Second Opinions

Upgrading from SoftSolutions on Novell

By Ross L. Kodner

ONCE upon a time SoftSolutions and PC DOCS were the "Big Two" in larger firm document management systems. Then Novell, makers of the venerable Netware network operating system, bought Softsolutions. And with version 4.1, Novell killed the Softsolutions product.

Novell then built the features of the SoftSolutions document manager into GroupWise 5.0. There have been five subsequent releases of GroupWise (the current version is 5.5). Along with Lotus Notes and Microsoft's Outlook/Exchange systems, it is one of the "Big Three" in groupware products.

Does it makes sense to migrate your present SoftSolutions 4.1 system to the document management features found in GroupWise 5.5 or consider moving to something else?

In my opinion. now's the time to convert your base of documents from the old SoftSolutions system to a document manager other than GroupWise 5.5.

I believe the battle in the document management marketplace today is between Worldox from World Software and iManage.

IManage has seen significant success in the last several years, based on a sound and aggressive marketing approach, a reliable application and the harnessed power of the SQL database format -- the "engine" upon which it is based.

With its SQL structure, iManage is a potent and competent product, but one that I believe really has its place in significantly large entities -- even larger than yours. Your firm doesn't have an NT file server or network operating system heritage. Contrary to the beliefs of many, an NT server in your future is not necessarily a foregone conclusion. You cannot run iManage, in any practical sense, without having at least one Windows NT (or Windows 2000) fileserver on your network; it is needed for running the SQL database engine that iManage requires.

The requirement for a SQL database is both a strength and a hindrance to the iManage document manager, at least in your particular set of circumstances. From a purely operational level, the SQL database structure is an industry-standard data machine, capable of processing many transactions with strong error prevention and trapping capability.

The drawbacks of the reliance on a SQL database are:

1. It's going to cost you: You need a separate dedicated file server running Windows NT 4.0/2000 and someone's SQL database software. In a firm your size, that's going to be a combination roughly equivalent to a new Toyota Corolla in cost.

2. You're a "Novell shop." Do you have any experience in running an NT/Windows server, especially in a mixed Novell/ Windows NT environment? How about experience in the care and feeding of a SQL server? You have 250 users who already are entirely dependent on a document manager for their ability to get every day's work out. Can you afford to just muddle along supporting the system yourself? Probably not -- expect to add at least one technical staffer to do the work for you, or to pay handsomely to outsource it.

Is this to say iManage is somehow flawed? Quite the contrary -- it's a terrific and powerful product. But your specific set of circumstances would seem to tip the balance of the scales more towards a non-SQL, non-Windows NT approach to document management as part of your "life after SoftSolutions" manifesto.

Worldox

By contrast, Worldox is not dependent on a SQL structure. Instead it uses a decentralized or distributed approach to document management. Only "lean" profile information is stored in a comparatively compact and cleverly streamlined set of databases on the network server (which for many firms, is actually the primary file/print server on their network).

Information about the files located in each document folder is stored in hidden files in that folder--in other words, it is distributed across one's system. This means no costly database to purchase, run or maintain. Worldox scales well and can be used just as easily by solos as 400-plus seat entities.

World Software Corp. refers to the information tracking approach it employs as a "dual database" architecture.

Cost is another factor in your decision. Worldox currently costs $350 per seat plus $60 per seat/year in software maintenance. There is no server module and no separate fileserver required to run a database. As with any document manager, a PC to run an indexing routine is needed to facilitate document searches. In Worldox's case, this is technically just a reasonably powerful Windows workstation. It is set up as a "quasi-server" dedicated to the text indexing task. With iManage, you face roughly the same $400/station cost, but also several thousand dollars for the "server module", several thousand dollars for the appropriate licenses for Windows NT/2000 server , more thousands for a SQL database system and then the "box" to run it all on --likely a $5000 to $15,000 piece of equipment in your situation.

And don't forget support -- with Worldox you probably won't need another in-house addition to your complement of IT department staff. With a fire-breathing NT/Windows 2000 server running a SQL database, plan on bulking up your IT staff.

GroupWise 5.5

Why not GroupWise 5.5's document manager? With GroupWise 5.5, all your document information and the documents themselves are stored in an inevitably enormous centralized database called the "BLOB," an acronym which evokes images of 1950s outer space flicks. Like the creatures in those films, the BLOB in GroupWise 5.5 can literally eat your documents alive.

The program does not store documents in their native format. Instead, it encrypts, compresses and stores them in databases known as BLOBS (for Binary Large Objects). That means there is no way of retrieving your documents if your GroupWise system goes down. Not good. Not good at all.

On the other hand, if Worldox stops working, you still have documents in their native format (albeit a bit difficult to access because of the "autoname" function most people use.)

The bottom line is that if you have a local, very experienced company that can support GroupWise's document management capabilities (and deal with "BLOB" corruption if it occurs), then you could consider using it. But because accessibility to work product and forms is the cornerstone of your firm, you probably should invest in a more mainstream, more easily supported and inherently more reliable system.

Regardless of the direction you go, some basic rules apply. A document management system absolutely is not a piece of software you can simply throw on a system and expect miracles.

Proper pre-implementation planning of the document organizational structure, the configuration of the software, planning for an index serverall are essential. And that's true whether you're talking about a two station peer-to-peer network with Worldox or the other end of the spectrum with a 500-seat wide area network (WAN) system with either Worldox or iManage.

Ross Kodner is president of MicroLaw Inc., and a member of the LTN Editorial Board, based in Milwaukee.