Document Management Systems

TrustRadius Top Rated for 2023

Top Rated Products

(1-5 of 9)

1
M‑Files

M-Files is a platform for knowledge work automation, that helps knowledge workers to find information faster. M-Files features a metadata-driven architecture, embedded workflow engine, and advanced artificial intelligence. This helps customers to eliminate information chaos, improve…

2
Tungsten Power PDF

Tungsten Power PDF (formerly Kofax) is a solution to manage PDFs for businesses and individuals available with a one-time purchase with no subscription fees. It has a built-in eSignature integration with SignDoc and DocuSign for a complete end-to-end document lifecycle workflow.Benefits…

3
PDFfiller

pdfFiller is a comprehensive online document management platform that provides businesses with the services of form-building, PDFs editing and e-signing. The vendor says their tools help businesses to streamline document management, make workflows fully paperless, freeing up time…

4
Diligent Boards

Diligent’s Board & Leadership Collaboration solution is built to provide organizations everything they need to drive digitization and operational excellence for board, committee, and executive meetings. Directors and executives can leverage real-time communication, secure…

5
Qualio

Qualio is an all-in-one quality management platform helping companies maintain compliance, managed documents, audits, suppliers and complaints in one place.

All Products

(1-25 of 819)

1
Tungsten Power PDF

Tungsten Power PDF (formerly Kofax) is a solution to manage PDFs for businesses and individuals available with a one-time purchase with no subscription fees. It has a built-in eSignature integration with SignDoc and DocuSign for a complete end-to-end document lifecycle workflow.Benefits…

2
Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat DC is the current version of the well-established document / PDF management solution, part of the Adobe Document Cloud (the other part being Adobe's eSign services based on technology acquired with EchoSign in 2011).

3
Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.

Explore recently added products

4
Planview ProjectPlace

Projectplace is a collaborative work management solution. The vendor says the product is built with teams of all sizes and complexity in mind, from virtual teams of five to entire global enterprises with tens of thousands of active users. It is also designed to incorporate waterfall…

5
PowerDMS by NEOGOV

PowerDMS by NEOGOV is a software platform designed to recruit, train, equip, and protect employees across their careers, used for policy management, community engagement, and staff scheduling.

6
Jotform

Jotform Enterprise is a digital workspace productivity tool that provides a platform for organizations. The aim of Jotform Enterprise is to give companies an easy-to-navigate tool that makes reaching out to customers, collaborating with coworkers, and collecting e-signatures and…

7
Atlassian Confluence

Confluence is a collaboration and content sharing platform used primarily by customers who are already using Atlassian's Jira project tracking product. The product appeals particularly to IT users.

8
Teamcenter

Teamcenter is a product lifecycle management system designed to help organizations integrate and standardize product development processes across functional silos.

9
Conga Composer

Conga Composer is a document generation and automation tool designed to simplify and streamline the process of creating and distributing customized documents, presentations, and reports. Conga Composer integrates with any data source, including CRM systems like Salesforce, and allows…

10
Apple iCloud

Apple iCloud is a document management software offering from Apple. It includes features such as access to music, photos, calendars, contacts, and documents, and it is built into every new iOS device.

11
M‑Files

M-Files is a platform for knowledge work automation, that helps knowledge workers to find information faster. M-Files features a metadata-driven architecture, embedded workflow engine, and advanced artificial intelligence. This helps customers to eliminate information chaos, improve…

12
Wondershare PDFelement

PDFelement is a document management solution from Wondershare Software headquartered in China.

13
PDFfiller

pdfFiller is a comprehensive online document management platform that provides businesses with the services of form-building, PDFs editing and e-signing. The vendor says their tools help businesses to streamline document management, make workflows fully paperless, freeing up time…

14
Laserfiche

Laserfiche has two main editions: Rio and Avante: Laserfiche Rio is designed to meet the needs of large organizations that have more than 100 users. It combines content management functionality with business process management (BPM), security and auditing, unlimited servers and a…

15
Square 9 Softworks

For document-intensive companies looking to improve business efficiency, Square 9 Softworks develops solutions for process automation that aim to drive increased productivity across all business applications.

16
Diligent Boards

Diligent’s Board & Leadership Collaboration solution is built to provide organizations everything they need to drive digitization and operational excellence for board, committee, and executive meetings. Directors and executives can leverage real-time communication, secure…

17
Foxit PDF Editor (FoxitPhantom)

FoxitPhantom PDF is a document management software offering from FoxIt.

