infinitely improbable

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    Collaborative document management for the rest of us

    (EDIT: new post about account options added on Nov 5, 2009)

    Over and over again I have experienced the frustrations of not knowing whether a file I've received in email is the latest version; not knowing how a document changed from one version to the next, or who has worked on the document during its development; not being able to include team members from another company; wasting time in finding a document because someone stored it in a different folder.

    In my previous jobs (stints at PwC and Wolters Kluwer in the Auditing/Accounting/SOX, Media, and Software Development industries) our teams relied on four ways to send documents around and collaborate on their development:

    1. Email/IM
    2. Host on a network share or document management system (SharePoint, Documentum, DropBox)
    3. Shared on a collaborative editing site (e.g. Google Docs)
    4. Send via courier

    But it turns out that all four mechanisms introduce a host of frustrations and is, frankly, a schlepp.

    And the larger your team, the harder the collaboration becomes.

    When a team collaborates on a document they typically have the following needs:

    1. Everyone on the team should have insight into the development of the document
    2. You can find the latest version (or a prior version) of a document and know how it differs from other versions
    3. It should not matter what the document type is (i.e. you can collaborate on a document of ANY format)
    4. If the team members are from different companies, sharing must be secure
    5. Store the document in a place where it can be subsequently found

    So we set out to create a new type of document management system which addresses all these problems. 

    It was important for us to create a system which we can use ourselves, which doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and which lets the user just get on with it without having to worry about admin tasks.

    In short, Workstax:

    • tracks any document as a team works on it
    • can show you how the document changed over time
    • enables secure participation for team members who may be from different companies
    • has a flexible "filing" system - conversation threads and tagging instead of folders
    • has powerful and accurate search
    • shows a news feed of activity in your teams so you remain informed
    • requires no installation or administration - it is fully web based and hosted in the cloud with bank-grade security

     

    Tags » SOX Workstax document management file share team track changes
    • 19 October 2009
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  • Joubert Nel's Space

    Fun with algorithm design, data structures and storage, UX/UI. Experienced JavaScript, Objective-C, C#, Python, and Clojure hacker.

    Based in Palo Alto. Code: https://github.com/joubertnel

    Twitter: @jouborg https://twitter.com/#!/jouborg

  • About Joubert Nel

    Fun with algorithm design, data structures and storage, UX/UI. Experienced JavaScript, Objective-C, C#, Python, and Clojure hacker.

    Based in Palo Alto. Code: https://github.com/joubertnel

    Twitter: @jouborg https://twitter.com/#!/jouborg

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