Are you seeking the right document control and management solutions for your organization? The search for an ideal DMS or document control and management system can be overwhelming due to the numerous options available in the market. At Assai, we recognize that this process necessitates thoughtful consideration of multiple factors and your organization’s unique requirements, such as:

• Industry fit
• Project types
• Pricing
• User preferences
• Implementation

However, not all vendors explicitly provide detailed information about these aspects on their websites. Often, pricing and implementation processes only become clear after several discussions. To simplify the filtering process and identify suitable DMS candidates at an early stage, it is helpful to be familiar with relevant keywords and feature names that align with your specific requirements.

Let’s discover keywords and feature names that can help you navigate the DMS landscape and find the most promising solutions for your organization.

Document Management System Basics

Document management system (DMS)
A software or a system designed to store, organize, manage, and track electronic documents and files.

Document indexing
Assigning relevant metadata or tags to documents makes searching and retrieving specific documents easier based on keywords, categories, or other criteria.

Document retrieval
The process of locating and accessing documents from the DMS is based on search criteria or other parameters.

Document storage
The capability of the DMS to securely store and organize electronic documents and files in a central repository or database. When discussing document storage with a DMS vendor, having an estimate or a specific number of documents or data size is helpful.

Metadata
An essential data that provides information about a document’s content, context, and structure. It describes the attributes of a document, such as the author, creation date, file size, document type, status, and more.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
A technology that converts scanned or image-based documents into searchable and editable text, enabling efficient document retrieval and indexing.

Search functionality
The functionality enables searching based on metadata or specific criteria to locate relevant documents and find specific documents quickly.

Document Control System Basics

Access control
The capability to define and enforce user permissions and restrictions, ensuring that only authorized individuals can view, edit, or access specific documents.

Audit trails
Recorded logs that capture all document-related activities, providing an audit trail for compliance, accountability, and traceability purposes.

Concurrent Engineering / CE

The approach involves high collaboration among multiple stakeholders. Some document control and management systems provide a dedicated module for CE, enabling document control of maintenance and modification projects, such as Controlled CE copies and Easy identification of CE documents.

Document control
Refers to the management and regulation of documents throughout their lifecycle, including tasks such as revision control, access control, and compliance management.

Document check-in/check-out
A mechanism that allows users to lock and unlock documents for editing, preventing conflicting modifications and ensuring data integrity.

Document Distrubution Matrix
The distribution matrix helps determine who should take action on specific documents and ensures that the right individuals or groups receive the necessary information.

Document number structure
The capability that allows you to set up your company’s numbering structures for document standardization.

Document permissions
The specific privileges granted to users regarding document access, editing, sharing, or other actions.

Document review and approval
A process where documents undergo evaluation, examination, and authorization before they are deemed final, official, or ready for distribution.

Electronic signatures / Digital signatures
Digital representations of handwritten signatures used to authenticate and validate electronic documents, providing legal validity and ensuring the integrity of electronic transactions.

Revision control
The feature allows you to manage and track different revisions of documents. It ensures that the most recent and correct revision is available while older revisions are securely stored and archived.

Collaboration and Communication

Annotation and commenting
The ability to add comments, annotations, or markups directly on documents to facilitate collaboration, feedback, or review processes.

Dashboards
Dashboards provide real-time visibility into the status and progress of deliverables, allowing users to quickly and efficiently track and monitor ongoing work.

Document templates
Pre-defined document formats or structures that can be customized and reused to create consistent and standardized documents.

Reporting and analytics
Generating reports and insights based on document-related data, such as document usage, access patterns, or productivity metrics, to inform decision-making and optimize processes.

Integration and Accessibility

Cloud-based
A DMS hosted and accessed over the internet, offering benefits such as accessibility from anywhere, automatic updates, and reduced infrastructure requirements.

On-premises
A DMS installed and managed locally within an organization’s infrastructure, providing full control over data storage and security but requiring dedicated hardware and maintenance.

REST API / Integration capabilities / System Integration
The ability to integrate with other software systems, such as Power BI and ERPs. This allows users to access and manipulate data from multiple sources within a single platform, improving overall efficiency and productivity.

User licenses

User licenses determine the number of users who can access and utilize the DMS. DMS vendors typically offer different user licenses, such as concurrent and named user licenses, each with specific terms and restrictions.

Concurrent user licenses
Concurrent user licenses allow a specified number of users to access the DMS simultaneously. The license agreement limits the number of concurrent users, and once the maximum limit is reached, additional users may have to wait until a license becomes available.

Named user licenses
With named user licenses, each user is assigned a unique license, allowing them to access the DMS with their specific credentials. Named user licenses are often associated with specific roles or positions within an organization.

We have attached the following guides and related articles to give you more context about DMS:

Whitepaper: What to consider when purchasing a DMS
The definitive guide to document control and document management

Read more:
6 criteria for a Document Management System (DMS) selection
Make a difference with a Document Management and Control System
Understanding the Essentials of Document Management