Lotus Shade of Yellow

IBM Lotus Quickr is very capable of performing as a document management solution for SMBs. Stable, quick, customizable and with lots of integration options, its default setup has only one (potential) pitfall. Which one? Keep on reading...

Background

So, what do I know about document management? Not enough to teach about it, but enough to have my opinion. I've been using various document management systems during my whole professional life: while I worked as Design Engineer and Project Manager in Saab Bofors Dynamic I used Continuus for document management and Doors and Slate for requirement management. Here, in COMPUTING systems, we have an elaborate document management system based on IBM Lotus Domino Document Manager. Furthermore, we are developing a solution that combines business process modelling with Scan / OCR and archiving functionality.

Document Management Systems

What is the purpose of the document management systems (DMS)? Simply put:

• to allow access control,
• to simplify document search,
• to allow groups to work on the same document, while preventing conflicts arising from two or more people trying to alter a document at the same time,
• to provide means of versioning, meaning that system keeps older versions of the document, and
• to allow formal review and approval of documents.

Quickr is actually very good in each of these points. It is not perfect (e.g. one cannot save drafts, only versions of a document; review and approval functionality is rudimentary) but more than adequate for the needs of an SMB looking for a simple solution to start managing documents. And, in case you wonder: No, shared folders are not considered to be a document management system!

How does a typical SMB manage documents?

The simple answer is - it does not. In more than five years I've been doing document management for living, I am still to meet a customer that has any sort of document management implemented. Now, before you jump on me for saying this, have in mind that I am talking about Bosnia and Herzegovina, where such a rudimentary thing as e-mail is still a mystery for many companies. I am sure that situation is better elsewhere, but I am also sure that too many companies use shared folders on local PCs or server (if they have one) for storing all company documents. Without proper access control, without versioning and, most often, without backup.

What does a typical user want?

Typical user wants as little change as possible to the workflow and applications. Typical user does not want to learn how to perform existing tasks in a new way. This poses a challenge to document management systems as there is a whole lot of functionality that needs to be implemented with as little disruption to user as possible.

One way of doing this is by providing a set of connectors that allows users to perform document management actions from within standard office applications that he uses for daily work, e.g. word and spreadsheet editors, file managers. Quickr provides a set of connectors (called aptly Quickr Connectors) and they work very well. Quickr has connectors for Microsoft Office, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Windows Explorer; IBM Lotus Notes, IBM Lotus Sametime and IBM Symphony, thus covering typical range of office applications found in every SMB.

Show me an example!

Consider a simple use case: user navigates to a document using file manager, opens the document to do some changes and then saves it. Here is how it is done in Quickr:

1. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to Quickr place, folder and document - just as you would do if the file was on your local hard drive or somewhere on the network.

2. Double-click on the file. Quickr will show a dialogue asking whether to check-out document for editing. If you want to edit the document, choose to check out. If you only want to read the document, open it without checking out (this is like opening a read only copy).

3. Choose to check out the document so you can edit it. The document opens in the default editor, Lotus Symphony in this case.

Edit the document as usual. Notice the Quickr Connectors toolbar - once you are done with editing simply click on Check in. Your document will be saved to Quickr server and checked in, meaning that your recent edits will be made available to other members of the Quickr place.
Also, you can save the document but leave it checked-out, so you can continue editing it later. While the document is checked-out, only you will have access to it and see the latest changes. Other members will be able to read (the latest checked-in version of) the document, but they will not be able to do any changes.

Wrap-up

As you can see, using Quickr as DMS (in its simplest form) does not require the end user to change much of its usual work routine. Documents are still found and opened through Windows Explorer, edited in default application and saved to DMS by a simple click on an icon (albeit, not the usual one).

Next time we'll start exploring more advanced features such as document versions and approval and how they can be used in a typical SMB.