The tools you use can make or break your way to success. Having an efficient collaboration and document management tool is the most important need for any organization, especially in times when team members are working from separate locations.
An organization undertakes various business operations with shared roles and responsibilities, so flawless collaboration and communication are a must for the effective execution of high-priority projects. That’s the reason why you need the right document management system so that you don’t lag on your work.
There are many such systems available in the market. You might want more information on popular platforms or know more effective ways of document management system. Maybe it’s just you are confused about which one to choose for your team or organization.
Well then, in this article, we are going to discuss the most popular trio in document management systems. They are widely used and are praised for their amazing features and ease of use. So peruse the blog and find out which system is ideal for you.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a cloud-based online office suite that allows you to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in one place.
The service is free for individuals but charges for some advanced features. If you want to use the more powerful features of Google Docs, you’ll need to pay $10 per month or $70 per year for a subscription.
Google Docs offers several different ways to create documents that can be shared with coworkers, customers, or students. You can share documents as HTML pages, PDF files, or as presentations using the Online Viewer feature.
Collaborating on projects with colleagues is easy in Google Docs. You can share docs with other team members and others in the world.
Groups in google docs allow you to create private workspaces for specific teams, such as Marketing, Finance, or Sales. Other than private sharing, you can also set up a public workspace from where people can access your documents. You can even invite other people to collaborate in these workspaces by inviting them to join the group.
Why use google docs?
Google Docs is the best choice for people who want to work together in real-time or collaborate with a team distributed across the globe. With Google Docs you can create documents with up to 10 collaborators at once. You can even have different versions of the same document open in separate tabs so that everyone can see what everyone else is working on.
A Google Doc can be viewed by anyone accessing it using the web browser or by downloading the file to their computer. The file can also be shared on other sites like Dropbox or Box, as long as they have an account with Google Drive.
Google Docs is the most widely used platform for managing and sharing documents online, especially among startups and small businesses. This is because it’s free to use, but still has all the features you need to organize your files, collaborate with colleagues and share documents with customers.
The best part about Google Docs? You can edit documents online from any device or computer so you don’t have to worry about printing them out or sending them by email every time you make an edit.
Confluence
Confluence is a cloud-based wiki and knowledge management system that can be used to create, manage, and collaborate on documents. It was first released in 2011 by Atlassian (now part of Jigsaw), and it’s available on both the Web and as a desktop app.
Confluence is free for individual users, teams, and organizations of all sizes, from the smallest one-person team to the largest enterprise collaboration. However, the more people you want to collaborate with on a document — such as project managers or technical writers the more you’ll need to pay.
The Confluence interface is easy to use: You just click “Create” and then start typing. And once you are done, all you have to do is click “Save.” The platform also allows you to communicate and collaborate with your team members on documents.
It also provides a platform where you can host your website content and have direct access to it from any device. This makes it easier for people to find your content, which means more engagement and better results.
It also helps with collaboration because everyone can contribute to the same discussions and documents.
Confluence also has some great features for managing time-based projects, such as milestones and due dates. This can be useful if you need your team members to have a clear focus on what needs to be done by when.
Why use confluence?
Easy to use: There’s no learning curve when it comes to using Confluence. You can create a new page, edit an existing one or simply view an existing page with ease. You don’t even have to learn any Java script unless you want to create your customizations or add-ons.
Collaborative: Confluence allows multiple users to work on a single document at the same time. This means that you can work on your project without having to worry about anyone else taking over or interfering with what you’re doing.
Customizable: You can add elements like images and links directly into your pages in Confluence via drag-and-drop functionality. If you need more power, there are also options like themes and templates available for purchase or customization.
Manage your documents: You can add metadata to your documents (for example, attaching links to other documents or adding comments) so that search engines can find them easily. You can also create templates that make it easy for others to reuse parts of your document in their writing.
Organize the way you work: If you have different groups of people who work on different parts of the same document, Confluence makes it easy for everyone to see what everyone else is doing and talk about issues as they arise. You can even create separate pages for each group so that each group has its own space in which to work.
The main advantage of using Confluence is that it allows you to create a central repository for all your team’s projects. This makes it easy to find information related to a particular project, even if it isn’t stored in the same place.
SharePoint
Being a cloud-based platform, SharePoint allows you to store, share and collaborate on almost everything including docs, videos, and images.
SharePoint includes enterprise search, document management, Web publishing, project management tools, and communication features.
Easy access and storage and sharing capability are what make it a powerful contender. It’s also ideal for creating online communities where users can collaborate on documents or photos together.SharePoint includes document management, enterprise search, workflow, record management, and workflow automation.
Why use SharePoint?
Documents: SharePoint lets you store documents, such as emails and Word documents, easily in a library. Users can then access these documents from anywhere using the SharePoint interface.
Email: SharePoint enables users to send email messages through Outlook or Gmail directly from within SharePoint sites. Users can also select multiple recipients at once when sending an email message using this feature, which is useful if they want to send multiple copies of an email message or include attachments such as images or videos.
Presentations: Users can create PowerPoint slideshows in SharePoint libraries by combining text boxes and other objects into presentations. These presentations can then be viewed automatically when someone clicks on an item in a library list or when someone clicks on a link within a document library.
Quick Access: SharePoint provides quick access to your files and folders by using web pages that look like those in your browser. You can use the browser’s address bar or right-click menu to get straight to the page where you left off.
NoSQL Databases: SharePoint uses NoSQL document databases which means they don’t need to be backed up as traditional relational databases do. You can store large amounts of data in these databases without having to worry about losing anything important because it will all be stored on servers in the cloud instead of on your local computer or network server.
Lists and Libraries: SharePoint allows you to create various types of lists and libraries, each with different levels of security. For example, if you have a library with sensitive information such as financial data or medical records, you should use the highest level of security available (called an “advanced security group”).
Content Types and Fields: You can create fields for different types of content in your SharePoint site and then assign them to list items or document libraries. For example, if you have an HR department that needs to track employee time sheets for billing purposes, you could create a new field called “Employee Time Sheet” which would allow employees to input their hours using an online form or Excel spreadsheet.
Workflows and Alerts: You can use workflows in SharePoint to automate tasks or send notifications when certain events occur in your system (such as when new documents are added).
Final words
When it comes to choosing an ideal document management system, there is neither a winner nor a loser. All platforms have distinct features, unique characteristics, and pros and cons. It all comes down to how much help that system can be for you and your team and most importantly how effective it can contribute to the project to make it easy for you by paving a road to success.
