SpringCM document management 4.3 SpringCM, on-demand document management and workflow extraordinaire, has announced SpringCM Version 4.3, the latest version of their SaaS document management and workflow platform. It features numerous new features and enhancements meant to improve business performance and to help automate document-centric processes like contract and proposal management, accounts payable and professional services engagement management.

Showcasing the Rapid Innovation of the SaaS Model

SpringCM's version 4.3 comes just three months after their last major update, a fact that they are using to hype up the SaaS model's ability for quick innovation and responsiveness to market needs. This update also comes on the heals of SpringCM's announcement that it raised an additional US$ 14 million to fund its substantial growth. It's safe to bet that a good portion of that money went into developing the new features we'll be listing below. Padma Kamath, the senior program manager for global communications solutions provider Alcatel-Lucent, stated, "The enhancements in 4.3 will augment our project management workflow with the flexibility we need to manage schedule deviations and changes while retaining elements of control. The reporting features will also allow us to proactively manage multiple workflows-in-process, making it easy for us to understand status and bottlenecks."

Highlights of SpringCM 4.3

SpringCM 4.3 boasts a number of new features ranging from automation enhancements to improved editing and e-mail collaboration. Automate Simple Processes with Document Rules Document Rules is a handy automation feature that lets business users create rules to take actions on documents when certain events or metadata changes occur. These rules can be established through a simple point and click Web interface. A good use of Document Rules would be if for instance an AP manager wanted to create a rule to automatically move an invoice from an approver's folder to an invoice processor's "Approved Invoices" folder when an approval action occurs. An HR manager, on the other hand, could establish a rule that begins after a company employee reads and accepts a new or revised latest policy, causing SpringCM to transfer the electronically signed document to a specified folder and to notify the supervisor. Streamline Editing and Approval with Integrated E-mail Collaboration In prior versions of SpringCM, collaborating on documents with people who weren't users of a document management system was a hassle. Sending documents by e-mail, for example, can pose the challenge and risk of managing edits in attachments without version control. SpringCM's new Integrated E-mail Collaboration enables any document in SpringCM to be e-mailed to any recipient for editing. SpringCM keeps a complete audit trail of e-mail collaboration and uploads new versions of an e-mail into the system when a recipient replies to the original. This lets external parties and internal users use their familiar e-mail tools for collaboration without losing the benefits of full version control and audit trails. Simplify the User Experience with Role-Based User Settings SpringCM has added a new feature to help provide a more intuitive user experience. Role-Based User Settings, as the name suggests, displays a custom layout of buttons and menu items depending on the user's job function. This feature simplifies end-user training and enhances adoption, both of which are great assets for collaborative applications. Along with these major new features, SpringCM 4.3 packs in over 15 other feature enhancements that include improvements to Advanced Workflow, text search capabilities and new-user on-boarding. This is an impressive list of features considering the rather short amount of time between versions, and demonstrates SpringCM's ability to rapidly innovate and capitalize on the SaaS model's ability to respond to market needs. SpringCM is already regarded as a leader in the SaaS world, and they show no signs of slowing down with this latest release. Their list of accomplishments from 2007 include a growth in their customer base of over 100 percent, a customer renewal rate of over 92 percent, and four major product releases. Visit SpringCM for more information.