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My client team and I have recently gone live with a successful integration of FirstDoc CRX, SPX and many configuration enhancements. Here is the full list of the components, challenges and successes.
Collaboration Review eXperience (CRX)
We integrated CSC's CRX functionality into our FirstDoc R&D 6.3 system. This component is integrated very well with standard FirstDoc functionality, using the standard workflow interface, reports and audit trail. The main extra tasks involved within this part of work were:
Upgrading client workstations to MS Office version from 2007 to 2013. Collaborative authoring functionality within Word 2007 is extremely limited and not real time. The minimum version to make best use of the functionality is at least 2010
Work was required to convert existing templates within FirstDoc from .doc to .docx format. This was a manual task completed by the template author users
Sharepoint eXperience (SPX)
It was decided to implement SPX for the roles of workflow reviewers / approvers and readers only. SPX was not made available with author capability. This meant locking down the menus to remove any authoring invokable functionality. The following webparts were used in the delivery:
The Cabinet / Folder Browsertree part was made available for browsing the repository.
The Single Box Quick Search part was implemented and configured to match the exact behavior of the Quick Search functionality within the FirstDoc webtop implementation.
The Inbox webpart was included so that reviewers and approvers can complete their workflow tasks.
We completed further changes to the overall interface by removing all visible Sharepoint options, thus removing any potential issues created by inquisitive users. See the screen shots below of before and after removal of the Sharepoint options.
Before: Sharepoint Ribbon, Search Box, Recycle Bin Left Frame shown
After: Sharepoint Ribbon, Search Box, Recycle Bin Left Frame now removed
Sharepoint 2010 Foundation was used saving on license costs. Sharepoint was installed as a Farm install of size one Configuration server and two Front-End servers. A separate server was used to house the Docway / FDKWS instances.
FirstDoc R&D Configuration Enhancements
The following enhancements were made to capture business requirements:
A new "Quality Check" workflow was created. This enhancement included extra lifecycle states and security settings for those states
A large client customisation was replaced with FirstDoc watermarking configurations. The client standard footer was included against relevant documents. An added complexity here was to bypass any legacy migrated documents. By removing the customisation we have reduced the complexity of the system, thus making it easier for future upgrades
Extra property validation was included against custom eCTD properties
We future proofed the full FirstDoc R&D 6.3 application with regards the Internet Explorer version. We successfully configured all front end interfaces to run with IE11 (running automatically in compatibility mode)
Summary
The client team and myself delivered a very successful project on time and within budget. Authors are very pleased with the functionality now available with the real-time collaborative CRX authoring process. And readers, reviewers and approvers now have a simplified easy to learn interface made available with Sharepoint SPX. We future proofed the environment with IE11 and Office 2013 compatibility.
If you need hands-on or consultancy assistance with your FirstDoc system please get in touch.
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