.EDR - Electronic Document Repository
.EDR is an effective document management solution, regardless of document types or format. User interface for searching, retrieving and opening documents is standardized and very well known to users familiar with the Internet. The maintenance of the system is simple, with all advantages which a centralized backup solution and security procedures can offer.
Users can organize documents according to their specific needs and create their own hierarchy of documents in the repository. Each action is monitored and logged in the system. User rights are adjustable to the atomic level of a single document and user.
Architecture
.EDR system has been built using n-tier application architecture and founded primarily on using platforms and technologies developed by Microsoft. Technical prerequisites for the server are:
- Microsoft Windows 2000/2003 Server
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 5.0/6.0
- Microsoft.Net Framework
- Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (all versions)
For the user computer the only prerequisite is to have the new generation of web browsers installed. To open different types of stored documents, an appropriate viewer application or browser plug-in should be installed on the user computer (for example, to open PDF files, Adobe Acrobat Reader is required.). The system architecture is scalable and suitable for use in information systems of different complexity levels – from small office networks to enterprise information systems.
Solution
.EDR is a modern solution that can be integrated into your Intranet or Extranet. It can be accessed via Internet by using secure encrypted connection. Documents stored in the system can be of very different origin, having different content and different formats. Some of them were originally in the paper format and scanned, others were created by your word processor or spreadsheet application.
For scanned documents, the user can define a set of properties to describe the document. Later, those properties are used for searching. For the documents created digitally, properties are not of such an importance as searching is enabled for the entire document content. Properties can be general, like a document's creation date and time, or, they can be specific for a particular business need, like a partner's company name or an invoice payment date
Grouping documents, which is part of the system, is very useful for document manipulation and searching. The number of groups is unlimited and each group can have an unlimited number of subgroups. In this way hierarchical organization of documents can be implemented in the repository. The number of hierarchical levels is also unlimited.
If the user often needs certain documents, those documents can be linked within a special group called My Documents. The content of this group is temporary and specific for each user of the system. Documents are all the time available from within their original group as well.
Searching and accessing documents
The search mechanism is similar to the one used for searching the Internet, to which the users have already been accustomed. Each user can search and find only those documents within the groups to which he has access rights. As a result of the searching procedure a list of all documents that match the search criteria is being shown. The list contains only documents and their properties. The user can check the properties and if the searched document is among the found ones, the user can retrieve it. This is very important in case of large documents resulting from scanning, especially for users that are connected to the system at low speed. The document flow through the network is reduced and possible bottlenecks avoided.
Administration
The administration module is used for defining user rights. Every single group, subgroup and even a single document can have precisely defined access rights. They include the right to retrieve and open a document, the right to change a document's properties or to delete a document from the group.
To make administration easier, user rights are grouped in roles. One role is the collection of various user rights to different groups or documents. With granting a particular role, the user inherits all access rights granted to that role.
Security
System security is enforced at various system levels. Access to the system is protected by a standard user authorization. Access to every document is monitored and logged in the system. Every attempt to log on to the system is also monitored, regardless of whether it had been successful or not.
The whole communication between the server and the user's computer can be protected and encrypted. For that purpose the SSL encryption is used. Higher level of security can be achieved by using SmartCard or SecureID hardware solutions as a part of the .EDR system.