AEC checklist for buying a document management system

The title of this document may have your alarm bells ringing and get you thinking:

“he’s trying to sell me something; I’m probably not interested in his product, but there may be something useful in the checklist so I might take a quick peek.”

Well that’s absolutely correct; to an extent. We all know that articles like this are just a front to sell something, so I’m not going to pretend otherwise, but you genuinely may find the checklist useful.

OK, now that we have got that out of the way, what is this checklist and why might it be useful to you?

Whilst you might struggle to think of all the things you could ever want a system to do, Excitech have a long history of selling document and drawing management software and we have seen many Requests for Proposals (RFPs), so we are aware of what customers typically want from them and what the systems are capable of too. 

You probably have a fairly good understanding of the headline capabilities of systems and their brochures will show these, but they often gloss over the technical details and rarely disclose those that determine whether the system is a success or failure regardless of its technical prowess. For example the human aspects of adoption, or what ‘mobile integration’ actually means etc.

To help those seeking to improve their documentation processes, we have created this editable and hence adaptable checklist in Microsoft Excel format, so that you can quickly assemble the questions that you need answered and then check them off with potential vendors.

It unashamedly includes features that our document and drawing management software Excitech DOCS offers, but it should also be no surprise that these features are there because the AEC industry needs them. It therefore addresses things like integration with BIM systems, ISO 19650, transmittals, extranet integration, management via a TIDP, etc.

The list also covers general office management which tends to be overlooked, but is just as important as your design document management.

So yes, I want you to take a look at our system Excitech DOCS, but to also use the list to specify and compare any form of document and drawing management software. To ensure that you have a broad picture of what’s possible, the list also includes things that our system doesn’t address

So please take a look at the checklist if you are looking to buy a document management system, use it, and adapt it to your needs.