Electronic document management systems use technology. Electronic document management as a way to optimize business processes. Do you need an ECM system?

Basic requirements that an electronic document management system must meet:

• Reliable storage and easy search of documentation.
• Support and perform clerical tasks.
• Timely control over the execution of documents and their routing.
• Creation of analytical reports.
• Ensuring information security.

Modern EDMS also have functions for interacting with clients, processing their requests and additional useful tools, allowing you to solve many applied problems.

Types of electronic document management systems

There are various types of classification of electronic document management systems, but the most indicative classification is the division of EDMS according to title functionality. Any EDMS is positioned by its developer as intended primarily for performing a certain type of task. This does not mean that it does not provide any additional technologies inherent in most of its “brothers”. It’s just that the set of tools of each electronic document management system has its own strengths and weaknesses. The classification according to title functionality takes into account strengths SEDs.

So, it looks like this:

• EDMS designed for creating and working with electronic documentation, as well as digital analogues of paper documents.
• Accounting systems that automate the registration of events and documents throughout their entire life cycle (electronic filing cabinets).
• EDMS, the main task of which is to automate work with large repositories of corporate information.
• Systems that manage electronic archives of documentation.
• EDMS, the functionality of which specializes in extracting the necessary information from archives and other electronic sources.
• Systems that manage corporate processes, document processing and the activities of organization employees who are involved in working with business documents.
• Information EDMS that manage data storage devices.

There is also brief classification EDMS by country of origin, used only in Russia. According to it, electronic document management systems in our country are divided into domestic, imported and Russian, developed on the foreign Lotus/Domino platform. Our review includes examples of only two foreign EDMS - EMC Documentum and Lotus Domino.Doc. All other SEDs have Russian “citizenship”.

TOP 10 electronic document management systems

We assessed electronic document management systems based on a comparison of five parameters that are decisive when choosing an electronic document management system for automating document flow in an enterprise. The scale is ten points.

Note: the final assessment of the system in the table does not claim to be 100% objective and reflects the opinion of the author, based on an in-depth analysis of this topic. This review of electronic document management systems is made only among high-quality software products that can be safely chosen for use in various types of business.

CASE

This electronic document management system is a recognized leader in its segment throughout the entire post-Soviet space. Both the largest holdings and corporations, as well as small businesses, successfully carry out document flow and office work in it. In relation to this system, it is appropriate to apply a tautology: “BUSINESS” knows its business. Indeed, this software is ideal for deep automation of office work and document flow.

pros

• The ability to track all stages of the movement of any electronic document.
• Simplicity and convenience in creating documentation projects.
• General smoothness and functionality of the system.

Minuses

• The “tight” disadvantages include a somewhat archaic interface and a certain difficulty in mastering.

What is the price?

The price of a license to use the "DELO" system within one workplace (DBMS - Oracle) depends on the planned total number of these seats and varies from 11,000 rubles (201-500 rubles) to 13,400 rubles (1-5 rubles /m). If your organization uses a Microsoft DBMS SQL Server, then the license is for one workplace will cost from 7200 to 9500 rubles, respectively.

Logics

Until 2012, the “EDMS Logic” program was called “Boss-Referent” and was one of the most popular Russian electronic document management systems, a serious competitor to the “Delo” EDMS. The name change did not in any way affect the quality of this software product, and it continues to be a reliable and functional system for office management in enterprises of any type and size.

pros

• Ability to build complex multi-level routes for document approval.
• High degree of user data protection.
• Relative ease of mastering the main components of the system.
• Flexibly customizable and modifiable documentation processing processes.

Minuses

• Inconvenient differentiation of access rights during serious staff turnover.
• Not the most conscientious technical support job.
• Archaic interface.

What is the price?

The cost of one license to use this program depends on the number of employees connected to it. If their number does not exceed 49 people, then the price will be 5,900 for each workplace; from 50 to 199 connected employees – 5,200 rubles; and if there are more than 200 workplaces, then the price of one license will be minimal - 4900 rubles.

