12d Synergy vs. NetDocuments

12d Synergy and its ability to handle all file types really suited the engineering industry.

It is ideal where security is your number one concern or where there is a need to share securely across different physical locations. Speed is less than ideal in certain usage scenarios. It is limited by the speed of the internet and it can be difficult to pull large quantities of documents when researching or answering discovery requests, although, that being said, it can be addressed by maintaining your own secure server to contain a mirror of your online documents. But then the security for a mirror falls back on the organization.

Incentivized

• Manages multiple files in a folder, while allowing file sharing (AutoCAD, xrefs, etc.)
• Delivers HUGE (2, 3, or 5GB) files with minimal bandwidth

• Searching: NetDocuments' searching capabilities put it on par with other legal search engines used for research and knowledge management purposes.
• Scalability: Despite the ever-increasing number of items stored in the repository, time searching is unaffected.
• Innovation: NetDocuments continuously looks for new solutions and updates their product regularly.
• Ease of Update: Because it is Web-based, updates to the software do not require local installation.

Incentivized

• 12d Synergy could provide additional analytical reporting on user behavior and usage out of the box.
• Improved speeds when referencing shared files from other 12d model projects.

• Delay. At times, there is a delay between saving a document into Netdocuments and actually seeing them in the appropriate workspace. Such a delay is caused by the system indexing the newly added file.
• Netdocuments' servers slow down at times causing users to receive error messages. This can be quickly remedied, but can become a nuisance.

Incentivized

The product is simple to learn and adheres to well-known web user protocols. The NetDocuments team spends a lot of time talking to customers regarding how to improve their interface, and are pretty quick about implementing good ideas. The system is reliable and repeatable, and similar functions are laid out consistently and in formats that users are used to.

Incentivized

NetDocuments is a performant web app. It is reliable and provides all the functionality of a sophisticated document management system. It also can serve, through its APIs, as a base system for other applications, which enhances its value. Other vendors find the company easy to work with, and it consistently seems to be the first to offer new features and technologies to its customers.

Incentivized

The 12d Synergy team is always ensuring our issues and needs are resolved promptly. Whether it be on the forum or phone, they are kind and helpful

I've never had to contact support, but I won't give it a ten. We've had a few hiccups along the way, but nothing that couldn't be fixed within 24 hours.

Incentivized

Hands down prefer 12d Synergy. Bentley ProjectWise is overly complex, expensive and has a very cluttered interface.

We switched to NetDocuments 11 years ago. So, to be fair and accurate... the OpenText product at that time was called PC Docs and the company (that OpenText acquired) was Hummingbird. I can't remember who owned iManage at the time. Anyway, NetDocuments was a superior product at the time, in general, and more specifically because the search and remote access features\functions were superior (and still are).

Incentivized

• 12d Synergy has solved our multiple office syncing issues, adding the ability to have staff from remote offices collaborate together on projects.
• Email saving used to be a nightmare, however, staff finds 12d Synergy's email saving easy to use and are able to search for saved emails quickly.

• Improved mobility
• Eliminated issues with strucutre
• The conversion was difficult, not ND fault, change is hard, but training and support helped.

Incentivized