Interview of TAdviser with the head BPM and ECM of CROC company Sergey Plaunov

Sergey Plaunov: EDMS as specialized product for the organization of internal electronic document management which would be implemented on one platform at us in the company is absent. The matter is that it it is also not necessary. We have no tough, vertically built bureaucracy within which the formal reporting under execution of instructions or control of terms would be required. Project activity of the company is subordinated more to array structure of management. Therefore for automation of process of approval of documents we use the K2 Blackpearl BPM platform, and as storage - the solution based on EMC Documentum. A linking of these two systems - everything that is required to us.

Sergey Plaunov: Electronic document management systems did not lose the relevance in the market, continue to buy and implement them. The companies which long ago implemented EDMS and for the different reasons their substitutions which began to feel the need, carry out upgrade of a system or perform replacement. It happens when the companies of technology, basic for IT infrastructure, morally become outdated, or vendors freeze the product directions or leave the market.

Sergey Plaunov: Import substitution policy changed alignment of forces in the market of EDMS, but its influence is ambiguous. On the one hand, it recovered, accelerated actions of domestic players. They apprehended a new situation as the certain carte blanche giving competitive advantage. But quickened not only domestic manufacturers – the western developers it pushed to active actions, especially too from among those who were not seriously presented at the Russian market and used the changed situation.

On the other hand, in the market there are big customers who long ago implemented western softwares which spent a lot of money, time and forces. They want to use the western products and further though changes in the legislation and the western sanctions put them in an uncomfortable position. These organizations looked towards import substitution too, but to make such decision it appeared hard, and sometimes it is just impossible. Just because the volume of the taken place implementation is so big that again to implement something is the huge risks, budgets and terms comparable with initial risks, investments and terms. Such companies, having broken the head, look for an opportunity to live further on the same western ECM platform. And it, by the way, slows down the Russian market as these customers cannot spend so much money for development and upgrade of EDMS, how many, perhaps, requires their business.

Sergey Plaunov: It is necessary to remember that the western companies - the EDMS specialized developers - in the Russian market never were. When we speak about solutions based on the western platform, for example, - EMC Documentum absorbed, as we know, recently by OpenText company, or IBM File Net - each such platform can be a basis for the ECM solution created by the Russian partner. The CROC company too developed in due time own solution based on Documentum – a corporate system of electronic document management. Respectively, such western developers as EMC (and now - OpenText, in connection with purchase of the Documentum platform), IBM and other, in due time taken an essential part of the Russian market of EDMS, especially regarding large implementations, look for opportunities to continue work in Russia and not to lose this business.

Sergey Plaunov: We impart experience with the customer, and we help it to be defined by it, but the final choice, of course, all the same remains behind it. Competences of our specialists allow to automate electronic document management based on any technology. But historically it developed so that the maximum experience – by the number of the implemented projects and their scale - is acquired by us regarding implementation of EDMS on Documentum, there is a good experience with solutions based on the free software Alfresco and also Russian EDMS Directum, Docsvision and "1C: Document Flow".

Sergey Plaunov: In an active phase there is a large-scale project in Rosavtodor and 39 organizations subordinated to it where several years ago our own development in the field of EDMS was implemented. Now a system is improved, for example, new regulating documents are already considered, the functionality implementing a possibility of mobile approval of documents and so forth was added. In a system more than 700 thousand documents are registered already.

Other not less large-scale project is implemented in Moscow City Court and 35 district courts of general jurisdiction where in a root approach to automation of legal proceedings and adjacent processes changes, and since January, 2017 the so-called End-to-end information system of courts of law begins to work fully. Here we implement a subsystem "Electronic case" - it is our own development based on the Alfresco platform which will provide storage of the scanned and recognized electronic copies of court documents, with a possibility of quick search on their contents. Recognition and scanning is implemented already based on other software product - Kofax.

It is also possible to mention also quite non-standard project implemented now in Rosenergoatom. It is about implementation of the automated control system for technical documentation in central office and branches of concern, including 10 nuclear power stations and subsidiary companies. At the moment the solution is started on the Balakovo and Leningrad NPP, some more stations at a stage of implementation now. The single system based on EMC Documentum will allow the customer to manage technical documentation, including document storage in electronic form taking into account version control, updating and quick search of data. Also a system will reduce risk of human errors and related effects in the course of productive activity where, considering specifics of nuclear sector, practically each step is regulated.

And at last, as an example it is possible to cite the corporate media archive created for one large state company based on the Alfresco platform. It is an end-to-end system which writes, stores, provides access, including – public, to audio and video to materials of meetings and the conferences held by the organization including a possibility of online broadcasting on the Internet.

Sergey Plaunov: Presence of mobile clients as a part of EDMS became the required parameter of a system in recent years. Technological capabilities of systems in this plan are constantly improved. For example, there were digital signature facilities for mobile devices allowing not to store keys in the device.

The development of Tasklist Integrator allowing to implement both a mobile workplace, and stationary (Windows client) with an opportunity for work in offline mode is involved in our EDMS on the Documentum platform. One of significant projects within which uniform EDMS with mobile jobs was constructed was implemented by us for administration of Perm Krai. Today about 15 thousand officials with a possibility of remote work including in zones with absence of the Internet use a system. In general on a situation with mobile jobs, should note that not always this functionality is implemented at a stage of primary implementation, but all demand that the platform initially had such opportunity. A number of customers face the difficulties connected with internal regulations and restrictions which are imposed for work of employees in connection with a trade or state secret.

Sergey Plaunov: First, understanding needs of our customers, we remain the multivendor IT company, and, respectively, we are going to develop competences of our specialists on a miscellaneous to ECM platforms. Secondly, we will continue to invest in implementation of the new version of our corporate system of electronic document management (CSEDM) 3.0 which will be able to work without the western components. The main objective at the same time - to save project experience and technology practices of implementation big and superbig EDMS, on tens of thousands of users, but at the same time to have an opportunity to implement projects for which use of the western program components de facto is forbidden, i.e. to the organizations and the enterprises of the state segment, and the companies which are under the western sanctions.

Sergey Plaunov: System architecture of version 3.0 will be maximum flexible. It is under construction based on the open BPMN standards (Business Process Model and Notation), CMMN (Case Management Model and Notation) and open technologies, including Java. Application of CMMN will allow to expand as much as possible a range of application of a system, to support as pipeline business processes, and those which are more coordinated by the manager and cannot be in details regulated. Existence of opportunities of case-management in a system - one of the newest trends of the market of EDMS. This approach allows to combine the convenient flexible environment of management and necessary degree of a regulation of processes in one solution.

Sergey Plaunov: As for ECM components, architecture of the new version of EDMS will allow to use different platforms. In case of the small companies it will be possible to do in general without ECM - document files will be directly stored in DBMS PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle. For large projects as ECM it will be used, depending on infrastructure of the customer and his preferences, or Open Source based on Alfresco, or commercial western ECM.