EUPHRATES

This electronic document management system was developed in full compliance with the requirements of the ISO 9000 quality standard and Russian GOSTs in the field of office work. “EUFRATES” differs from its “colleagues” in the presence of many of its own unique software developments that cannot be found in competing EDMS. Purely technologically, this system is one of the most “advanced” on the modern Russian market of EDMS.

pros

• The delivery package of this system includes a built-in DBMS "Nika", which automatically frees the user organization from purchasing additional software.
• Friendly interface with a pleasant, memorable design.
• Built-in role mechanism for managing access rights.

Minuses

• Quite slow speed, especially on weak computers.
• Periodic malfunctions and slow technical support.

What is the price?

A standard license with installation of the system on the organization’s own server costs from 5,200 to 7,300 rubles per workstation, more users – lower price. However, there is also the option of placing the server component on the manufacturer’s equipment. In this case, a subscription fee system is used - four tariffs, costing from 10,000 to 95,000 rubles per month.

1C:Archive

This is one of the best and certainly the most universal software for enterprise document management. "1C:Archive" provides reliable and, most importantly, centralized storage of business documents of various formats, with access to it by authorized personnel who can edit the files.

pros

• A well-debugged algorithm for quickly searching for the necessary data.
• Possibility of storing documents of any type - from text and graphics, to audio and video files.
• The widest possible scaling capabilities allow you to successfully use this software in both large and small enterprises.
• The main advantage of 1C:Archive, which sets this program apart from its competitors, is the optimal combination of the product’s price and its functionality.
• Supports integration with external applications.

Minuses

• Consumes a large amount of system resources.
• Increased learning difficulty even for experienced users.

What is the price?

The price of “assembling” this program varies from 12,000 to 57,000 rubles, and the first amount will have to be paid exclusively for upgrading the previous version of 1C: Archive.

DIRECTUM

A simple and functional DIRECTUM EDMS will be an excellent solution for small and medium-sized businesses. Thanks to this system, electronic document management can be successfully combined with traditional paper ones, so that subsequently the organization can be completely “painlessly” transferred to working in DIRECTUM. Advanced Workflow technology provides effective automation of office processes.

pros

• Availability of specialized software tools that simplify the search and identification of documentation as much as possible.
• Wide possibilities for independent modification of the system for specific tasks.
• Expanded integration options with other programs.

Minuses

• The system is focused on the management of the enterprise - it is more difficult for ordinary clerks to work in it.
• Somewhat confusing and non-transparent pricing policy.

What is the price?

Licenses to use this EDMS are purchased both individually and as part of package offers. The cheapest basic client license costs 7,800 rubles. The cost of license packages starts from 148,200 rubles (basic for 20 employees) and reaches 2,010,000 rubles (for 200 employees).

OPTIMA-WorkFlow

This electronic document management system is a strong middle peasant in its segment. It is in constant development and cannot yet compete on equal terms with the recognized mastodons of the market. However, OPTIMA-WorkFlow has a number of “aces up its sleeve” - unique technologies that make it stand out from the crowd.

pros

• Implementation of the function of serial input of identical types of documents and their registration information.
• Scanning with an antivirus program.
• Optional indexing of plain and encrypted documents.
• Multilingual user interface.

Minuses

• Disadvantages of standard functionality that are permanently eliminated by upcoming updates.

What is the price?

Typical solutions based on this platform cost from 55,000 to 75,000 rubles.

EMC Documentum

This platform for automating document flow processes was developed by the world leader in the IT industry, EMC. Powerful functionality, coupled with flexible configuration of individual tools, makes EMC Documentum the best foreign EDMS available on the Russian market.

pros

• High degree of convenience in managing design and construction documents.
• Implementation of a check-in/check-out mechanism that allows you to manage the distribution of access rights.
• The presence of a function that allows you to implement the approval procedure at several levels.
• Support for scanning and document recognition devices.

Minuses

• Works only with the Internet Explorer browser.
• Lack of publicly available technical and practical documentation on the system.
• Frequent “brakes” and lags when the system is heavily loaded.

What is the price?

There are no fixed prices for using this platform. The cost of its implementation is discussed individually with each customer.

LanDocs

Developed in 1997 by the domestic company LANIT, this platform for automating document management remains in demand by many enterprises and institutions to this day. LanDocs allows you to build a comfortable office work and document flow environment, providing all categories of users with the necessary set of tools to manage it.

pros

• Availability of integrated cryptographic protection tools.
• Possibility of including employees from remote branches in the document flow process.
• Availability of batch scanning function for paper documentation.

