Lowest TCO for the biggest bang for the buck!
Updated December 04, 2014
Lowest TCO for the biggest bang for the buck!
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Software Version
SmartSearch (legacy)
Overall Satisfaction with GlobalSearch
It is being used as our central document management and control system. It address remote access to our daily operations information, business archives and remote transactional needs.
- Fast Manual indexing with what we consider the best in point-n-click OCR indexing.
- Webserver that incorporates Full-Text Content Searching, Workflow Queues, Full Document Management and Live document Signing on any mobile device or location.
- Fast workflow designers for rapid implementation
- Broad range of capture and information processing tools, easy to configure
- Loaded with essential security options
- Low price, and about 10X more powerful than MS SharePoint right out of the box.
- Multi-database support for a very low price with disaster recovery licensing, this is very rare in the industry.
- Integrated Viewer panes are the only real improvement needed.
- Maybe an increased range of annotation options. Theirs are quite good, but could be better.
- Faster sales track and revenue
- Easier to set up low initial point of entry in cost on financing
- More capture business opportunities because of it.
- Much more employee efficiency.
- Great auto-update processing at client stations
SmartSearch is getting so strong, that even at it's lower price, it is closing the gap with the higher dollar enterprise players. It was a ways to go on advanced workflow and capture processing, but it is closing. You can stack it up to most anything, its a threat to lot of players. Could wipe out DocuWare, MS SharePoint and Digitech for the best of the lower tiered price products, can probably wipe out Alchemy, SMEAD and Docubase too.
Using GlobalSearch
8 - Legal, AR/AP, Tax, Operations
2 - Basic PC Literacy + some valid SQL and Windows Server Experience. It is very easy to support.
- Legal Content Searching
- Fast Archival of AP and AR documents
- No limit on archival input sources or processing
- Fantastic Web Server for remote/mobile access
- Contract Signing and Agreement Workflow over the Web
- Document Distribution, better than MS SharePoint and with a lot more horsepower
- Basic workflow tasking.
- Higher Volume Remote Capture
- Data Migrations
Evaluating GlobalSearch and Competitors
Yes - Hyland OnBase, became too costly, arrogant attitude and increasing support costs too. Also replaced Alchemy, too unreliable, lack of support.
- Price
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
After testing the product hard, trying to break it or even slow it, it held up well,
We evaluate products very thoroughly and honestly, our business depends upon it. So I do not think we'd change much in the process itself.
GlobalSearch Implementation
- Professional services company
Dynamic Excellence in Information, Inc
Change management was a small part of the implementation and was well-handled - With good, pre-implementation discovery work, comes very easy implementation with this product.
- Some minor disagreements amongst customer staff about some workflow designs, easily remedied
- Getting the right IIS configuration. Some previous server settings made the easy install a little more difficult.
- Making sure the document scanners were properly installed and tuned/configured for best scanned image quality. You'd be surprised how many times an ECM vendor has no idea how to do this well and without excessive charges for the simple work.
GlobalSearch Training
- In-person training
- Self-taught
You can almost do it by just using their manuals, which are pretty good.
GlobalSearch Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Support understands my problem Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response | None |
No
Basic support is handled very well, not much we can't support ourselves, we don't need to pay for advanced 24/7 coverage or priorities.
Yes - Yes, most SS bugs are very minor with fast resolutions.
Sure. One client of ours had SmartSearch operating over 3 network servers based upon their normal deployment style. One of their servers did not allow the best access by the main application server. So Square-9 support helped us track down the processing problem. It was not software related as we may have thought, it was a network connectivity and security issue hampering our process. This was above and beyond their responsibility, but they helped us show the client that one of their "perfect server" configurations was not so perfect, and we got the issue resolved. That was a lot of very patient phone work with us at the client site.
Using GlobalSearch
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using | Lots to learn |
- Point-N-Click Indexing
- Advanced Search Builders
- Document Revision and Version Control
- Web-based Workflow Queues
- The Advanced Forms Workflow designer is a bit more difficult, and takes some redundant design steps.
- Multi-document viewing sessions take a bit of mouse-work, but not too bad.
Yes - Right off of their webserver. If you have a very difficult phone or tablet interface, you can use their free plug-in for Google Chrome Mobile.
GlobalSearch Reliability
Integrating GlobalSearch
- SQL Back-Office Systems
- QuickBooks Pro
- Great Plains Software
It was a pretty quick set of SQL-SQL database update and polling integrations. SmartSearch's OLE-DB and ODBC tools make it pretty easy, and their PFS group can do it for you if you need integrations done.
- ESRI (easy)
Yes
- File import/export
- Single Signon
- API (e.g. SOAP or REST)
- Javascript widgets
Most of these are included with the product. ETL tools and marketplace apps can be found elsewhere. (usually free of charge)
Just do your due-diligence. Know what kind of data stream or database you need to connect to with a 3rd-party application, what OS and platform it is on, and if you need the 3rd party application to issue more commands to the SmartSearch system than just basic retrievals. Armed with the correct prep-knowledge, these application integrations become easier each time you do them.
Relationship with Square 9 Softworks
Implementation assistance that was not needed, speed of delivery, also turned out to be not necessary, and a performance guarantee they offered up front.
Use one of their better resellers who know their stuff. Having more support choices for no extra cost is really nice to have, plus the extra attention to support and design is better that way.
Upgrading GlobalSearch
Yes - Oh yes indeed. All you do is let the server -executable run and upgrade the server. When client PCs or mobile devices log in, the upgrade performs automatically with no desk-to-desk IT support required. Great update abilities that are transparent and behind the scenes. Users might not even notice when they've been upgraded, except to see some new features show up on their screens.
- New Features
- No client/end-user downtime
- No IT/support needs to perform the upgrade process.
- More features, maybe some new color coding options for the Web Server piece
- Hopefully an expansion of their Content Search abilities