The Records Sharing Value of the Cloud

Are you tired of having multiple versions of the same document so that you can collaborate with co-workers? According to a new article by Federal Times, “Vendors Make Information Sharing Easier by Giving End Users More Control,” government agencies are adopting records sharing systems to help alleviate the pain of multiple versions of the same document and the inability to share and collaborate on documents with multiple users. Some of the benefits of these systems are cost savings, time management and collaboration efficiencies and self-service. Not surprisingly, these are some of the same benefits of cloud-based solutions. As I see it, records sharing systems and cloud computing technology work similarly. Although cloud solutions don’t have to offer sharing and collaboration capabilities, it seems that most do. For instance, Google Apps is Google’s cloud-based solution that also works as a sharing and collaboration tool for users. DLT’s own Jim Helou, Senior Vice President of Sales, was quoted in the article. He stated, “You can create a shared document, put it up in a secure government portion of the cloud, and collaborate on that document in real time to share information and make updates and the ease of implementation is very simple. You create some accounts, create some users and you can be sharing a document in 15 minutes.” Of course there are additional tools available. It’s up to you to decide which works best for your agency or department. The best approach is to research your needs and then purchase what fits within your agency’s needs and regulations. The takeaway from the article—Information is only as good as our ability to share it. Related Resources: