About Document Management

People create documents in many different formats, sizes, and
for many purposes. Different people often have their own way of
storing, saving, naming, and managing their documents as well.

Challenge

With all the different ways of storing, saving, and naming documents,
it can be difficult to find the document you need when you need
it. Documents often get lost, become temporarily misplaced, or overlooked.
Searching through all the different file repositories, finding the
right name or even being aware of all the documents that are available
can be quite difficult. Even if you find the document, you might
not have the right software to view it, the appropriate access rights,
or even the correct document version.

Working from an incorrect document version has the potential
to create critical problems. If you can't see who created a version
of a document and when, verifying that you have the right version
can be difficult. Even if you have the latest version, being able
to revert back to a previous version can save significant time and
effort if errors have been introduced into the latest document version.

For access or editing purposes many documents often need to
be available to a large number of people. However, private or confidential
documents often require limited accessibility. Balancing the needs
of easy accessibility with properly controlled accessibility can
be a real challenge. For those who should have document access,
access needs to be as easy as possible while preventing access to those
who shouldn't have access. Closely associated with the need for
controlled access is the need to be able to track who has actually
accessed a document.

People's email habits also create significant document management
challenges. Email has become a common method for document circulation,
and in some cases even document storage. While email does provide
a convenient way to send documents, it creates significant document management
problems in the long term. When you do need a document attachment,
finding it in the clutter of the rest of your emails can be difficult
to impossible. It might have been inadvertently deleted or the
last version of the document might actually be with someone else.
Using email as a document location can also make it hard to track the
complete discussion that has taken place about the document or effectively
follow that discussion in the appropriate context.

Novell Solution

The centralized workspaces for document storage combined with
its rich document management feature set makes Novell Vibe an
ideal medium to store, share, and manage documents. Through access
controls, filters, reports, searching, versioning, and customizable organization
of folders and workspaces, Novell Vibe provides the flexibility
needed to manage documents more effectively.

With its ability to index and search over 400 document formats,
Novell Vibe makes it easy to locate any needed document. It also
employs a combination of search filters to make it easy to quickly
find related documents. Individuals can create custom search filters
for their personal use or to be used by all users accessing a specific folder.
While the search and indexing capabilities in Novell Vibe make
it easy to find documents, search results are always limited to
the information that the individual has the right to view or access.

Novell Vibe provides a flexible set of access controls
for files, folders, and workspaces. This allows documents to be viewed as
companywide or restricted to a single team, group, or user. It
also allows you to generate reports to see who has accessed certain
documents, as well as when they were viewed, created, and edited.

Novell Vibe also simplifies version control management with
the ability to automatically version documents every time a document
is edited. Each version of a document includes the modification
date and who edited it. While you edit a document in Vibe, it
becomes “read-only” to all other users, allowing them to view it,
but not make changes to it until you have finished your edits. If
you need a few hours or days to edit a document, the document can
be locked to prevent others from editing it. Also, Novell Vibe
always presents the most current version of a document for viewing
and download, but as necessary allow previous versions to be accessed,
restored, or even deleted.

To provide anywhere, anytime document review, Novell Vibe
can render all supported documents into HTML format for viewing.
This allows others to quickly view a shared document from any browser-enabled
mobile device and without requiring the document's native application.

You can also set up email addresses for individual folders in
Novell Vibe that allow you to email documents and discussions
into Novell Vibe where they can be stored with other related
information. This allows you to make all email attachments and
discussion threads immediately accessible and searchable to other
team members in your Novell Vibe environment.

For even more robust document management, Novell Vibe offers
basic to advanced workflow and form capabilities. It lets you customize
document management processes and capabilities to your unique needs.

Results

Novell Vibe provides a flexible, secure environment to share
and manage your documents. Documents can be stored, viewed, and
made available for download and reuse in almost any format. Those
same documents and their contents are searchable with the ability
to tag and filter for different and quicker access.

Novell Vibe gives you and your team better control, visibility,
and access to the documents you use and create whether from the
office, on the road, or at home. Its inherent collaboration capabilities
greatly enhance the overall document experience as well. People
can comment, rate, and even add advanced workflow capabilities to
meet the unique needs of any organization. Most aspects of Novell
Vibe can be managed by the end-users, giving team members greater
control without the need to rely completely on the IT administrator.
Document management in Novell Vibe helps improve user efficiency,
enhances collaboration, and protects your investment in your information
assets.