Vladimir Andreyev: Docsvision is the integrated flexible EDMS

Vladimir Andreyev: Idea that document flow in Russia essentially differs in something from western is no more, than the myth. Myth sources - in attempts to compare not compared, namely: Russian EDMS with the western ECM. Of course, in ECM there is no office, it is the truth. But the general between EDMS and ECM is, and very essential is a storage of unstructured information (documents) with all connected questions – a categorization, search, access control, etc.

Just in EDMS, except storage, there is still an implemented management of business process (or organizational process - for those who do not like the word "business") as a job flow, created, managed and controlled according to certain regulations. Here specific we have regulations – clerical. In the west of it is not present, but there are other regulations – for example, project document flow, financial, personnel or sales, etc. It is necessary to consider that to develop such sophisticated regulations as the Russian office, to the western ECM system it will be pretty expensive. And that regulations for the western systems are implemented, as a rule, within other products – WorkFlow or BPM (business process management). In any known ECM system there are such means, but they not universal, and not each BPM or WorkFlow a system is integrated with any ECM system, not to mention domestic EDMS.

TAdviser: So EDMS and ECM after all inadequate concepts? What then it is more preferable to the Russian customers?

Vladimir Andreyev: Being guided by domestic EDMS, it is necessary to consider that they, as a rule, are not open storages of documents in sense of ECM and that you will implement your regulations the means which are built in specific EDMS. If you have a clear idea of regulations necessary for you, and confidence that it is not necessary to change them significantly in the near future – select EDMS by the procedural principle: best of all that in which the regulations necessary to you are implemented "from a box" optimum will approach.

However it is possible to tell at once that requirements to the modern organization (including Russian including state) change, and change quicker and quicker. Therefore it is necessary to pay attention to a possibility of modification of regulations, creations of new regulations and, whenever possible, without programming. It is necessary look for balance between readiness of the necessary regulations "in a box" and limits of necessary flexibility for the buyer in all cases independently. It is obvious, however, that for large enterprises the speed of change is less, than for average and small, the dependence on regulations is more and also that the state organizations have a speed of changes less, than at commercial, but the dependence on regulations is even higher, than at large business companies.

Docsvision is certainly the EDMS having own storage of documents, own basic objects are tasks, reference books, business processes, own workflow-engine and own instruments of fast creation of solutions – designers. It is possible to tell that Docsvision is the integrated flexible EDMS.

TAdviser: Who is the main users of your system in the companies (by experience of the implemented projects)? What can modern EDMS offer different categories of users in addition to directly automation of the movement of electronic documents?

Vladimir Andreyev: In a classical case of EDMS is an automation of office, and its users are users of office – generally the management of the organization of level of top management and departments. These users receive results in the form of increase in efficiency of the work. Call users of contractors of instructions in such configuration language does not turn though formally they, of course, work with a system, submerging in it results of the work.

In the last several years many speak about "an EDMS exit for borders of office", meaning increase in number of users of EDMS in the organization. At the expense of what groups does this increase happen? First of all, it is, of course, linear managers – from heads of the working groups to heads of structural divisions. Requests of linear managers actually strongly differ from requests of heads – they want to organize, first of all, the work within division. Therefore process automation will be hardly relevant for them. More likely, this management of private administrative microprojects in Case Management style. Also the interface requirements are important. As a rule, the line manager constantly works with some corporate application – the ERP system or EPM (Project Management) which is constantly started on its computer and is for it the main thing. And he will always perceive EDMS as something secondary that should be simple, not require mastering and, is desirable not to be the separate program at all.

Therefore for such user EDMS, "built-in" or in his "main" application, or in Microsoft Outlook in whom many not only work with e-mail is the best of all, but also keep calendars, managing own schedule. One more candidate for embedding – portal environments of group work, for example,SharePoint.

TAdviser: Whether you in development of own platform consider this changing paradigm of use of EDMS?

