have been looking at the free doc mgmt software MyDMS and like it alot but my managers says nothing is for free. Can anyone explain open source software to me simply so I can explain to my boss.

Also, for those with experience using this product,are there any hidden costs or words of wisdom when installing or setting up this system?

We just got certified in December so I am also wondering what a reasonable timeframe is for document revisions once a process has been changed on the floor.

Often we are not sure how our change may work out and we are testing it for a period. Therefore it is hard to know when to make the change official, when we don't want to prematurely release a significant change to a process, but we don't want to be out of compliance with procedures which do not match processes.

If we have a controlled electronic copy are we ok to have uncontrolled copies on the floor for a period of time? If our managers redline changes to these uncontrolled documents, while they are still developing them, how soon should these changes become integrated into the controlled copy?

Appreciate any input you might have for a relative newbie.

:thanx:

All you really have to do is list the requirements you have against MyDMS features.

I haven't personally used MyDMS, but I remember looking at it some time back. I remember it appears to be pretty good.

As to open source software, part of the question is how long a program has been around (how long will it be around?).

Another aspect to consider is your internal resources. Do you have someone in IT who understands how the program works?

A last aspect as a major issue in this case is how it is set up. As I remember it used MySQL as it's database. I would want to make sure there is a way to get information out of the database should you decide to go in another direction in the future.

Of course, my comments here also to a large degree are applicable to 'Pay For' software. Personally I'm an open source proponent and use it when ever possible.

Thanks for your input. Those are really good points I will consider especially being able to transfer data to another product if things change.
Do you mind me asking what solution you ended up going with for your needs and why you passed on MyDMS?

Thankyou.

Hi Covers.
Im a great fan of IT things and Opensource software is software you can modify yourself to suit your needs. Most of these tend to be free and have many people that maintain it to kee pit free. I downloaded myDMS sometime back could not make it work. I have now downloaded Knowledgetree. the software appears simpler to implement.