Document Generation, also called docgen, is an automated way of generating and distributing documents. Instead of creating documents manually, you design a template and specific information populates the template during the generation process. Document generation is the most thorough and efficient means of automating documents.
An example, suppose your company offers a service and you send invoices to your customers monthly. Your database contains details such as customer name and address, order dates, quantity ordered, and so on. You create a template that includes everything but the data - the layout, your company logo, contact information, standard language and the like. When you are ready to run the invoice, the system will automatically pull the information needed and create an invoice unique to each customer. Your business could be wasting valuable resources without document generation.
The Microsoft SharePoint system is well suited for document generation and document management. SharePoint is simple to set up. It allows a group of users to collaborate via the web while letting administrators have control of the security rights. All of these are important features in a docgen system. Specific document generation benefits also include:
- Libraries are a logical way to group a large number of documents and files
- Documents that are easier to find, distribute, create, and enforce business rules upon
- The capacity to save various versions of the documents
- Workflows that can be applied to documents and complex business rules that can be set up for the lifecycle of templates and documents
- Documents that can accessed, updated and viewed by multiple people with just a few button clicks
But SharePoint won't necessarily be the perfect document generation system out of the box. Just because SharePoint has an enormous capacity doesn't mean your company should dump every single document and every single template into it. Spend time at the beginning to figure out how many versions you wish to save, how you want to organize the documents, as well as where you are going to store older version. Also, it's wise to set up some sort of structure for ongoing monitoring, or you risk an insecure and chaotic system.
Plus, there are some document generation features SharePoint just doesn't provide. An example is a built-in scheduler. SharePoint does not offer this feature which could all ow for a smoother document generation. Third party solutions such as the Windward Arrow integrate into SharePoint and extend it to provide complete and comprehensive document generation.
To summarize, SharePoint is definitely a solid docgen system that with some forethought and additional tools can be made to be even better. If you're looking for an easy-to-use, web-based document generation system, SharePoint is a good place to start.
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Scott Duglase is looking for a solution to his reporting needs. He needs software that will allow him to design, schedule, and distribute his reports all in one place. Windward Reports is his solution. Their SharePoint reporting services allow him to maximize his productivity by streamlining his process. Windward's reporting tools has allowed him to manage his reports right at his fingertips.
