Introduction

Shared Folders and Document Register are both available as part of Document Management. Both offers the possibility to organize and share all types of documents, as well as seamless support for editing, including co-authoring, Office documents.

The two features, Shared Folders and Document Register, are designed to work independently, providing users with distinct advantages based on their specific needs and preferences. However, it is important to highlight hat documents can be effortlessly moved from "Shared Folders" to the "Document Register" anytime.

Read also: Feature comparison between Shared Folders and Document Register:

Shared Folders

Pros:

• Intuitive and familiar: Most people are familiar to organizing files into folder, making it easy for users to understand and navigate the structure
• Flexible sharing and access model: Each individual folder, with or without sub folders, can be shared to selected individuals or to organisations (org units)
• Simple implementation: Setting up the folder structure is straightforward and does not require the complexity with managing meta data
• Easy to manage: Users can create, move and delete files and folders without requiring without any advanced technical knowledge
• Hierarchical structure: Folders can be nested within each other, allowing for a hierarchical representation of documents

Cons:

• Limited meta data: Shared Folders have very limited selection of meta data, making it challenging to categorize and search for documents beyond the folder and document name
• Limited scalability: As the number of documents maintaining a folder-based organization can become unwieldy and difficult to manage effectively.

Document Register

Pros:

• Enhanced meta data: Detailed attributes such as revision number, release code, status, document type, WBS code, discipline code, building number and several more, both technical and non-technical attributes are available. And these can be configured by the users.
• Better control: With Omega 365 Document Register you can have a good overview of which documents needs to be produced, what the status is, when they are planned to issued for review or use. For projects, of various size, having full control of documentation requirements, who needs to review what, who has it been distributed to, is essential.
• Document numbering: Documents can be assigned a document number, based on user defined rules, per type of document (e.g. isometric drawings can have one numbering syntax, while commercial documents have another)
• Document planning: One can follow up the actual document production compared to a plan of deliveries
• Comprehensive review functionality: Documents can be manually or automatically distributed for review, and the review can be performed concurrently by multiple users directly in the solution.
• Scalable: The Document register can handle large volumes of documents efficiently, allowing the users to search for and filter based on all available attributes.
• Access control: In addition to standard role based access to orgunits, one can define access based on their document group, and one can mark individual documents as confidential.
• Navigation using "group by folders"  - allows for the user to navigate in the document register using meta data, instead of a fixed folder structure.

Cons:

• Learning curve: The Document Register is more more complex, and may require training for users to understand use use attributes efficiently
• Complex setup: Building and maintaining the document register system require more initial effort and technical resources compared to a simple folder-based structure
• More complex to share documents with other parties: To share a collection of documents can be somewhat more complex than simply sharing a folder with other persons or organisations
• Less flexible access model - one is limited to org structure, document groups and the confidentiality setting per document, vs shared folder's folder based access model.

Summary

As your organization adopts Omega 365, you'll have access to two valuable features: Shared Folders and Document Register. By combining both, you can benefit from the best of both worlds.

1. Document Register: When control and follow-up is the key for the documents, the Document Register is your go-to option. Maintain complete control over critical files, track their progress, and ensure seamless collaboration among team members. The Document Register empowers you with the tools needed for efficient revision control, document tracking, and streamlined workflows.
2. Shared Folders: For scenarios requiring easy sharing and collaboration with other users and stakeholders, Shared Folders is great. Share collections of documents effortlessly while maintaining detailed control over permissions and access. Documents can also easily be moved from Shared Folders and into the Document Register.

By leveraging both features, you can find the balance between the need for control and smooth collaboration, ensuring your organization's document management is structured, secure and available for the right users.

In this video you get an introduction to Omega 365 Document Management: