We can offer you solutions for your information management needs in several areas. Which area you choose to invest in first depends on your business requirements.
Most of the features below are standard features, which only requires configuration, others may require custom development.
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Document management is the foundation of Alfresco. You can in an easy and simple way manage files and version them. In the document overview you will see thumbnails of each of the files. In the detailed view you will see a build in viewer that can display the most common document formats. Permissions on the document is inherited from the parent folder or you can apply individual permission to individual users or groups. You will access content using a web based client, but content is also available via Windows file server protocol CIFS so that you can open the file directly in Windows explorer. If you are using Microsoft Office you can access file directly using the Sharepoint protocol.
Alfresco has a built in rendering engine that makes it possible to switch between different image formats, or to change the size of the images. Alfresco will also automatically extract EXIF metadata from the files to be stored. There are dashlets available to be placed on a dashboard for easy display of images in your portal.
Records management is sometimes described as the art of deleting at the right time. For different reasons document shall not be saved for ever, even if technically possible and helps keep the storage costs at minimum. Alfresco is a certified Records Management DOD5015.2 solution with an add-on created by Alfresco.
A good collaboration solution makes it easy to share documents and also use additional components such as blog, forums, shared calendar and wiki to the dashboard. Users will have a dashboard on current topics, added and updated documents and tasks that need to be performed. The Site manager is responsible for inviting new users, and new accounts are created when needed and invited user notified by email.
Alfresco is not a full replacement for a CMS solution and for creating your public website. But it is great at storing content, and we use it for many specialized solutions for external websites. One example is to store an image archive, and make it searchable and available via the public facing website.
Build an Intranet with the help of Alfresco. You can create the information online with a built-in editor so that your content editor doesn't require any knowledge of html. With Alfresco you can aggregate the information from external resources, not just document-related information. You don't need a classical CMS to build an intranet, you need an information management platform.
A simple intranet will be a static web page with just a lot of links to various content sources. You can probably do that with a standard CMS system. But what you need is a Smart Intranet that aggregates contents as it is created and present that to the visting user.
In Alfresco, you can make the information store available via e-mail IMAP protocol. It is supported by virtually all e-mail clients, and you can set up Alfresco as an extra inbox without requiring the installation of local programs. Then you can drag and drop emails to archive them. Common documents in Alfresco will also be available through the email client wrapped in a virtual e-mail message, where metadata is visible, and with clickable links to manage content files. Alfresco can also give each folder a unique email address so you can send content via SMTP messages directly to the information store in Alfresco.
By automating repetitive tasks, you can get better at handling tasks in a predictive manner and make it easier for users. A very common workflow is to have a review and approval workflow. With the built-flow engine you can send data into parallel or serial workflows, set deadlines with escalation, and when, for example, has gone through a approval put the current status of the document. You can also do tasks such as rendering a PDF with a stamping of the approval information.
A solution for document management and storage of other information should not act as its own standalone application isolated from other systems. Users should be able to seek and consume information, and also be able to create new documents directly from the application they are working in. It is therefore important that there are open and documented APIs. Alfresco can integrate with Webscripts (REST), Java, CMIS by using different protocols and methods.
By registering your contracts in a system that allows you to monitor the termination date, you can prevent many agreements from being automatically extended, thereby saving considerable costs. You can also make sure your solution will notify you that a contract is about to expire, or provide an opportunity have the contract manager decide whether the contract should be terminated or extended. Complement it with Contractual obligations, things that must be carried out under the contract, and let the system ensure that they are carried out.
