Atlassian Confluence vs. DocLink vs. MasterControl Quality Excellence

I would recommend Atlassian Confluence for companies that want to have internal documentation and minimum governance processes to ensure documentation is useful and doesn't have a lot of duplicated and non-updated content. I wouldn't recommend Atlassian Confluence for companies with a low budget since this product might be a little costly (especially with add-ons).

Incentivized

It's a great tool that works well to automate processes and, once set up, reduce admin time on things like tracking the approval process. However, it can be challenging to initially set up because it requires an understanding of the process in the first place. We have a team of business analysts who work for us so one of them was assigned to understand our own internal processes and then set up the relevant workflows. I think without this we might have struggled. We also each use the expense receipt feature which is great. You can in a receipt and using OCR the expense forms are automatically populated. You do need to manually check it but this saves a lot of time in filling in forms. As we now have a workflow in place it is straightforward to submit your monthly expense report for approval straight afterward. The document tracking feature is good too - who has seen, worked on, or needs to see the document. It means we were able to stop using Slack.

Incentivized

The MasterControl Quality Excellence suite is well suited for the life sciences and biotechnology as well as manufacturing companies that could benefit from the regulatory compliance that this suite of products offer. This product is highly recommended for industries that want to reduce paper overhead and digitally transform their QMS into a singular location

• Cross product linking - If you use other Atlassian products then Atlassian Confluence is a no-brainer for your source of documentation, knowledge management etc. You can show previews of the linked asset natively E.g. showing a preview of a JIRA ticket in a Atlassian Confluence page.
• Simple editing - Though the features available may not be super complex right now, this does come with the benefit of making it easy to edit and create documents. Some documentation editors can be overwhelming, Atlassian Confluence is simple and intuitive.
• Native marketplace - If you want to install add-ons to your Atlassian Confluence space it's really easy. Admins can explore the Atlassian marketplace natively and install them to your instance in a few clicks. You can customise your Atlassian Confluence instance in many different ways using add-ons.

Incentivized

• Maintains all scanned and processed documents since we converted from paper files. 13 years and counting for our company.
• Able to create custom folders or "workflows" with specific permissions.
• Able to quickly search using a wide variety of search parameters.
• Allows the user to make notations, highlights, and digital stamps for future reference.
• Allows the user to scan or drag and drop documents into the program and will convert to the acceptable format (ie: PDF will convert to TIF).

Incentivized

• Organization - the layout and idea behind how the website is displayed and functions.
• Compliance - ensuring our documents are kept up to date and accurate.
• Quality - by having a platform with all documents with all standards set out at once, quality standards are easily accessed.

Incentivized

• UI Design is very simplistic and basic could make use of more visually interesting colour choices, layout choices, etc.
• Under the 'Content' menu, it defaults to having a landing page for all L1 and L2 category pages. Meaning as long as the broader content category has a sub-category, it still creates a separate landing page. In my team's case, this often creates blank pages, as we only fill out the page at the lowest sub-category (L3).
• Hyperlinks are traditionally shown as blue, however, this results into very monotonously blue pages in cases where a lot of information is being linked.

Incentivized

• Search engine can be enhanced to provide better results.
• The workflow module can be made simpler.
• Sometimes a little slow to load all the information.

Incentivized

• License model can become very expensive for small startup businesses.
• More development with validation and more transparent information on how the improvements and or fixes may impact the current configuration. Currently, everything is listed, but it is not tailored to my system.
• More information regarding the transition of previous processes to new processes. i.e., FBS to AQEM. I am currently working on the ADV/FBS forms and will eventually transition to AQEM/ADAPT. Still, I would like more information regarding the transition to inform current stakeholders about the improvements on the horizon.

Incentivized

I am confident that Atlassian can come with additional and innovative macros and functions to add value to Confluence. In 6 months, Atlassian transformed a good collaborative tools into a more comprehensive system that can help manage projects and processes, as well as "talk" with other Atlassian products like Jira. We are in fact learning more about Jira to evaluate a possible fit to complement our tool box.

would rate MasterControl Quality Excellence a 7 out of 10 because, while it offers strong compliance tools, centralized document control, and effective audit readiness features, there are still areas that could be improved to enhance the overall user experience. The platform can sometimes feel complex and unintuitive, especially for new users, and customizing workflows to fit specific organizational needs can be challenging. Additionally, integration with other enterprise systems isn't always seamless, which can slow down processes. Despite these drawbacks, the system remains a reliable and valuable tool for maintaining quality and regulatory compliance.

Incentivized

Great for organizing knowledge in a hierarchical format. Seamless for engineering and product teams managing software development. Helps in formatting pages effectively, reducing manual work. Tracks changes well and allows for easy rollbacks. Granular controls for who can view/edit pages. Search function is not great which needs improvement. Hire some google engineers

Incentivized

DocLink is VERY user-friendly! The daily functions are easily taught to non-financial individuals. It's easy to understand and easy to manipulate with a simple, functional layout. The Administrative module is not too complicated, but it would be more effective if there was a more thorough "help" section or an online forum for users. All of my knowledge is self-taught, trial and error, but it would be helpful for a new user to have an online resource to address questions or issues.

Incentivized

Some tasks require the users and SysAdmin to access multiple modules at a time. For example: to create a training course and an exam for a document in the system, the user needs to finish creating the document in the doc module, then go to the training module to create a course and an exam separately. Ideally, from the document page we should be able to access the training course, which could have some fields auto-populated. And from there, also create and link an exam, all without leaving the document page.

Incentivized

I do not recall having outages or applications error so far, very reliable and available.

Incentivized

they are good about keeping it running

Incentivized

We never worked against the tide while using Confluence. Everything loads considerably fast, even media components like videos (hosted on the platform or embed external videos from Youtube, for example). We are not using heavy media components a lot, but in the rare occasion we happen to use one we have no problems whatsoever.

Incentivized

DocLink is quite reliable and effective. Scanned documents are easy to read with very slight loss of integrity. Pages load quickly with occasional lag loading very large files. We use DocLink with MS Dynamics SL, and the two systems perform well together without much interruption or ambiguity in the process. One issue we have is in relation to the number of licenses and issues we have when a session will not close upon exit, thus suspending an available license rendering it unusable. Although very infrequent, IT has had to manually "end" a session to clear the license.

Incentivized

some reports take time to filter and to get them to give the correct information. This is usually because of inputs.

Incentivized

This rating is specifically for Atlassian's self-help documentation on their website. Often times, it is not robust enough to cover a complex usage of one of their features. Frequently, you can find an answer on the web, but not from Atlassian. Instead, it is usually at a power user group elsewhere on the net.

Incentivized

The Technical Support team has grown exponentially over the last couple years. Some front line support staff are new to the system and so know less than the clients do. Back line staff are more seasoned and provide immediate assistance to the front line staff. They have an extensive knowledge bank to assist them as well as client access to most KB articles. Annual user group conference gives us chance to meet the support staff an also to resolve any outstanding issues. Any critical vendor notices are emailed immediately when found and a patch offered at the same time. These are rare, but quickly resolved.

Incentivized

I rated the MasterControl in-person training a 10 because it was clear, practical, and well-paced. The trainer explained concepts thoroughly and answered questions effectively. I appreciated the hands-on walkthroughs, which made it easier to understand how to apply the system in real scenarios. Overall, it was a valuable learning experience that boosted my confidence in using MasterControl.

Incentivized

transparent and immediate when the documents are updated. Easy to check on training and customizable to the company's expectations. Allows easy exam creation with GXP assist and the correlation between job codes and courses has proven reliable. What i would advocate is that you see who has trained on the course in the Course Infocard, to the document infocard

Incentivized

Overall, I am very satisfied with the initial implementation (and the subsequent upgrades and implementations made over the years).

This product has never rose to the level of being an major issue at an executive level. It has quietly and valiantly done it's job for our company!

Incentivized

The implementation of MasterControl Quality Excellence was largely successful, earning an 8 out of 10. The project was well-structured, and the implementation team provided solid guidance throughout the process. Key milestones were met on time, and the system was configured to meet most of our core requirements. One of the most valuable aspects was the hands-on training and support during go-live, which helped ensure user adoption. However, there were some challenges around data migration and aligning the system’s capabilities with our existing workflows, which required more time and effort than anticipated. Overall, the experience was positive, and the lessons learned have positioned us well for future system enhancements.

Incentivized

We chose Atlassian Confluence over SharePoint because it's much more user-friendly and intuitive. Atlassian Confluence makes collaboration and knowledge sharing easier with its simpler interface and better search. While SharePoint can be powerful, it often feels clunky and complex, making it harder for our team to actually use it.

Incentivized

Document sender u can only send one at a time, doclink sends mass emails all at once and can archive all your documents, making it a complete solution.

Incentivized

The products we evaluated were considered as potential replacements for MasterControl Quality Excellence. At this time, we continue using MasterControl Quality Excellence primarily due to the significant volume of data in our system and the operational impact of a platform transition. Intellect QMS emerged as a strong alternative, offering extensive, intuitive business process development tools and a wide range of built-in QMS processes out of the box. MasterControl Quality Excellence currently maintains the advantage solely because of the logistical and business burden associated with migrating to a new system.

Incentivized

This tool is very adaptable. So much so we use it for three completely separate projects, in three very different ways.

Incentivized

there are many updates

Incentivized

they are excellent

Incentivized

• The AI feature which lets me find relevant documents while reading one document is really beneficial.
• Centralising of knowledge systems is one of the key differentiators for large organisations.
• As long as folks keep using Google Docs and Atlassian Confluence, there is going to be a challenge in building a continuum.

Incentivized

• Now set up it has significantly reduced admin time for everyone. I would say on average 1-2 hours per month per staff member spent on expense forms and submissions.
• Cancelled paid version of slack as no longer needed.

Incentivized

• Helped me keep up to date on any knowledge pertaining to my workflow.
• Sometimes, using it for lesson plans with minor adjustments to review it again can be repetitive.
• Helped with scheduling classes and keeping up to date with when they occur.

Incentivized