Question

2. RESEARCH TASK BLOG 3. What different software packages are available to help entrepreneurs with their different record-keeping and control activities (try to find at least two different packages - go beyond the basic Microsoft Office examples)? How effective do you believe software can be for each of these tasks? Write a blog on the ECN (a few paragraphs) about the questions above by Saturday at 5 pm (cite external sources). Before you start writing your blog, read the blogs of the other students in the class that have posted previous to you and come up with different examples than the ones your colleagues already wrote about. This means there is a definite advantage to completing your blog as soon as possible in the module.

Answer 1

1. OpenKM document management has support for records management software. There is a lot of literature related to document management, such as; ECM, EDRMS, ERMS, DM, KM, among others, more influenced by marketing rules rather than objective reasons.

Information management in record management is the field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use, and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records. The records are information created, received, and maintained as evidence and information by an organization or person pursuance of legal obligations or business transactions.

To support business conduct, comply with the regulatory environment, and provide accountability, organizations should create and maintain authentic, reliable, and useable records and protect the integrity of those records for as long as required. To do this, organizations should institute and carry out a comprehensive records management program which includes:

• Determining what records should be created in each business process and what information needs to be included in the record.
• Deciding on what form and structure records should be created and captured in, and the technologies to be used.
• Determining what metadata should be created with the record and through record processes and how that metadata will be persistently linked and managed.
• Preserving records and making them accessible over time to meet business requirements and community expectations.
• Ensuring that records are maintained in a safe and secure environment.
• Deciding how to organize records to support requirements for use.
• Assessing the risks that would be entailed by the failure to have authoritative records of activity.

The effectiveness can be best understood from the FEATURES OF OPENKM DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT:

• Describe the kinds of items the organization acknowledges to be recorded.
• Classification of records into a wide range of categories.
• Indicate where records are stored.
• Describe retention periods for records.
• Delineate is responsible for managing the various kinds of records.
• Work with electronic records and nonelectronic records.
• INHERITANCE: It allows inheritance between file series. Inherit from parent file series to child one. Extend file series. Clone file series.

• Security: Set security by file series of the record. Security based on OpenKM plugin system. Create your own dynamic security for each file series, for example, based on metadata values.

• SEARCH

• Classification of Business Activities.

• Catalog

• Disposition

2. Filehold Document Manager

FileHold Enterprise is a document management solution that helps large organizations to transition to a paperless work environment. FileHold can be installed on-premise or on a secure private or public cloud.

Features include multi-levels of security, user audit trails, forms processing, e-signature, full-text search, document scanning, and optical character recognition (OCR). Alerts and reminders are generated for document-related events such as contract renewals, overdue workflows, and records scheduled for archival and deletion.

The workflow feature moves electronic documents through review and approval processes, which are tracked by reporting tools. Workflows can be generated by any user or generated automatically when a document is added to the library. FileHold Courier allows anyone with an email address to receive and approve documents from FileHold.

FileHold is mobile-device ready, and it comes integrated with Microsoft Office or, optionally, SharePoint and Active Directory. An API connects FileHold to third-party applications. Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server are required.

PROS: Easy to implement and easy to configure to one's company's business requirements
The searching capability is wonderful and greatly reduces the time it takes to find a document. The library structure makes using FileHold easy, even for the most novice of users. The product can be used in a basic configuration or an advanced configuration with many complicated environments.

CONS: Some features don't work perfectly for some of the processes that users try and complete, but that isn't a problem with the product, just a limitation. Collaboration functionality needs some improvement. Sharing with friends works but sometimes does not send notifications, which can be improved. Navigating through the workflows is also sometimes a bit cumbersome and clunky.