The Shareflex ECM Online product suite extends Microsoft 365 and SharePoint into a platform for modern Document Management (DMS) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM). It includes standardised solutions for business processes such as contract management, document control and incoming invoice processing.
The standard version of Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) already provides you with a wide range of features and tools for document management and the automation of tasks and processes. These include, for example, Microsoft Power Automate, Power Apps or Power BI. In addition, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint Online offer end users the ability to participate in processes or edit documents at any time, regardless of location.
Shareflex, on the other hand, enables holistic business applications with a high standard of user-friendliness and usability as well as prefabricated process logic. Built on SharePoint, these are explicit solutions for document-centric business processes. Shareflex applications are used within departments and / or company-wide and can be adapted to individual business requirements at any time.
This means that Shareflex and the Microsoft 365 tools work “hand in hand”. Because Shareflex product management pays meticulous attention to ensuring that the functionalities of both systems complement each other seamlessly. Thus, we can fully concentrate on delivering with Shareflex all the functions and tools that are additionally needed for holistic business applications. At the same time, new Microsoft 365 features are always immediately available to all Shareflex users.
This article and the accompanying whitepaper show what ECM exactly means and provide answers to the following questions: What advantages does ECM offer? When and why is ECM necessary? Is Microsoft 365 the right platform for ECM? Download now for free!
All Shareflex solutions are offered as “Software as a Service” (SaaS). And you can choose to run them cost-effectively in a multi-tenant environment or alternatively in a separate “dedicated” environment.
Simply put, “Shareflex SaaS” is the “engine” for all business applications. This is because, in contrast to SharePoint On-Premises, programmes and software can no longer be installed directly on SharePoint Online. Therefore, to use Shareflex, you only need to register the “Shareflex App” in your Microsoft 365 environment. This way, you can go productive immediately after Shareflex has been activated and deployed.
Just like Microsoft 365, Shareflex SaaS is based exclusively on the Microsoft Azure platform. And all data and documents captured with the Shareflex solutions are principally stored in your company’s Microsoft 365 tenant. Shareflex only stores the configurations of the respective business application. This ensures that your data and documents “never leave the house”.
Companies and organisations use Microsoft SharePoint for various scenarios. Very often, the first step is to build an intranet to create a central place for information supply and distribution — with telephone directories, news and announcements, company divisions and staff profiles. Subsequently, the scope of use is often extended to project-related document storage in order to promote collaboration within the teams. Simple form-based processes, such as vacation or travel requests, are also readily managed via SharePoint. Equally widespread is the creation of wikis, which allow a large number of intranet users to access information and knowledge.
However, many SharePoint implementations remain stuck at this stage. This is often due to the relatively high complexity of SharePoint, a lack of acceptance on the part of users in the affected departments, or a combination of both. Yet, SharePoint has a lot of potential. Properly configured and deployed, SharePoint is an exceptionally stable and flexible platform on which, in addition to the applications described above, business processes can be mapped at the team, department and enterprise levels.
Shareflex closes exactly this gap. Because SharePoint-based business applications can be created easily and quickly with Shareflex, without custom programming. This significantly reduces complexity, makes user interfaces consistent and user-friendly, and automates background processes. And if required, you already have a whole range of preconfigured business applications at your disposal. In conjunction with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Content Services, this creates a modern, digital workplace with applications from a single source. And at the same time, SharePoint (Online) becomes a highly efficient business process platform.
In the past, it was primarily the technical limitations and constraints of SharePoint on-premises environments that militated against broad and holistic deployment, for example as a platform for enterprise content management. In contrast, SharePoint Online – with 30 million documents per document library, 25 terabytes of capacity per site collection, and 12.5 exabytes of capacity per tenant – provides an outstanding foundation for managing even large volumes of data and documents.
Frank von Orlikowski
CEO and Sales
Phone +49 40 226040 00
info@portalsystems.de
