AUGIWorld Magazine - March/April 2008 - (Page 23) ADVERTISEMENT T his is the first in a series of articles on document management nuts and bolts— a technical look at the system component requirements for a document management system. This month, I’ll discuss client software requirements, or the way users interact with the system. In the next issue, we’ll discuss application server software, the business logic, or “the brains” of the organization. Following that, we’ll go into depth on database engines, vaults, and server software. Now, let’s tackle this month’s topic. Data Creators vs. Data Consumers To fully understand the ways users interact with a document management system, we need to appreciate the differences between “data creators” and “data consumers”. In a design engineering-centric world, data creators are those users who work inside the CAD tools. They create, modify, and revise existing CAD documents. In today’s global organizations, data creators can be engineers who are responsible for specifications or analysis or project or product leads and managers. Creators contribute data and documents to the system. They are also your power users and require a more powerful workstation. Data consumers are the people that need to consume the data submitted by the data creators. Data consumers have different needs and typically access the system using a different interface than the data creators. Generally, data consumers access the system to view, print or redline via a browser and then, only part time. When it comes to client requirements, you’ll need to consider both groups. Most document management deployments are accomplished using more than one type of client. It’s rare these days that a company deploys just one type of user interface to access the system. So let’s take a look at some of the different client deployment methodologies. Client Workstation Deployment The first client we’ll discuss is the client that is installed on a local workstation. It is a classic install where the actual program files – such as Word or Excel or Outlook – are installed on each individual’s workstation, as seen in the figure below. Client Browser Deployment For many companies today, it’s becoming more important to deploy a client through a browser (see figure below). Browser access could be via the Internet but you can also deploy a browser client behind the firewall. These deployments are relatively thin and from an IT perspective should be close to no touch. If the person can open a browser and point to a URL and the application of the data housed in it is immediately available, that certainly qualifies as a browser deployment. Client Network Deployment A client network deployment methodology is where the actual document management client is installed on the server in one location and the users have a desktop shortcut to launch the application (see figure below). IT appreciates this light weight deployment because they can install the application in one location and serve updates out to everyone easily. The trade-off is that user performance might take a hit. It’s also important to keep in mind not all document management systems support a network deployment well. Remote Client Options A remote client deployment is yet another option. This entails Citrix®, terminal services, or similar technologies, which are popular, centralized methods for IT to deploy access to a document management system. The important thing to understand when using Citrix or terminal services is that not all document management systems are friendly to this environment. So understand upfront if this is a requirement for your organization and whether you can successfully deploy in a remote client environment. In the next issue, I’ll discuss application server system components for document management. If you can’t wait, please go to www.synergis-adept.com/nutsandbolts and download the complete recorded webcast on this subject. SynergisSoftware SynergisSoftware 80 0.836 .5440 / 215.529. 990 0 w w w. synergis- adept .com 472 California Road · Quaker town, PA 18951 http://www.synergis-adept.com
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