Vladimir Andreyev: All these reasons pushed us a few years ago to beginning Invisible Docsvision initiative – the direction of development of the built-in clients of a system. And full-fledged client places, but not just a set of buttons in the film Microsoft Office. For today we have a client "The manager for Outlook", the client for Microsoft Office and for SharePoint. For top managers who, as a rule, have no such "main" program we developed the client software for mobile devices – tablets and smartphones. This family of the Top Manager and Assistant programs for mobile OS iOS and Android.

One more EDMS life form behind borders of office are applications. We consider that EDMS as a corporate content management system and corporate tasks should be the platform of the applications working with these basic objects. Actually the office or office-work is just and there is an EDMS application, and standard, in many respects standardized. Can, and there have to be other applications working with documents and tasks. In our line Citizens appeals, Management of meetings, Agreements are provided for today. These are the standard tasks having standard solutions too.

However by experience of our implementations it is possible to tell that customized applications 10 times more than standard. In fact, each implementation of Docsvision are one-two standard applications plus ten special, and the most different – from process of connection of the consumer in the power supply network before claim and claim work. And it is very important – to be able to give to the customer the complex of different applications opening for him the new horizons of efficiency. Therefore our work on creation of set of designers – instruments of rapid application development – we consider the office lying on the same way of an exit for borders. For today at us already ten designers, and are not a limit.

TAdviser: In May, 2013 the new version of the Docsvision platform - 5.1 was released. Tell, please, what innovations interesting to end users appeared in this version?

Vladimir Andreyev: For end users in version 5.1, perhaps, are the most important the new version of the Management of Documents built-in application, the new "Easy client" and also substantial increase of system performance.

New Management of documents became simpler, more convenient in work, the application interface is improved, the new approval of documents supporting both simple poll, and consecutive approval is added. Important architectural change is made – in Management of documents the layer of basic objects which can be updated without concerns for the settings made in the application and expansion is selected. It allows to set the new, improved and optimized application versions without repeated settings, - is transparent for the user. This last modification is very important as according to the concept of Docsvision 5 the built-in Management of documents - not only standard functionality, ready to use, but also the open platform for designing of the solutions specialized under the specific customer.

Without exaggerations a revolutionary event in Docsvision 5.1 – release of the new easy client. It is not just the web interface to client functionality, this conceptually new application – supereasy, very simple and convenient, implementing all scenarios of work for most of users. It is the important ideological point. We consider that new users (first of all those who come "offices from abroad"), need not the universal client with complete functional saturation, and the simplest, the intuitive and not requiring training tool implementing their standard tasks working on any computer with any operating system and without outstanding "iron".

The professional user – to the clerk, the registrar, the controller, the business analyst needs absolutely another: the universal powerful client working with any scenario. Therefore we do not aim to make the easy client just the web version of the heavy universal client at all. Everybody is different.

It is very important that the new "Easy client" at the same time is the new platform for development by forces of partners and customers of new easy applications. In base he works with the standard cards "Managements of Documents", but it is easy to broaden him for work with any changed system cards.

At last, it is necessary to mention also new parameters of performance. Significantly time of opening of the client, opening of a card decreased, work with any representations accelerated. It is result of continuous work on optimization of the system which began with version 4.5. As a result each new version of a system – quicker is also more productive than previous.  

TAdviser: After all Docsvision is the powerful industrial platform and how to be with the small companies? It turns out that if the circle of tasks of a part of document flow at SMB of the companies is not so big, then and EDMS is not necessary to them?

Vladimir Andreyev: It is necessary to return to sources again. After all EDMS was born in offices. The office is one of office-work forms, not only, but the most formalized and standardized. Of course, small enterprises have needs for documentary ensuring management, but there are definitely no needs for the organization of office –.

What remains? There is a simple office-work. At the same time no specialized solutions are necessary – the small enterprise rather flexibly and easily adapts to any standard solution. There is a support of management processes in the working groups. This not process management, parametrization it is not necessary here. It is just work on templates. And not the document, but a task – decomposition of the general task on tasks for contractors, control of their execution and the main metrics – time is the focus of attention in this case. And control can quite be manual, not automated.

In our opinion, small enterprises are not consumers of the corporate applications unrolled on own infrastructure. More likely, it is consumers of cloud solutions.