Minuses

• Performance issues are quite common.
• Weak capabilities to expand functionality.
• Difficulty in mastering the system from scratch.

What is the price?

The price of a server license varies from 30,000 to 216,000 rubles. User licenses can be purchased at prices ranging from 5,600 to 8,400 rubles.

CompanyMedia

CompanyMedia is a whole set software solutions, designed to automate business processes, document flow and office work. This EDMS differs from its competitors in its unsurpassed flexibility of settings and the presence of independent modules that can be installed separately.

pros

• Possibility of successful operation of the system in enterprises with complex corporate structure and territorial structure.
• Unprecedented reliability of the system, which allows it to actively function around the clock, 365 days a year.
• Automated support for working with several types of workplaces.
• Differentiation of access rights according to the hierarchical structure of the organization.

Minuses

• The web interface has limited support for some browsers, in particular FireFox.
• The system is focused primarily on medium and large businesses.

What is the price?

The final price of this software consists of many components, including personnel training, installation additional modules and transfer of rights to use the system. The upper limit of the total amount is 99,000 rubles. The cheapest thematic module will cost 4,000 rubles.

Lotus Domino.Doc

This EDMS is an application to the well-known Notes/Domino platform, which has a high-level data security system. Also Lotus Domino.Doc has an advanced Electronic archive, which allows you to implement a large storage of corporate documentation.

pros

• Availability of unique replication systems designed for comprehensive solution tasks for managing document flows in a distributed environment.
• The ability to search for documents in individual parts of the information repository.
• LDAP directories scale up to the enterprise level.

Minuses

• The disadvantages of this system mainly stem from its Western origin - there are certain questions regarding the interface and the implementation of some functions.

What is the price?

The cost of user and server licenses is calculated individually on the platform website.

Eventually

Drawing a line under the review, I would like to note important nuance: the introduction of an electronic document management system into your business does not at all guarantee an immediate increase in its profitability, and, in some cases, it can cause harm. If your organization operates successfully and makes a profit, working without EDMS, then think a thousand times before deciding to implement them. There is no need to chase “progressive fashion” and install these systems without a serious need for them. However, as the business expands and employees are heavily loaded, an electronic document management system can become a kind of life preserver that will help the company emerge from the whirlpool of paperwork.

A mandatory element of the “digital” infrastructure of a modern enterprise or organization is a document management system. Work with external and internal documents is considered to be the most complex, labor-intensive and “problematic” area of ​​enterprise activity. Electronic solutions make it possible to significantly simplify and optimize it.

The use of specialized systems is relevant both for companies in the commercial sector and government agencies. For the first, they open up prospects for increasing profitability and return on work, and for the second, they will be an effective solution to the problems of optimizing the flow of information and papers, interdepartmental interaction and working with.

An electronic document management system (EDMS) is a necessity, not an option. Most of today's companies create office papers in digital form, but due to imperfect information exchange processes, employees are forced to print them, transfer them in “physical” form and waste time and energy on unnecessary routine. An ineffective format can be difficult to change; to do this, it is necessary to automate the company’s activities in a comprehensive manner, but the result will exceed all expectations. A well-organized EDMS or ECM system (organizational content management system) will help manage information and document flows at all levels and stages of existence.

General information about the elements and structure of the EDMS

Initially created as a tool for traditional office work and its automation, today EDMS have developed into multifunctional, complex products. An electronic document management system is a solution that:

• provides the process of creating and moving internal company documentation into in electronic format;
• processes incoming correspondence and external regulatory and administrative documents;
• simplifies control over document flows;
• helps to effectively manage relationships with partners, clients, and so on.

The company's EDMS ensures work with all documents in electronic form— any set of information saved or transferred to a PC. They must be accompanied by attributes on unique “cards” that identify the unit.

Document flow in electronic form is a way to centrally organize work with papers, where most registers and transactions are presented in electronic form. Accordingly, the system that manages it is a solution with tools for implementing all procedures for creating, changing, searching for documents and supporting interaction between company employees.

