Comparing the 2 is a bit like comparing an apple and an orange. They are both fruit but totally different. In Summary SharePoint is a Collaboration Application whereas Laserfiche RIO is an Electronic Document Management System from Document Capture to Document Retention and changes in between. SharePoint is an intranet system 'out of the box'. It will do search and retrieval with metadata. That is all. No Scanning, No Workflow. SharePoint is essentially Laserfiche 6 but web based. Laserfiche is a Document Management / Content Management System from full Document Capture, Archive, Business Process, Document Retention, full Document Life Cycle. Including Scanning, Workflow, Audit Trail, Integrated with MS Office etc. SharePoint. All the functionality for SharePoint comes from 3rd party add-ons which have an additional cost to both purchase and to configure. I've regularly seen SharePoint implementations where the configuration of SharePoint is double or triple what the system actually cost to purchase (Queue entrance of 'SharePoint Consultants') $$$$$$!!! Laserfiche however has most of these things 'out of the box'. Scanning, Workflow etc. with relatively little configuration, therefore again reducing costs. It too has 3rd party add-ons which add additional functionality to match or trump SharePoint.
Laserfiche Scans documents in colour, pictures, maps- whatever. You can import a large construction drawing and later export it to email and send it across the world or to staff in another building can consult the drawings simply by accessing the database. Scanned Images are legible and you can use the ZOOM feature to make it easier to read. Laserfiche does not only store scanned images, but media, videos, pdfs, and all these can be opened directly in Laserfiche The SharePoint User Interphase isn't really that great, though there has been an improvement, but is still very Microsoft-ish. Uploading a new version of a file with a different name is not possible. The Laserfiche User Interphase from Desktop to Web Access is outstanding. Uploading a new file of the same name creates version control, so that you can revert back to any version you require from creation. Laserfiche can have different repositories for different departments. This allows in the future to move repository to another server because of space in the future without affecting BAU. So that all users in a department can be made to only see documents in that repository, enhances performance Laserfiche helps organizations govern documents through their entire lifecycle. We call it "capture workflow": the ability to manage documents using out-of-the box tools from the point-of-capture to the archival or mandated disposition. SharePoint is used as a collaboration portal. It provides a structure to encourage project management and collaboration between groups. Yes, there's some feature overlap between the two products, but their strengths and focus lie in different places. Frequently, organizations will use SharePoint for collaboration, but use Laserfiche on the back-end for file storage, records management, and Workflow. It's pretty easy to set this up using the Laserfiche/SharePoint integration provided with Web Access. It's also important to note that the Laserfiche SharePoint integration components also come free as standard with Laserfiche Rio. So there is no real reason why the 2 systems can't run side by side in their apple and orange fruity world Laserfiche integrates easily with MS Office so that once installed, the Laserfiche menu shows up in MS Words, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint where you can save documents directly into your Laserfiche folder where all your users can have access to this
SharePoint is more difficult to write and code for meta-tags and Workflows. As a scanning on-ramp, SharePoint lacks what seems very simple for Laserfiche users; including bar-coding, OCR Zone Capture, and auto-naming and auto-filing.
Laserfiche is the best document management system (ECM) available. On the back-end of Laserfiche, all documents are stored in a Hexi-decimal system within SQL. The first document stored with Laserfiche will have a 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06 wrapped around it.
Great document management is more than binary file storage. So, share your files in SharePoint, and use Laserfiche as the document management back-end, to move and store large volumes of documents.
Laserfiche has launched "Federated Search “a technique for searching multiple text collections simultaneously.” Think of it as a tool that searches a collection of sites, drives or other databases that the creator of the system chooses.
With a customizable scope, federated searches can provide a unique combination of sources for a particular user, community or organization.
Laserfiche has also launched "Robotic process automation (RPA)", a technology that enlists the help of bots, programs that can perform repetitive tasks directly from a user interface. Fast to deploy and easy to update, bots can be a powerful catalyst for system integrations.
Credit: Laserfiche Answers
댓글