Peer to Peer Magazine

P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 33 much more detailed system-wide log than the out-of-the-box NetDocuments "consolidated" activity log. This highly detailed "CAM" log serves CAMs analytic features, canned reports, and the SQL query interface wherein we can write our own custom queries and reports. Whereas the NetDocuments consolidated activity log is limited to the last 90 days, the CAM log enjoys an unlimited lifespan. Last but not least, CAM not only logs changes but memorializes the specific "before" and "after" values. These reporting features are not simply a convenience for those of us who want them, but a necessity in a day and age when regulators, liability carriers, and clients are imposing and enforcing more reporting requirements. The delivery of these reporting features is extraordinarily well-timed. The icing on the cake might be the replication features of CAM. CAM is capable of replicating an entire NetDocuments repository to a 3rd party such as AWS. It's hard to say how important this feature is. NetDocuments has certainly had some hiccups over the last 10 years, but nothing that ever inspired us to look for or consider an alternative, independent document store outside of the built-in tools – the local echo folders, nsSync, ndMirror, LDS. Just the same, CAM does provide this functionality, if we want it. As Keith Lipman of Prosperoware explained, the real work of CAM is managing the metadata; syncing the documents themselves to another storage provider is relatively simple and perhaps inexpensive with a cloud storage provider such as Amazon. Ultimately, CAM is a milestone in the NetDocuments eco-system. It represents the culmination of NetDocuments' evolution as an eco-system and a high water mark of a cool, new 3rd party solution. Look for it soon in the NetDocuments App Directory at www. netdocuments.com. ILTA which users are in which groups, and which users and groups are members of which cabinets. This is especially helpful to those of us who use NetDocuments for hosting deal rooms. It becomes a one-stop shop for managing user accounts. Workspace admin in CAM is thoughtful and clever. Historically, a matter workspace is spawned at a specific point in time, based on the design of a template at that corresponding point in time. With CAM, existing workspaces can be retroactively updated if or when the template is updated. If, for example, a new folder needs to be added to IP workspaces then you can do that, retroactively. In the past, adding such a folder took effect on a day forward basis. Similarly, if a matter is reassigned to a different area of law, the layout of the matter workspace can be easily re-synced to the new area of law to ensure that any new folders or saved searches are added. (Emphasis on "added". The out-of-the-box workspace resync functions entail a remove-and-replace approach. In contrast, CAM's approach is an "embellish" approach.) CAM also allows nested folders in matter workspace template design. And, it allows for more granular security on the workspace to ensure that the appropriate employees have permissions to edit the workspace as opposed to the riskier all-or-none that we typically employ. Some objects can be designated as required and undeletable, whereas others can be designated optional and\or modifiable. Best of all, CAM simplifies and automates many workspace management tasks to the extreme that they are made available to end users such that many of these tasks become self-serve. Perhaps the greatest benefit of CAM is the reporting feature set. For starters, CAM's reporting functions include extraordinary detail. CAM keeps track of any and all metadata associated with any and all objects in NetDocuments. It ingests the highly detailed activity log from each individual document and rolls up these individual activity logs into a SQL database that forms a Mark Manoukian is the Director of Information Technology at Kegler Brown and a former vice president for ILTA wherein he oversaw the open source software peer group. CAM not only logs changes but memorializes the specific "before" and "after" values. These reporting features are not simply a convenience for those of us who want them, but a necessity in a day and age when regulators, liability carriers, and clients are imposing and enforcing more reporting requirements.

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