We did attempt to create a cloud ECM service for www.4easyCM.com small enterprises and we can tell by experience – it is possible to earn in this segment only from mass character. And the lion share of users in general does not want to pay – are ready to use let poor, let unsafe, but free service. Will pay only those for whom this service will become the business critical, necessary, giving sure gains in competitiveness and overhead reduction. And this niche is already occupied – there is Google Docs - free service (more correct, paying off on advertizing model of monetization), and many use it, and there is Google Apps – service for a smaller part, paid, but cheap. Is cheaper, than Google to make it will not turn out. And in Google Apps there are both means of the organization of group work, and support of mobile office on tablets, and work with tasks and calendars. Here such advertizing of Google turned out.

To dilute a little this honey with tar, it is worth emphasizing that in Google Apps it is not necessary to speak about settings and expansions, i.e. for those to whom it is important, this service will not approach.

TAdviser: How actively rapid development of cloud and mobile computing affects the market of the EDMS systems? Whether is at Docsvision of the version for mobile devices? Whether often customers ask to implement to them mobile solutions?

Vladimir Andreyev: Rapid development of mobile technologies influences already not so violently as few years ago. Business users understood that consumer devices like smartphones and tablets – for dedicated applications, and in the corporate world in most cases the notebook is more convenient especially as notebooks do not stand still too – easy ultrabooks with touchscreens and big battery life appeared. Also remembered that the notebook generally too the mobile device.

Nevertheless, there are many scenarios in which the tablet and the smartphone are more convenient. For example, work in the machine, at a meeting, in the subway when it is not necessary to work with volume difficult documents, and it is only necessary to browse and approve – the tablet. When it is necessary to look whether there is no what new and to approve, what it is possible to approve very quickly – the smartphone. We hold the opinion that the tablet and the smartphone in business applications the necessary, but not the main devices as they expand mobility only where it is necessary to perform simple operations.

For support of mobile users we release the whole product line – Top manager, Manager and Assistant. Appointment is clear from the name. These products are issued both for tablets, and for smartphones, both for iOS, and for Android.

We consider that the "correct" mobile client is the native client integrated into OS and the form factor of the device, into its environment (for example, with functions of dialing and messengers) without fail supporting offline work.

For those platforms which we do not support by native clients (for example, Windows 8 RT) there is ours "The easy client".

Quite often customers are interested in availability of mobile solutions as a factor of the choice of the platform, however buy them, unfortunately, more rare. An important circumstance at the same time – understanding by the customer that for corporate use also corporate mobile solutions, with own scalable and safe infrastructure are necessary. And it is already absolutely other money. We for support of corporate infrastructure signed the partner agreement with SAP and we offer their Afaria platform for control of all mobile devices including on what our solutions are set. They are compatible to Afaria.

TAdviser: Could you cite as an example 1-2 projects where those features of the Docsvision platform about which we spoke above most brightly found expression?

Vladimir Andreyev: Question difficult, because answer is as follows: practically in all our projects all these opportunities are used. It is also our competitive advantage, and quite so it is proved in the market.

However I will provide one indicative project that the answer was specific. This implementation in the Angarsk Oil Chemical Company executed and developed by our premium partner of RKIT (Irkutsk). It is the big project in which behind borders of office hundreds of users work. There the specialized solution based on our standard Office-work is implemented, several very interesting special applications are developed using designers, jobs for managers "The manager for Outlook" are implemented, scaling and optimization of infrastructure is made, the customer is interested in our mobile solutions for tablets. The strong project for the strong customer made by the strong partner. The project description can be found on our website.

TAdviser: What further plans of the company for development of Docsvision and for promotion in the Russian market?

Vladimir Andreyev: The vector of development is set by the concept of Docsvision 5 – flexibility, universality, scalability, performance. We will develop instrumental opportunities of the platform, to develop its architecture taking into account modern trends to make its opportunities unique: provide our partners with the corresponding tools, and customers – deeply specialized solutions considering all their specifics and aimed at the development. The future 2014 will bring large changes and in functionality of our solutions. We hope that they will be demanded by our customers.