18
Smallpdf

Made in Switzerland, Smallpdf is a company that offers a suite of document management tools for everyone-for work, for home, for life. Founded in Switzerland in 2013, Smallpdf provides what they describe as a simple, secure, and reliable answer to the world's PDF challenges. Smallpdf…

19
IT Glue

IT Glue, a Kaseya company since the December 2018 acquisition, is an information management platform that allows for efficient storage and retrieval of all the documentation an organization needs to help their MSP run better. By integrating PSA and RMM data, the vendor says they…

20
Coda

Coda, from Coda Project headquartered in San Francisco, is a template-based document generation solution, supporting a variety of use cases presented by the vendor as ideal for smaller companies that might otherwise be relying on spreadsheets to maintain (for instance) product development,…

21
Alfresco

The Alfresco platform, from Hyland, delivers comprehensive cloud-native content services. It is used to intelligently activate processes and content to accelerate the flow of business.

22
Foxit PDF SDK

Foxit PDF SDK offers high performance pdf libraries to help developers build pdf technology.According to the vendor, key features include:Render PDFs: High performance PDF libraries to render PDF pages, page objects, annotations, and forms the way they were intended to be viewed:…

23
Esker

Esker is a global cloud platform built to unlock strategic value for finance and customer service professionals and strengthen collaboration between companies by automating the cash conversion cycle. Esker’s mission is to build a foundation that promotes positive-sum growth, increased…

24
Nitro Productivity Suite

Nitro Productivity Suite combines electronic signature and general PDF editing, from Nitro, Inc. It is built around capabilities such as getting approvals and esignatures in seconds and sharing and reviewing documents from anywhere.

25
Qualio

Qualio is an all-in-one quality management platform helping companies maintain compliance, managed documents, audits, suppliers and complaints in one place.

Videos for Document Management Systems

What is Document Management Software Workflow?
12:45
Document management software workflow refers to the use of automated document workflows that are implemented through specialized document management software. These workflows automate the collection, storage, management, editing, disposal, and categorization of documents within an organization.

Document Management Systems TrustMap

TrustMaps are two-dimensional charts that compare products based on trScore and research frequency by prospective buyers. Products must have 10 or more ratings to appear on this TrustMap.

Learn More About Document Management Systems

What are Document Management Systems?

Document Management Systems (DMS) provide enterprises with the capability to digitally capture and convert documents and files. Features of document management software may also extend to document storage, search and retrieval, and sharing. DMS reduces enterprise dependence upon space-consuming document printing hardware, printed paper, and file drawers.

Document management software plays a crucial role in ensuring data security and compliance for businesses. Document management software offers businesses the tools and features necessary to enhance data security, protect against breaches, and maintain compliance with industry regulations. While specific implementations may vary across different products, the goal remains the same - to provide a secure and compliant environment for managing and protecting sensitive documents and information.

Maintaining compliance with industry regulations and standards is another important benefit of document management software. Many industries have specific requirements for data security and privacy, such as HIPAA for healthcare or GDPR for businesses handling personal data of EU citizens. Document management software helps businesses meet these requirements by providing features like audit trails, data encryption, and secure storage.

Different products implement this functionality in various ways. For example, some document management software offers client-sharing portals with secure file transfer capabilities, enabling businesses to securely share sensitive information with clients or partners. Other software provides built-in network security features, streamlined workflows, and highly encrypted client-sharing portals to ensure compliance from an organizational standpoint. Additionally, some software integrates with other platforms like Microsoft 365 or Google Drive to provide a holistic understanding of data protection status.

Document workflow automation is another prevalent feature in document management software, with multiple benefits for businesses. This functionality eliminates manual and repetitive tasks, saving time and reducing errors. By automating document-driven processes such as approvals, notifications, and routing, businesses can streamline their workflows and ensure efficient and accurate task completion. Different document management software products implement document workflow automation in various ways. Some offer customizable workflow templates that allow businesses to design and automate their specific document processes. These templates can be tailored to fit the organization's unique requirements, ensuring that the workflows align with their business processes. Document workflow automation is a valuable feature in document management software that can significantly benefit businesses by saving time, improving efficiency, enhancing collaboration, and ensuring compliance. The specific implementation of this functionality may vary across different software products, but the goal remains the same – to automate and streamline document-driven processes for better business outcomes.

