Likelihood to Recommend Pentana is great for monitoring PIs and risks. We find it less helpful for monitoring projects (with the Actions module); it isn't quite flexible enough for our needs, though the support team have been very helpful in adding custom fields for us.
Read full review This software is very well suited for law enforcement agencies of all sizes from 5 to 5000 officers. There is a mobile app that allows officers to quickly and easily search while out in the field or on a call. They can quickly review a policy, locate a form, pull up a map and much more using either the mobile app or the desktop application.
Read full review Pros Pentana is excellent for monitoring, recording and reporting on PIs. Very easy to use the PI module. Pentana is excellent for monitoring risks at various levels (service, strategic etc.). Risks are displayed very clearly in a tree structure and the module is relatively easy to use. Read full review Policy management- [Users] sign for, and can take [tests] to prove understanding of policy right in the application. As [the] policy is updated, old versions are retained, so that we not only know what a policy contains, we can track changes and provide information on what a policy was at any given time in the past. Training- Users receive notifications when training is due and are guided to complete the training. If the training requires recertification, PowerDMS can be configured to alert the user that re-training is needed, without a supervisor needing to keep track. All documents used in training, including presentations and videos, can be contained in the PowerDMS course, so we can prove not only that an employee was trained, but exactly what curriculum was use din any given training. Accreditation Assessment- [Our] accreditation standards manual is uploaded directly into PowerDMS. Proofs are accomplished using the actual policy and procedure, as well as the documents created during the workday. There is absolutely no duplication of effort. Communications accountability- Email [can] be read and forgotten. With PowerDMS, a document can be distributed for user signatures, insuring that the user took affirmative action to read and understand the document. Read full review Cons Pentana could improve the free Documents module that comes with Pentana Risk. At the moment documents have to be linked to an action in order to display query results (such as how many documents are due for review) - this can be confusing for users who don't understand why there is an action linked. There is also no easy way for users to see the documents that are assigned to them. We would like to use the Actions module fully in order to monitor our corporate projects, but it a bit confusing for users and not very flexible when a project doesn't mirror Pentana's way of monitoring actions. Read full review The Workflow process in PowerDMS is not as easy to grasp as some of the other concepts and requires a little more explaination, especially for non-administrative background users. Users are unable to view the steps in a Workflow template in order to determine which Workflow would work best for their needs when routing documents. It would be great to have multiple message options for past due inbox notifications in addition to the options for past due tasks to encourage users to go to their inbox to review their messages. Read full review Likelihood to Renew I have had nothing but positive experiences with PowerDMS from day one. If we ever run into a situation we are unsure of, PowerDMS support has ALWAYS been able to answer us basically immediately. I really love that they are constantly seeking to improve and expand.
Julie Rosenburg Special Projects Administrator /Accounting and Accreditation
Read full review Usability Some modules are more user-friendly than others. It's sometimes not obvious where to click to update the fields (or even that field titles can be clicked on). We have written 'Howdys' to help users. There can also seem to be a lot of steps/clicks to updating risks and actions. The Reports module on Pentana classic is certainly not user-friendly, particularly the Report Layout and Charts modules - we were told these would be integrated into the web version but this hasn't happened yet.
Read full review There is a learning curve as with any software system and I have found those users who consistently use the system more have a much higher success rate than those who only log in to sign off on documents. Now that most users have been in the system for over 2 years I consistently hear how much easier the processes are than they originally thought they would be
Read full review Reliability and Availability Never had an issue with PowerDMS not being available. Speed is an issue from time to time
Read full review Performance We use PowerDMS in the cloud so our performance might be different from other users who use on-premise. The program has always been up with very minimal downtime and always seems responsive and snappy when navigating the UI and searching documents. We don't currently have any integrations with other software.
Read full review Support Rating The support team are excellent and always answer queries promptly. They are very helpful.
Read full review I just wish we had some in-state support. The contacts I have had with customer support have been great. Awesome communication, problem-solving, and support. I have talked to and met Stephanie Williams (CSA for Power DMS) at the most recent Entrust conference. She was professional and devoted time to addressing our agency needs.
Read full review In-Person Training In-person training works really well.
Read full review Online Training Online training works well and keeps from having to have classroom training
Read full review Implementation Rating Implementation of PowerDMS was near seamless. The product was able to input existing policies and procedures within a few hours, which helped to lay the foundation for future use. Having PowerDMS on-boarding readily available was also a huge benefit.
Read full review Alternatives Considered We selected Pentana because our neighbouring authorities are users and had spoken highly of the product and given us demonstrations; some of our staff were also familiar with Pentana when it was called Covalent. It seemed to be the best product on the market for monitoring risks, PIs and projects.
Read full review PowerDMS is a lot different than Linkedin Learnings. In PowerDMS you have to create your own courses versus in Linkedin Learnings they provide extensive content on a wide variety of subject matter. Linkedin Learnings is what we have used in our organization for Bias Training and Ethics Training. PowerDMS is the repository for documents and Trainings, so the systems work very differently
Emily Davies Professional Development and Training Manager for the Cornell Police
Read full review Scalability Because of features and functions.
Read full review Return on Investment Pentana Risk has allowed my team to focus on other areas of work whereas before we would be manually chasing for updates on PIs and risk. Pentana Risk does the chasing for us! We are able to produce reports for audit purposes very easily, rather than sending spreadsheets which is what we used to do. New managers can easily inherit risks, projects and PIs and see all of this on a custom portal, saving them time when they start. Read full review Created efficient processes for approving document revision Migrated what originally was a paper system to electronic Accessible for any employee by logging in, employees do not have to seek out policy and procedure binders, and updated documents can be automatically sent to inboxes when updated. Read full review ScreenShots