#010: Can your DM do this?

We are on a mission to launch a series of Continuous Managed Services to help our customers with all their major areas of operations (from IT to Manufacturing). We released ContinuousALM last week. This week we are proud to announce the release of ContinuousDM which is the focal point for this newsletter.

ContinuousDM is a state of the art Document Management (DM) App which is powered by Atlassian platform. Document Management is the keystone for any life science company. But only a few of the life science companies implement a solution that is scalable, user friendly and increases the ability to collaborate in real-time while ensuring 21 CFR Part 11 compliance.

I can’t think of a single instance in my 30+ year journey working with 100+ customers worldwide where a life science company rolled out a DM app in a few days with all the best practices built-in including Continuous Validation. In most cases, the end users “hated” (I know hate is a strong word) their DM app with a passion.

Why? The answer is simple. Most DM apps used in the GxP world are built on outdated technology stack with Unfriendly UI and very little utility. Their fame to claim is that their app is GxP complaint. In other words, the incumbents use GxP compliance to roll out mediocre products. Compliance is expected in this domain. Compliant app should not be interchangeable with being a “lousy” app.

Improving Efficiency and Productivity

By organizing documents, ensuring easy access, and streamlining revision control processes, ContinuousDM enhance operational efficiency, reduce errors, and boost productivity within GxP-regulated industries.

Advantage over Word Documents

Collaborative Authoring

ContinuousDM provides a synchronous online environment that allows for real-time collaboration, enabling users to work on the same document simultaneously, see changes instantly, and engage in discussions efficiently.

Centralized Information

ContinuousDM offers a single source of truth, ensuring that all collaborators access and work on the latest version of the document, reducing confusion and the risk of working on outdated versions. The problem with Word is that a file can be downloaded and worked on offline. This is unacceptable since it causes multiple versions to float around and introduces inefficiencies at every step.

Ease of Access and Updates

With ContinuousDM, it is easier to find and work on the master copy of the document, facilitating seamless updates, discussions, and feedback within the platform, promoting a more streamlined and organized workflow.

Unlimited Extensibility

Our DM app’s functionality can be extended with over 1000+ apps from the marketplace. For example: You can draw diagrams within ContinuousDM, have real-time white-boarding sessions, bring in real-time data from other sources, electronically sign….just to name a few. The concept of using mutliple apps is really outdated to make your document a “whole”! For example: You have to use Visio to draw and then import it into word. What has really changed in the last 30 years or more. Nothing!

Key Features

Audit Trail and Version Control

The audit trail provides a detailed record of all actions and changes made within the documents. This includes information on who accessed, modified, deleted, or shared documents, as well as any changes to permissions or settings. The audit trail helps to track document activity, ensures compliance, and provides alerts of any unauthorized or suspicious actions. The centralized audit logs allow administrators to track who has accessed, created, modified, attempted, and deleted content within the system.

Version control ensures that multiple versions of a document are tracked and managed effectively. It allows users to access previous versions, track changes, and collaborate seamlessly. This feature helps maintain data integrity, enables easy rollback to previous versions if needed, and enhances collaboration by providing a clear history of document edits and revisions.

Search Capabilities

Search capabilities enable users to quickly and efficiently locate documents based on various criteria such as file name, content, metadata, or tags. This functionality streamlines information retrieval, reduces time spent on searching for documents, and enhances productivity. Advanced search features include keyword search, filters, Boolean operators, and wildcard searches, allowing users to find relevant documents with precision.

Inbuild AI Feature

Inbuild Intelligence enhances by providing advanced analytics and insights into user behavior, content usage, and system performance. It offers valuable data-driven recommendations, identifies trends, and helps optimize workflows. By leveraging AI, organizations can make informed decisions, improve efficiency, and enhance the overall user experience.

AI-powered summaries can be accessed directly from a Smart Link without leaving the page, providing users with a quick overview of the content before deciding whether to open the link. It also quickly summarizes long pages into shorter summaries, saving time and improving comprehension.

Use of Macros

The macros are powerful tools that automate tasks, enhance content, and improve collaboration. They allow users to embed dynamic elements, such as tables, charts, and multimedia, into their pages. Macros streamline workflows, provide advanced formatting options, and enable integration with other tools and systems. Overall, macros enhance the functionality and usability of DM, making it easier for teams to create, share, and manage content effectively.

These Macros can also extract information from other sources. This keeps the document current as it updates whenever the original data changes.

Whiteboards: Where Ideation meets Action

Whiteboards in ContinuousDM act as a digital canvas where teams can freely brainstorm, translate ideas into actionable plans, and visualize work collaboratively.

• Efficiency: Whiteboards streamline the process of translating ideas into actionable projects and tasks, reducing the need for switching between different tools.

• Collaboration: Teams can engage in real-time editing, collaborate using stamps, timers, and other tools, facilitating smooth transitions from brainstorming to action.

• Creativity: Whiteboards foster creativity, enabling teams to generate new ideas, prioritize tasks, and seamlessly convert ideas into actionable items.

• Visual Elements: Users have access to various visual elements such as sticky notes, stamps, stickers, images, timers, lines, and shapes for creative brainstorming and visualization.

