What is the Best DMS for Drake Software?

You've wisely chosen Drake software. Now what DMS will you integrate with it? When considering the best DMS to integrate with Drake, there are some key considerations to keep in mind. In this article, we'll walk you through them and give you our recommendation for the best DMS for Drake software: FileCenter DMS. Read on to see why.

continued below ...

DMS for Drake Software Summary

  • Why should you use a DMS with your Drake software?
  • The best DMS will have the simplest organization
  • Insist on a DMS with efficient scanning
  • The overlooked DMS feature: PDF
  • Jump to our recommendation »

Why Should You Use a DMS with your Drake Software?

Drake software represents one of the best accounting packages in the business. The problem is that it doesn't do everything. You need a DMS, or "Document Management System" to cover the rest of the bases. Why? Because let's face it, your office or firm is also a business, a business that needs to run at peak efficiency in every area, including the way you store and handle client and operational documents. This is where a DMS comes into play. In the remainder of this article, we'll cover a few of the key features to look for when choosing the best DMS to pair with your Drake software.

The Best DMS Will Have the Simplest Organization

A DMS is all about organization. So make certain that the organization model matches the way you work. Most firms prefer an electronic organization system that parallels the way that they work with paper files: the filing cabinet. Consider sticking with that model. Our recommended solution, FileCenter DMS, uses this model. It features electronic filing cabinets subdivided into drawers, folders, and files. This structure lends itself perfectly to organizing your files by client.

The DMS should also provide means to ensure consistency in the way that your staff puts documents into the system. For example, it should offer a folder template feature so that the folder layouts are consistent across clients. It should provide a similar mechanism for standardizing the way documents are named.

One of the most important considerations in your DMS software decision also happens to be the least visible feature of all: the storage method. Most DMS software platforms store your files in a database. That allows them to offer additional security options, but this comes at a price. First, Windows itself provides outstanding security features that are more than adequate for almost any SMB. Second, databases overly restrict access to your files. For example, Drake itself won't be compatible with a dabase-driven DMS unless it provides a specific integration point for Drake. Lastly, databases, besides coming with a greater administrative complexity, are notoriously difficult to abandon. If you should decide to switch to a different DMS, you're at the mercy of the database provider to help you get your data out.

FileCenter DMS takes a different approach. It uses regular Windows folders to store your files, but presents them in a more uniform, well-structured way. This gives it almost unlimited flexibility in what programs it will integrate with. For example, it will work seamlessly with Drake. And if you decide to switch to a different DMS to use with Drake, you'll still have unrestricted access to your data.

Insist on a DMS with Efficient Scanning

Scanning constitutes the single biggest speed bump in an office's workflow. It is a notoriously inefficient process in most DMS platforms. The best DMS for Drake software will put special emphasis on scanning, providing as many shortcuts as possibly to streamline the workflow.

FileCenter DMS, for instance, not only works with most desktop scanners – including the very popular ScanSnap scanners – it provides a whole array of scanning tools. Among the most powerful are features aimed at automating the naming, saving, and routing of documents. Automatic document separation will split a stack of documents into individual files. Automatic file naming can extract information from within the document itself and use it to save the file: client names, dates, document type, etc. The same information can be used to intelligently route the document to the correct client drawer and folder in your cabinet.


The Most Overlooked DMS Feature: PDF

It is hard to overstate the importance of PDFs in today's business economy. PDF has become the ubiquitous file format for exchanging and archiving documents. The need to create, combine, extract, annotate, and otherwise manipulate PDFs has risen in importance to become a primary task of working with files. As such, it only makes sense that the best DMS should integrate PDF features directly into the workflow.

For instance, you should be able to drag and drop PDFs onto each other, right in the filing system, to combine them. You should be able to get live previews of PDFs. You should be able to pop open a PDF without leaving the interface and add a note or comment. You should be able to select almost any document in the system and convert it to PDF with the click of a button. You should even be able to select any document and email it as a PDF, whether it was a PDF to begin with or not.

The Best DMS for Drake Software


FileCenter DMS Screenshots