Sometimes it is called EDMS (Electronic Document Management System) or the aforementioned ECM, but these terms are somewhat broader than EDMS - to the latter it is necessary to add means for ensuring the safety of information, entering paper documents into the digital environment, processing multimedia content, and so on. The electronic document management system is based on work flows - Workflow, which are the actions of employees within the boundaries of a dedicated business process.

Advantages of EDMS

The existing basic structure of the EDMS has proven itself to be an effective, efficient mechanism that is convenient for enterprises and institutions of any size. The EDMS market is actively developing, as both the public sector (active consumer) and business structures are interested in software products that simplify document flow. The development of systems is also facilitated by the expansion of the scope of application of electronic signatures and increased attention to information security issues. They can be effectively solved with the help of high-quality and well-thought-out programs.

A modern document management system has many advantages - it:

• ensures transparency of the document flow and all business processes of the company - all actions and movements of papers can be tracked and controlled;
• increases work discipline and task execution - transparent systems convenient for recording results and the fact of response to a requirement;
• reduces the time spent on everyday routine work - there is no need to search for a long time, coordinate papers, their turnover is accelerated;
• protects information from leakage, ensuring data security and strict differentiation of access rights;
• based on the principles specified in ISO quality standards;
• easily implemented among employees - subject to a well-organized personnel training system;
• gives the enterprise competitive advantages, helps maintain and develop internal corporate culture, and so on.

The electronic document management system (EDMS) includes, among other things, the management of regulatory registers. Therefore, its work must be organized in accordance with legal requirements.

Standards and legal framework for EDMS

There are few specific standards or laws for electronic business systems in the domestic legal field, and when developing an EDMS, its creators focus on a variety of regulations for “classic” office work. Among the main regulatory acts it is worth mentioning:

• federal legislation on electronic digital signatures (1-FZ of January 10, 2002), on information and its protection (149-FZ), on personal data (152 and 363-FZ) and so on;
• Federal and regional government regulations, industry rules and requirements;
• GOST standards for office work, archives, administrative documentation systems - R 51141-98, R 6.30-2003 and others.

Sometimes regulations contradict each other, and the rules are advisory in nature, and developers try to make the company's EDMS as adaptive and flexible as possible. You also need to take into account the constantly changing rules for working with electronic signatures, the “compatibility” of the system with legally significant document flow. It is necessary that everything is official electronic papers organizations were legitimate, their credibility was easily determined. All this must be taken into account when choosing an EDMS for corporate use.

EDMS functionality

For an electronic document management system to be called complete, it must implement many functions. The main ones include:

• Document management - input and registration, daily work, flow control;
• connection with paper document flow;
• organized search and retrieval of data and documents - fast, in accordance with the clearance level;
• tracking the relevance of documentation (especially external, incoming) and archiving outdated documents;
• maintaining the proper level of information security;
• simple, transparent, intuitive connection between the program and end users.

The electronic document management system should be equipped with convenient tools for configuration, localization, and scale well. It is important that the developer provides for the possibility of organizing a single EDMS in geographically distant company divisions. In the system, it is necessary to organize an orderly electronic exchange of information between hierarchical levels, as well as to correctly implement it in a real enterprise.

Implementation of EDMS and assessment of its effectiveness

Docsvision company offers high-quality and modern software products for solving problems of organizing and supporting electronic document management. Our difference is an integrated approach: together with the product itself, we provide the full range of support for implementing solutions, staff training and service SED. The implementation of a system at an enterprise is an important stage; it is where the final “polishing” of the system and its customization to the needs of the customer takes place. Typically the implementation consists of:

• researching the current situation in the company, creating an implementation plan;
• transfer of the designed product to the company’s real capacities - the EDMS system adapts to them;
• testing the performance of the configured product;
• training of management and staff - using the “shock therapy” method or gradually;
• operation and adjustments in its process, scaling, solving current problems.

The document management system must be effective and recoup the investment in it. To assess the effectiveness of EDMS, you can use calculation methods for IT projects and, in principle, any intangible assets. It is necessary to take into account how actively third-party experts were involved in the work, what is the return on their intervention, and what are the prospects for further profitability. You may encounter a situation where calculating efficiency will cost the customer more than the EDMS itself, but this must be done.

It is worth considering that traditional assessment methods do not accurately determine the result - attention is paid to the costs of purchase and implementation, without taking into account the optimization of the work of various departments, the acceleration of document turnover, and the simplification of decision making. It is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of the EDMS as a whole, some time after its implementation, and then the results will pleasantly please customers.

You can choose the optimal edition of Docsvision, view the cost of modules and licensing options on the page

Dear readers! Due to the fact that when collecting material for this study, the functionality of the MOTIV system presented in the review was incorrectly assessed, the editors, at their discretion, adjusted the diagrams to more accurately reflect the functionality of the specified product. The corrected diagrams indicate the functionality of the MOTIV system version 1.1, which existed at the time of selection of test participants (March 2010). It is possible that some parameters of other systems are also estimated incorrectly.

We also remind you that at the moment the material is very outdated and cannot be the basis for assessing the functionality of modern versions of these systems or the relationship between them.

IN modern organization Electronic document management systems (EDMS) are becoming a mandatory element of the IT infrastructure. With their help, they increase operational efficiency commercial companies And industrial enterprises, and in government agencies, on the basis of electronic document management technologies, the tasks of internal management, interdepartmental interaction and interaction with the population are solved. The generally accepted abbreviation is EDMS, although SAD (office automation system), EDMS (electronic document management system) and SADO (document automation system) are also used along with it.

Electronic document management system (EDMS) is an organizational and technical system that ensures the process of creating, access control and distribution of electronic documents in computer networks, as well as providing control over the flow of documents in the organization.

Initially, systems of this class were considered only as a tool for automating classical office work tasks, but over time they began to cover more and more wide range tasks. Today, EDMS developers focus their products on working not only with correspondence and ORD (organizational and administrative documents), but also with various internal documents (contracts, regulatory, reference and design documentation, documents on HR activities and etc.). EDMS are also used to solve applied problems in which an important component is working with electronic documents: managing interactions with clients, processing citizens' requests, automating the work of a service department, organizing project document flow, etc. In fact, an electronic document flow system is any information system that provides work with electronic documents.

EDMS market in last years is one of the most dynamically developing segments of the domestic IT industry. In 2009, according to IDC, against the backdrop of an almost 50% reduction in volumes common market software in Russia, this segment has shown high stability. Its decline according to data for 2009 amounted to no more than 20-25%. In numerical terms, the volume of the EDMS market today, according to CNews Analytics, is about 220-250 million dollars.

Consumers of electronic document management technologies are organizations of different sizes and specific activities. Traditionally, the key consumer of EDMS remains the public sector. According to experts, about 30% of projects to implement electronic document management technologies are carried out by government agencies. It is important that it was the interest on the part of the state that became the basis for the stability of the EDMS market, which, even during the crisis, received a significant impetus for development. Electronic document management was named a key element of the “electronic government” concept, the implementation of which should help eliminate bureaucratic obstacles in the interaction of the state, population and business, as well as reduce corruption. As a feature of the implementation of projects in government bodies and large government institutions, it is worth noting the increased requirements for information security. It's about on the construction (development) of secure electronic document management systems based on replicated software products.

About the EDMS developers

When choosing EDMS class solutions, the customer considers various options: a boxed solution, a platform-based solution or custom development. Russian developers mainly offer ready-made solutions, while Western ones act as suppliers of platforms on the basis of which design solutions and custom developments are implemented. According to statistics, in the market structure, Russian developers account for about 95% of the total number of projects for the implementation of EDMS. One explanation is that in Russia the specificity of working with documents, based on domestic management traditions, is still strong.

It is worth noting that a number of suppliers have begun to provide EDMS to customers in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode, but for now this approach, for a number of reasons (trust in the provider, quality and reliability of communication channels), is rather considered as a form of familiarization with the capabilities of the system, and not as a realistic approach to document automation.

One of the emerging trends is the use of ECM (Enterprise content management) class systems for working with documents.

Based on materials from the free encyclopedia (Wikipedia):
Enterprise content management (ECM) - management information resources enterprise or corporate information management.

Within the framework of the ECM concept, document flow is considered as one of the tasks of ensuring work with corporate information. Supporters of this approach are mainly Western developers. And although in Russia the demand for such technologies is still in the formative stage, many domestic EDMS have already implemented various ECM components: document management, document image management, long-term document storage, Workflow management, collective work with documents. Fundamentally, ECM technologies differ from EDMS in their deeper elaboration of web and multimedia content management issues.

