Use Share RM instead of DM ?

[dranakan]

Hello,

I wonder if it could be better to use Share RM…

Actually, I use Alfresco DM to store PDF (invoice, salary, …). One application (an ERP) uses Alfresco to access these PDF. This application uses Webscripts to get PDF or to change metadata on it. There is also some actions to extract data from some PDF, other to store PDF in specific folder depending of the metadata.

I think that I will have better monitoring with RM and this is important to prove the quality storage (if there is a Accounting check).

Do I change to RM Share  :?:   Do you have some tutorials to do that  :?:

Thanks

Info about RM : http://share.alfresco.com/share/page/site/community/document-details?nodeRef=workspace://SpacesStore...

[carlos_miguens]

I don't know the law in CH, but I can tell you what happens in the UK and certainly most countries are heading this way if not already there.

Here the authorities will accept digital invoices that have been scanned and you can destroy the paper. However you do need to store them in a system which must comply with Legal Admissibility and Evidential Weight of Information Stored Electronically (what a mouthful), but there is a standard which defines what this is. An RM system certainly helps, but is not the only requirement, for example you also need to have processes in place which guaranetee that the scan has been successful and not tampered with.

If you think about the fact that actually most invoices (if not all invoices) are produced electronically and more and more are being delivered in electronic form (typically PDF) then there actually isn't any paper to produce in front of a court - unless you print it yourself. So the trend is moving towards removing the paper from the cycle and making sure that the electronic medium is secure.

[dranakan]

Hello,

Here recommandations about lawful order in Switzerland and standards : http://forums.alfresco.com/en/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20204&p=82337#p82337

Two important points :

1) All access files should be records. RM do it.
2) The integrity must be respected, but I don't how to do that with Alfresco. I think I need to add a process to get a "digital signature" and store it.

Alfresco RM can is able to manage the "digital signature"  :?:

(I have found this : http://www.cediti.be/en/solutions/content-management/the-digital-signature, but this is with a card and I don't think that is what we need…)

Thanks

[carlos_miguens]

Depends what you mean by "manage" digital signatures. You can simply use Adobe Acrobat Professional to sign documents electronically and then store the documents inside Alfresco. In this case Alfresco gives you security and auditing whereas Acrobat gives you the electronic signature functionality you need like  signature verification, checks to see if the document has changed since signature, etc.

[dranakan]

Thanks Carlos.
Sorry, it's perhaps better to speak about managing hash (get a fingerprint) instead of digital signatures.

On French forum, someone redirects me to this product : http://www.caringo.com (there is an integration for Alfresco : http://forge.alfresco.com/projects/alfresco2castor/)

This is the Guaranteed data integrity that I would like to get with Alfresco.
http://www.caringo.com/products_castor.html#4

Is it required to use an external tool to ensure the integrity ?

Thanks

[carlos_miguens]

OK, so this is altogether a different thing to electronic signatures.

This type of product protects the content at source, in this case in the file system area where Alfresco keeps its files. This is not directly available to users anyway, only to administrators who have access to the server or storage device. So what this gives is an added capability on the storage side to prevent the content being tampered with behind the scenes without detection, usually through some type of encryption or hashing algorithm.

I don't know this particular product, but if this is what you need I'm sure it will do the job for you.

[dranakan]

Thank you Carlos.

I think using RM have good benefice with the law. The certification is always a good point to ensure the quality of the storage system.

I have tried the new rm (in the Alfresco 3.3) but I don't know for the moment how and where using the RM.

This is an sample of the utilization of a GED system :

1 User add a barcode on the paper, scan this document and it is added in Alfresco (PDF file). The barcode on the paper indicates the type of the document (custom model).
2 User starts an external application (like SAP), and, by Webscript, changes the metadata.
3 Alfresco stores the document in another directory (automaticly stores files in a common structured hierarchy)
4 Eventually the document could be deleted or modified.

Where is it recommended to use RM in this case  :?:  During the point 3  :?:
I think I need to change all my codes (webscripts to add metadata, codes Java to create document with a specific type or code to organisze files in the , …). RM could be used in backgroud( when I move file in the RM site : it adds automaticly all it needs to store a new record)  :?:
I have try to to this, but I think, in this version 3.3, I need to modify all codes…

Thanks

[carlos_miguens]

If you already have this in Alfresco I would suggest not addining in RM as it will need you to change your code.

If you have not yet developed a solution you could use RM to tackel steps 3 and 4. But you will still need to add custom code to do this.