At the core of every organization, you'll find documents. Just as these documents take myriad forms – from memos, e-mail, and word processing files to paper forms – there's a variety of systems at the enterprise level tasked with the inventory and management of these essential assets. This week, we highlight two such products, NextPage 2 Document Retention and Xythos Enterprise Document Management Suite 6.0. Thi At the core of every organization, you’ll find documents. Just as these documents take myriad forms – from memos, e-mail, and word processing files to paper forms – there’s a variety of systems at the enterprise level tasked with the inventory and management of these essential assets. This week, we highlight two such products, NextPage 2 Document Retention and Xythos Enterprise Document Management Suite 6.0. This duo illustrates that enterprise document management systems (EDMS) don’t have to be complex or costly. It’s a given that these solutions save effort and thereby improve productivity, since documents are more easily located. But that’s just the start of Act I. With the mounting pressure to demonstrate legal compliance and corporate governance, having an effective EDMS system is no longer optional for most enterprises. Consider just one aspect of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, Section 404, which deals with internal controls on finances. Proving compliance to auditors would be nearly impossible without the formal monitoring and the ability to centrally store electronic material that a document management solution provides.In the world of compliance regulations, there are even more elevated procedures for records management, such as the standards described by DoD 5015.2. Put simply, documents need to be transformed into formal records with appropriate classification and then securely retained for a specified period.Both systems we reviewed this week nicely address the fundamental need of sharing documents, tracking revisions, and notifying other users of changes. However, they diverge in how this is accomplished. NextPage tracks documents spread around desktops and laptops, then automatically stores a final version without a central repository. Therefore, users aren’t distracted with having to upload documents to a server. Xythos follows a more traditional workgroup approach: documents start their life by being placed in the central storehouse, from where you perform typical jobs, such as check-in and check-out. This design helps reduce file redundancy, yet the process isn’t overly bothersome since Xythos’ repository behaves like a Windows network-mapped drive.Regardless of which form you prefer, the key is to select a document management system that will get used by your employees both consistently and correctly. Retention policies, distributed or central storage, and standards support won’t matter if the system is too difficult or disruptive for everyday use.For more on enterprise document management, check out the new NextPage and Xythos reviews. Technology Industry