Documents used to be shared by photocopying and FedEx. That progressed to PDF and email, which has been replaced by free file sharing websites. There are also highly secure deal sites available for Wall Street transactions. The reality is that all of these methods are in use because each one meets somebody’s unique need for security, simplicity or both.
In today’s world of massive amounts of information being available and demanded, many times the need is to share hundreds or thousands of documents. To share that quantity of documents is not practical with email or FedEx. Some type of organized, online access is required. But how do you make it both simple and secure?
What a great idea to use an online file storage system. Lots of companies use FTP sites or file sharing sites to quickly create a folder structure and then upload files. In this scenario, the user needs to assemble exactly what is needed (maybe download from an existing system), upload all of the files to the secure site, then contact the user and hope they get in and can find what they need.
But now you have the same files in at least two places, probably three, and that can create compliance and security problems. It also means that a username and password will be required to access the files. If you frequently use these types of systems, your head spins from all the usernames and passwords. There is also an issue of keeping track of what has and hasn’t been posted to these external sites or downloaded from the source system. Where is the simplicity?
For companies that have migrated their documents to a document management system (DMS) the files are presumably well organized and secure. So wouldn’t it be simple to just provide the user with access to your system? We all have the same thought – SECURITY. How is this managed, who manages this, are the files organized in such a way that it is even possible to manage?
A better solution might be a method of providing a view into your DMS for a selected set of files (files subject to the security rights of the user who is sharing the files), but only to a registered computer and email address – think banking. No username or password to remember. No need to reorganize or track what version the user has access to. Good user tracking. This method seems to provide reasonable security plus simplicity for provider and user.
Millennia Group’s FileStar document management system is working on a release that will provide some great options for document sharing and it will have the security nailed too. Watch for an announcement.
www.mgdocs.com, (630) 279-0577 x122, info@mgdocs.com 