State initiatives around the “Electronic document”

In 2009-2010, several global government initiatives began to be implemented in Russia related to the organization of official electronic interaction between the state, population and business, aimed at increasing the level of penetration information technologies into various aspects of state and public life. These should include approval of the list public services provided to the population via the Internet, and the approval of provisions on the interdepartmental document flow system, which became the first important steps towards the implementation of the concept of “electronic government”.

It is important to note that the question of the legal basis of the electronic document still remains open. Today, the activities of participants in electronic document management are regulated by laws and regulations on the use of electronic digital signatures (EDS), GOST and instructions on office work and archiving, laws and regulations on information technology. It turns out that at the state level the rules and procedure for working with documents have been defined, there are security requirements for information systems, but the legislation has not yet defined legal status electronic document.

Standards in the field of EDMS

Today, the activities of EDMS developers are practically not regulated. When developing software products and implementing implementation projects, developers and suppliers, to one degree or another, are guided by the following regulatory and legal documents:

• GOST R 51141-98. Record keeping and archiving. Terms and definitions (approved by Decree of the State Standard of the Russian Federation dated February 27, 1998 No. 28);
• Federal Law of January 10, 2002 No. 1-FZ “On Electronic Digital Signature” (as amended on November 8, 2007);
• GOST R 6.30-2003. Unified system of organizational and administrative documentation. Requirements for the preparation of documents (approved by Resolution of the State Standard of the Russian Federation dated March 3, 2003 N 65-st);
• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 22, 2009 No. 754 “On approval of the Regulations on the system of interdepartmental electronic document management”;
• Federal Law of July 27, 2006 No. 149-FZ “On information, information technologies and information protection.”

When implementing projects to implement an EDMS, in the case of working with personal data, it is necessary to be guided by the requirements of Federal Laws dated July 27, 2006 N 152-FZ “On Personal Data” and dated December 27, 2009 N 363-FZ “On Amendments to Articles 19 and 25 Federal Law“About personal data.”

Since GOSTs are advisory in nature, the developers include maximum flexibility in their solutions so that, depending on the customer, it is possible to implement various schemes for working with documents on the basis of the system. Often, the architecture and logic of the system must provide different and, at times, opposing approaches to document automation. The lack of generally accepted standards is a problem not only for developers, but also for customers, since choosing requirements for an EDMS becomes too subjective a task. Enterprises often cannot even focus on industry practices (this approach has worked well when choosing a supplier of IT systems such as ERP, CRM, HRM, etc.). Rules and regulations for working with documents may differ from enterprise to enterprise, not only within the same industry, but even within the same group of companies. Some simple examples: does the enterprise operate according to GOST standards or not? How clearly does the work with documents comply with GOST standards? Is top management ready to work in the system or will assistants and secretaries work for top management? Does the company use any Western management practices? What automation tools do employees use at work? And although in general the complex of tasks of electronic document management is quite clear, the methods of their implementation vary greatly. It turns out that one of the main requirements for developers of a modern EDMS is to offer a solution that is adequate in price, quality and implementation time, regardless of the specifics of the customer’s work (in other words, satisfying any specifics).

Technical capabilities of modern electronic document management systems

The review examines the nine most common EDMS in Russia: Directum (Directum), DocsVision (DocsVision), Globus Professional (Prominfosystems), PayDox (Paybot), 1C: Document Flow (1C), Boss-Referent (BOSS - Referent, IT Co. Group), CASE (EOS), EUFRATES (Cognitive Technologies), MOTIV (Motive). We deliberately did not include solutions from Russian developers based on the Documentum platform (EMC Documentum), since in this case we cannot talk about any specific functionality and replication. To prepare the review, information from open sources was used: information materials and demo versions of software products. The presented view of EDMS is an attempt to assess the capabilities and readiness of software products to solve current problems of organizing electronic document management in an enterprise.

The criteria highlighted in the review will help you analyze the capabilities of the solutions under consideration from the point of view of the technical implementation of certain EDMS tasks. All capabilities are divided into seven functional circuits:

• registration and entry of documents;
• work with documents;
• Workflow management and control;
• search and analysis of information;
• Information Security;
• support of paper document flow;
• standard configuration tools.