Document management systems share featural overlap with Enterprise Content Management (ECM) or Digital Asset Management (DAM) platforms. However, document capture and manipulation is central to document management. This includes imaging, file type conversion, versioning, and metadata management, with document editing and access controls. An alternate approach to document management is to include templated document generation as a feature. This way paper document generation and sharing is not needed to begin with. These DMS often provide contract lifecycle management, and electronic signature as well.

Features of Document Management Systems

Document management systems provide the following feature set:

  • Imaging, mobile image capture
  • Versioning, automated
  • Metadata management
  • File type conversion
  • Document sharing & collaboration
  • Automated backup, archiving (i.e. integration)
  • Document publishing, public sharing
  • Policy-driven access and controls
  • Graphic-based object editing, manipulation
  • .pdf editing, fields
  • Customizable search, content location
  • Templates, electronic document builder
  • Integrated eSignature

Document Management Systems Comparison

To more easily compare Document Management Systems consider evaluating different options based on these factors:

On-Premise vs Cloud: Users tend to think about the pros and cons of an on-premise versus cloud-based document management system in terms of maintenance and access control. On-premise systems allow for more control on your end, whereas one of the advantages of cloud-based offerings is that most of the maintenance is the responsibility of your provider. Cloud-based systems also come in handy when users aren’t able to come into the office, but this does require an internet connection, unlike on-premise systems that can run offline. Ultimately, cloud-based systems have all the pros of on-premise systems, plus they’re more portable and accessible, unlike their on-premise counterparts.

Ease-of-Use: Given that document management systems by nature are meant to facilitate a traditionally by-hand-and-paper process, usability is one of its most important factors. With document management systems, you will certainly want to try out a demo before making a purchasing decision. Look for document management software that has a good search function for easily locating files within your system, and thus tagging them.

Security: Security is paramount with document management systems. This begins with the system allowing administrators to set up access controls and permissions. However, as with any system that handles business information, verify that the software you are considering clearly outlines the measures they take to keep your documents secure. This includes not only features specific to the particular software itself, but those that are implemented so that the software complies with both local and international security standards and regulations.

Start a Document Management System comparison

Pricing Information

More feature complete document management systems are generally offered on a cloud-based, software-as-a-service model and are available by subscription. 30-day free trials of document management systems are common. The most common pricing variable is the number of licensed users. Plans may also be priced according to the volume of contracts processed and managed. Some vendors offer perpetual licensing for simple document management products (e.g. .pdf editors, converters, etc). Also, ECM vendors may supply all the features required for document management as modules for their platforms.

Related Categories

Frequently Asked Questions

What is document management software?

Document Management Systems (DMS) enable capabilities for digitally storing, sharing, and converting files, reducing dependence upon hardware and physical document generation. Typically they will include methods for imaging, file type conversion, versioning, and metadata management. They may also be referred to as an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) or Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.

How do you manage version control on documents?

Version control enables simultaneous work within a single document. Users may edit files then choose how to share those changes. Thus, temporary or partial edits are not damaging to a document's overall integrity. Leveraging version control allows access to files independently from particular hardware, so work can all be integrated into the version history regardless of the source or user involved. In most cases, edits to files can be combined.

If users make conflicting edits to the same line in a file, the version control system requests human assistance for a final decision. A clear advantage of version control is accessing a view to the historical development of documents, which effectively is insurance against computer crashes or data loss. Mistakes can be rolled back, bug reports can be reproduced, and audits of alterations can be executed.

Can Sharepoint be used as a document management system?

The short answer is yes: many organizations use MS Sharepoint for document management given its collaborative nature. once it is successfully implemented as a DMS, it makes sharing, searching, and version control easy.

How does one become a document management specialist?

This type of specialist is employed for supervision of workflows related to documents and records. Some of their responsibilities may include creating new policies and procedures that deal with document storage, sharing, and destruction. They may evaluate existing management procedures in order to assess how effective they are, then update accordingly, or perhaps even starting from scratch on new systems.

These professionals need to be knowledgeable about laws regarding document management to ensure an organization is in compliance. They act as support for problems as they arise in DMS implementation, and may be involved in troubleshooting user issues. As such, software and computing literacy is desirable. It is important for specialists to have a strong organizational ability, analytical thinking skills, sharp writing and reading comprehension, a knack for problem-solving, and a solid foundation for interpersonal communication. Some of these professionals may also take on management roles, in which case administrative abilities would benefit.