no more subfolders! just imagine.
by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers
much has been done to help people deal with information overload. desktop search tools have made it easier to find a piece of data hidden among all the other data stored on your system. but what about all the data available on portals, stored in shared drives, and trapped in business applications, let alone the valuable information stored in various employees’ heads?
more: how to develop procedures for bos | proper workflow demands consistency | workflow tools can deepen client relationships | going viral: today’s top marketing strategies | top ten types of clients (and 24 more reader suggestions) | which kind of team do you have? | meet the new bos
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
this information is vital to your firm. employees need this data to do their jobs, and they need it quickly.
the key to finding information quickly is a mighty search engine. enterprise search engines can find information stored almost anywhere in your system. whether looking for data stored on the desktop, tucked away on an intranet site or locked in a line of a business application, an enterprise search tool can help you find it. the search solution combines desktop search with fast intranet searching capabilities.
ultimately, an enterprise search tool must be able to perform a federated search, which is one that can access multiple data sources with a single query. the user has a single interface where she enters the query. however, underneath the covers, the query is sent to several different search engines and then the results are displayed in one aggregated view. microsoft fast search is an excellent example of this technology and is part of the sharepoint package. finding a dms/workflow package that has this enterprise level of search capability is quite possible as many developers work with .net and sharepoint extensions.
another benefit is that now, all those old paper files can be scanned and uploaded so that the daunting task of organizing them to folders is moot. folders are another way to hide things, cause extra clicks and multiple copies. with single query search, folders, subfolders, and subfolders of subfolders go away.
ask yourself how much time you spend searching for a document. then multiply it by the number of documents you open daily. and finally multiply that number by the number of people in your firm doing the same thing. this time adds up over the course of the year. or to make it easier, people copy files to their local desktop to work on them. does that happen in your office? be honest. now take a look at your team’s desktops. is this the image of a bos office that says “i can manage your documents?” it also means that if there is a copy on your local desktop you now have two copies, and at some point perhaps two distinctly different files with the same name.
we mentioned searching your desktop. cloud technology and mobile apps remove the need for your team members to have documents saved locally to their desktop. with a managed server and a dual monitor or split screen system, you have no need for printing. with everything in your managed server and saas applications, taking files “home to work on them” becomes a thing of the past. even making copies of files goes away. losing control of client data also goes away. the frantic search through an outlook inbox of 10,000 emails spread out over 50 client folders goes away. this is your client. you paid to get them through the door. they signed an sla with you. they have a relationship with you. the information for this client stays with your firm and is controlled by your firm. the technology makes the process significantly more efficient and infinitely more secure.