The general characteristics of the systems were listed in a separate table.

The review provides a number of obvious criteria inherent in all systems under consideration (and all systems of the EDMS class, in principle), and criteria that make it possible to distinguish solutions from each other. Generally, functionality systems coincide, and only a detailed breakdown of some of the fundamental tasks of document flow and the features of their implementation make it possible to compare different solutions. It is worth noting that for all the systems presented in the review there is quite a lot of implementation practice. These systems are used by hundreds of organizations to automate document flow. In addition to these solutions, there are more than 50 software products on the market that are not widely used.

If we analyze new versions of systems that occupy leading positions on the market, it is worth noting that over the past three years their development has been aimed mainly at improving service capabilities, since the basic capabilities in one form or another have already been implemented earlier. If we talk about new technical capabilities, we can note the potential for the development of EDMS towards the management of various types of content (multimedia), the use of automatic processing technologies and analysis of document content. But so far such functionality is not mandatory for EDMS, and most importantly, the demand for it in Russia has not yet fully formed.

When comparing the functionality of the EDMS, the following notations are used:

• “+” - the opportunity has been implemented;
• “+/−” - the feature is available with limited functionality or requires the purchase of additional software;
• “−” - the opportunity has not been implemented.

Table 1. General characteristics most popular EDMS

Rice. 1. General characteristics of the most popular EDMS

Table 2. Registration and entry of documents

Rice. 2. Registration and entry of documents

Table 3. Working with documents

Rice. 3. Working with documents

Table 4. Workflow management and control

Rice. 4. Workflow management and control

Table 5. Search and analysis of information

Rice. 5. Search and analysis of information

Table 6. Information security

Rice. 6. Information security

Table 7. Paper document support

Rice. 7. Support for paper document management

Table 8. Standard means settings

Rice. 8. Standard configuration tools

Table 9. Final assessment of the functionality of the EDMS

Rice. 9. Final assessment of the functionality of the EDMS

To conduct a comprehensive assessment, we will consider the presented EDMS according to the “price/functionality” ratio that is understandable to everyone. We do not consider the third important criterion - “Implementation time”, since it strongly depends not only on the configuration tools provided by the system, but also on qualifications and motivation project team. Below is shown the position of systems in terms of the “optimal price/functionality” ratio for small projects (for 20 users) and for fairly large projects (for 100 users).

Diagram 1. “Optimal price/functionality” of EDMS (20 users)

Rice. 10. “Optimal price/functionality” EDMS (20 users)

Diagram 2. “Optimal price/functionality” of EDMS (100 users)

Rice. 11. “Optimal price/functionality” EDMS (100 users)

These diagrams are built on the principle of the “Gartner Magic Quadrant”, in which systems located in Quadrant I have the optimal ratio according to the “optimal price/functionality” criterion. Quadrants II and IV of the diagram contain systems that do not have balanced indicators of price and functionality.

The criterion chosen for the study allows us to evaluate various EDMS from the point of view of their readiness to solve real problems of electronic document management on modern enterprise. The group of leaders both in the case of small projects (Diagram 1) and large projects (Diagram 2) included the Directum, DocsVision, MOTIV and EUFRAT systems. The remaining systems are located in the II and IV quadrants. The only exception was the DELO system, which also fell into the first quadrant of the diagram for EDMS for 20 users. The results obtained by EDMS Globus Professional, PayDox, 1C: Document Flow, Boss Referente, BUSINESS, show that these systems do not offer integrated approach to automate work with documents, but are niche offerings focused on solving only a certain class of electronic document management problems. The absence of systems in Quadrant III is explained by the fact that the review considered the most common EDMS in Russia, and not all systems currently offered to customers.

We hope that the presented review will be useful to you when choosing a system. I would like to note that by introducing an EDMS today, the organization not only increases the efficiency of its activities, but also, which is very important, gains valuable experience and practice in working in new conditions - in the conditions of electronic document management.

P.S. To prepare the review, only publicly available materials from the official websites of EDMS manufacturers were used. After the article was published, it turned out that due to incomplete product descriptions by Industrial Information Systems, information about their solution was inaccurate. We will study this issue in detail and describe the results in the following material.

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