• Integration: Whiteboards seamlessly connect unstructured ideation to workflows within ContinuousDM, enabling teams to navigate between whiteboards, pages, and issues in a cohesive manner.

• Actionable Tasks: Whiteboards simplify the process of turning ideas into actionable tasks for team collaboration. Users can easily convert sticky notes into issues, edit issues within the whiteboard, transform whiteboard content into structured pages, connect issues, and bulk-update issues using Smart Sections.

E-Signatures

The E-Signature feature offers a comprehensive, secure, and compliant electronic signature solution that is tightly integrated within the platform.

Part 11 Compliant Electronic Signatures

The solution provides Part 11 compliant electronic signatures for documents, including secondary user authentication, content change detection, and signature verification.

Signature Details Capture

It captures the name, title, meaning, date/time, and time zone of each electronic signature.

Streamlined Content Management

It provides a streamlined content management workflow to automatically restrict editing after signatures have been applied.

Status Search and Visibility

Content with open or finalized signatures is automatically labeled for easy search, and an optional macro can display the signature status directly on the page.

Document Review and Comments

Comments allow for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and feedback collection within documents. Users can mention others, attach files, like, reply, edit, and delete comments, making it a versatile tool for communication and collaboration.

Document Export

Export functionality enables users to extract documents or data from the system in various formats such as PDF, Word, Excel, or CSV. This feature enhances flexibility and accessibility, allowing users to share or archive documents in preferred formats for offline use or external distribution.

Customized Workflows

ContinuousDM allows users to customize workflows to suit their specific Document Management needs. With this, the user can design workflows tailored to your organization's processes, including defining stages, assigning roles and permissions, setting up automated actions, adding conditional logic, and integrating with other tools and systems.

This customization capability enables users to optimize document workflows, streamline processes, ensure compliance, and enhance collaboration within their organization.

Classification of Documents and Page/Space level Permissions

The document classification and space-level permissions are key features for organizing and securing content.

Document classification categorizes documents based on sensitivity levels, ensuring proper handling and access control. Space-level permissions enable administrators to define who can view, edit, or manage content within specific areas of ContinuousDM. These features help maintain data integrity, confidentiality, and compliance with regulatory requirements.

Align page access with your data governance policies and centrally manage which users or groups have view or edit permissions. Restriction Schemes enable to restricted page access to specific users or groups based on the classification level of the page. With this you can:

Encryption and Decryption

You can share and restrict access to sensitive information by leveraging user permissions and groups. This ensures that confidential data is accessed only by authorized individuals. We securely store and share various types of sensitive information, including passwords, credit card details, software license keys, and corporate account information.

Integration with Apps

ContinuousDM integrates with communications apps such as Microsoft Teams and Slack so your team can work better together—without all the unnecessary toggling.

Microsoft Teams: Skip the tab surfing by searching, creating, and sharing documents without ever leaving Teams.

Slack: This integration lets you respond to document comments without ever leaving Slack. 

ContinuousDM helps you keep all your documents for easy collaboration

Google Drive: Drop a Google Drive link onto your page and use smart links embed view to edit the page directly within the document.

Microsoft365: Create a single source of truth by uploading and syncing Excel, PowerPoint, and Word files to pages from SharePoint and OneDrive.

Turn your Data into Insights

Making all your data accessible, modifiable, and presentable will give you a competitive advantage. Put it all into ContinuousDM with add-ons that help organize, manipulate, and visualize data. With better insights, you can sharpen performance and boost innovation.

Building Smarter Spreadsheets

Enhance the functionality of your spreadsheets directly within your documents.

• Microsoft Excel - Easily incorporate an Excel spreadsheet onto your page using the /excel command to activate the macro.

• Google Sheets - Simply paste your Google Sheet link onto the page and instantly access a variety of smart link options.

• Advanced Tables - Utilize features such as column totaling and averaging, numbering, sorting, filtering, CSS styling, and more.

• Table Filter and Charts - Integrate filters and Gantt charts, execute advanced SQL queries, and include pivot tables.

Make it a dynamic database

A database provides functionalities that go beyond what a spreadsheet can offer.

• Organized - Incorporate a database with a selection of different field types to organize your data effectively. Afterwards, you can arrange, filter, and present it on your page using linked tables that update automatically.

• Attributes - Custom forms can be added to your pages, automatically organizing those with the same form into a list. Utilize powerful reports and other tools to filter, sort, and structure data as needed.

ContinuousALM - Delivered as a Managed Service

In every service we offer, the software app is continuously qualified. Also the customer's instance is continuously validated. In each run, 100% regression is performed.  

Conclusion

If you are looking at managing your documents efficiently while complying with GxP, then ContinuousDM delivers a rich feature set that can get you going out of the box. Since it is delivered as a Managed Service, you can be up and running the same day. You don't have to worry about any validation document or executing any test protocol. It is delivered as an app that is continously validated.

When you take into consideration the rich feature set that can operate within a browser, there is only one option for a robust DM: ContinuousDM.

ContinuousDM FAQs