Doc Management solution?

August 2, 2012 11:44 AM

Looking for a digital doc management solution that seems pretty simple but maybe not? Details inside.

My public website content includes a ton of PDFs, DOCS, PPTs and the like. I need a storage solution that gives me a URL for each document.

On the admin side, I need to give nontechnical users the ability to:

• Add & delete documents
• Add an updated version of a document, without having to go to the webpage and change the URL linking to it
• Search for existing documents using some limited metadata (searchable on filename, friendly document name, friendly document description)
• Permissioning, so that Admin X can only update/delete documents in group ABC
• Approval, so Admin SuperX is notified and has to click a box before the actions of Admin X are kicked off
• Activity reporting, which will show me who made what changes & when

I know some content management solutions will have this functionality but I already have a CMS I like (other than this gap).

Is Sharepoint too much firepower for this? My perception is that sharepoint install is very complex and requires expensive consultants to set up/maintain.

Suggestions, pointers, experiences all appreciated!

posted by luser to Computers & Internet (2 answers total)

SharePoint can certainly do these things. The question of course is can you expend the time to learn how to set it up and administer it. It isn't rocket science but you'll either have to pay someone to do it or learn how to do it yourself.
posted by mmascolino at 12:56 PM on August 2, 2012

Depending on the scope of your Sharepoint implementation, it can be a beast to fully get up and running. (eg. can make setting up Exchange or SCCM seem like a walk in the park)

With that it mind, it can also be one of the better options out there if you're willing to put the time and effort into it as it is highly customized, Microsoft AD friendly, etc. Some other potential solutions could include:

- KnowledgeTree
- Nuxeo
- Alfresco
- TeamLab
- HyperOffice
- iSynergy

I can't vouch for any of the above links, and there's definitely a lot more out there...these are just ones that caught my eye. For simplicity's sake, TeamLab looks fairly promising (as it's free up to 1gb...then $50/mo for an additional 50gb) although most of these are somewhat web based, which could go against one or more of your requirements.
posted by samsara at 1:34 PM on August 2, 2012