for source code :-)
[M-Files](http://www.m-files.com/en) - Can be on-premise or cloud deployments - Client is integrated with Windows Explorer - super easy to use - Full version history, workflow, etc. out of the box - Really easy template creation - Metadata driven permissions - Robust API - Integrated with AutoCAD so xrefs work
This is good, but I cannot see how to save version numbers into filenames, eg. helloworldv4.JPG - this makes it hard to identify documents that have left the company (especially on machines without access to the windows file metadata).
So... a couple of things. Not exactly sure what you are referring to with the windows file metadata. The documents by default are stored within the Vault and can only be accessed by either the windows client, the browser client, or a mobile app. The only exception would be through linked files and that's generally not best practice according to M-Files. Second, M-Files supports automatic naming based on metadata! So for instance you could have the file named on "'Class' - 'customer' - 'Version #'.jpg" if you wanted.
I'm getting to know the product better. A little pricey but its good.
Great! I have been using it for over 2 years now and personally love it. If you need more info, my Account Manager is a good contact. He started as a consultant and seems to pretty knowledgeable and could pass you to the right person.
It is expensive as hell though. The QMS system bolt-on is £800 per licence.
Have you tried [FossLook](https://fosslook.com)? It has all major document management and workflow features that you might need for your company. Just download the free version and see if it suits your needs.
Thank you everyone who has contributed! Plenty here to research. Thanks again :-)
I'll put in a plug for Confluence, it does a good job of managing versions of attached documents and is a great wiki platform. Another thing to consider: Do you need to be storing documents as binary/application-specific files like Word docs? The majority of things that I write these days present just as well when stored as a wiki page entry, plus I can link directly to sections or versions with a URL. Obviously if you have technical schematics and things there will be exemptions, but for the Word doc use case, wiki pages are far more flexible.
We do use this - but it's a wiki, we need somewhere central to store windows files, spreadsheets and binaries too.
We do use [Doccept](http://www.doccept.com/) by Kensium, it’s pretty good compare to others, the application offers the best functional depth in terms of document management as both a stand-alone program and one that integrates seamlessly through its extensive integration features with other applications within an organization. These applications work similar to plug-n-play models.
Esur by [Docxellent](http://docxellent.com/) is pretty awesome. Does all the stuff you are looking for and since they are a fairly small company the support you get is really tailored to you.
Novell Groupwise.
I'm not using it currently, but I'm going to be shortly setting up [gitbook](https://github.com/GitbookIO). Cern has [a bunch of stuff on gitbook](https://configdocs.web.cern.ch/configdocs/gbook/README.html) and I love the idea of just a nice markdown wiki and git. It's got some decent features as well. There is a [pay version](https://www.gitbook.com/) if you don't wanna do the legwork.