Both FileHold and eFileCabinet are privately held document management system vendors. With FileHold’s headquarters in Canada and eFileCabinet’s in Lehi, Utah, the set of features available in each document management system are as different as the locations of each vendor.
While FileHold has carved out a niche market among large sized enterprises and the manufacturing sector, eFileCabinet has staked claim to the financial services industry, particularly accountants.
Although this guide is not a comprehensive list of the differences between each vendor, it is intended to serve as a quick reference for the major differences between each software, ensuring you buy the solution that best fits your business objectives.
Document Management System Similarities
A Minor but Telling Overlap in Markets Served
While eFileCabinet appeals to small and mid-sized businesses and departments, FileHold tends to appeal to mid-sized businesses and larger organizations—making for a market overlap in mid-sized businesses.
However, the demographic stratification of each respective vendor’s customer base is not an accurate indicator of the functionalities each software provides. Rather, the size of the business a vendor typically serves can provide long-term insight on where the vendor will focus its software development efforts.
For instance, if you’re a small organization or business buying from FileHold, FileHold may not develop its software to accommodate small business needs as they change over time because they have a stronger foothold in the enterprise market. This is one of several reasons smaller businesses tend to choose eFileCabinet as their document management system of choice.
A Central Storage Spot with Business-grade Bandwidth
Both FileHold and eFileCabinet allow you to keep everything in one place, including an array of features to successfully manage all the information. Each vendor will give you the means to drastically improve the organization and management of your information.
The Ability to Go Paperless and Leverage Cloud Storage
Although any document management system should offer cloud storage and document automation needed to successfully go paperless, these are shared yet not definitive characteristics of both FileHold and eFileCabinet. Cloud storage and the ability to go paperless are merely stepping stones to the feature-rich document management aspects of each vendor’s solutions.
Document Management Differences
Although this isn’t always the case, the differences between eFileCabinet and FileHold are strong selling points for reach respective vendor.
Interface Structure and Adaptability: SOA Model and API Differences
In reflecting FileHold’s effort to better serve large organizations and enterprises, FileHold may be better tailored for a larger organization if SharePoint integration and specific facets of interface adaptability matter to the prospective buyer.
FileHold’s SharePoint integration—a feature eFileCabinet will never assimilate into its product line—is sometimes viewed as a FileHold benefit. Given that eFileCabinet took the Mac-compatibility route with the belief it will better serve the needs of small businesses, eFileCabinet does not offer extensive Microsoft functionality outside of Microsoft Outlook and functionality on the Windows Operating System (excluding API development), which brings us to our next point:
FileHold’s SharePoint integration is a microcosm of their layered development with Microsoft’s Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) model. This model utilizes communication via web service calls, entailing a web client layer and a native architecture layer, enabling collaboration via the deployment of web services on a variety of different servers.
Although eFileCabinet’s open API (application programming interface) makes it possible to integrate eFileCabinet with a variety of different technologies and software with a lesser degree of complexity, some favor the scalability of FileHold’s SOA model, again, making it a viable option for larger enterprises.
Where eFileCabinet Wins
Capture and Imaging
When it comes to tackling the daunting process of going paperless, eFileCabinet makes this easier than any other document management system vendor. Not only are the initial stages far simpler than with other software products, eFileCabinet’s usability makes it easier to generate buy-in among a team to stay paperless—something which many organizations using other document management systems struggle to accomplish, thereby reducing the amount of ROI competing document management systems can produce.
Document Automation and Search Functionality
eFileCabinet’s document and document process automation is literally the equivalent of having a secretary or records manager you can keep off the payroll.
Some document management system vendors, FileHold included, depend on “metadata tagging” to make information retrievable. The problem with this arises when a user forgets what they’ve tagged the document. eFileCabinet eliminates metadata tagging as a “middle man” to file finding and search capacities, making files incredibly retrievable even if you know nothing about their contents.
Nearly any document process that creates value for your company yet requires tedious manual handling, faxing, or snail mailing can be automated by eFileCabinet. Automated routing, for instance, displays the real power of eFileCabinet’s Zonal OCR add on.
You can also choose the confidence level of searches to help the system find exactly what you’re looking for. The beauty of this is it adds a human element to automation without detracting from efficiency.
Instant Access Icon: the eFileCabinet SideKick
Most document management systems make toggling back and forth between programs (even with their software integrations) a tedious necessity. However, the eFileCabinet SideKick prevents users from having to do this.
This is particularly useful when moving folders to the document management system from your desktop. Instead of moving from desktop to document management system, the eFileCabinet SideKick lets you move entire folders with batches of 50+ documents to eFileCabinet with one simple drag and drop. This feature, which bridges the gap between the desktop and software, tremendously enhances productivity.
Where FileHold Falls Short
Although FileHold works fine for most organizations, it does have some drawbacks, and many of these drawbacks pertain to the way the product is portrayed.
Lack of Clarity
For instance, both eFileCabinet and FileHold have a product called “Express.” On the eFileCabinet Express product page, we identify that the solution is for a very specific constituency: Those running a business singlehandedly from their home office, those working as consultants, or freelancers. However, FileHold asserts on its Express product page that “FileHold is for small business or departments (sic) that require a complete document management software solution or for large organizations who (sic) wish to start small.”
Too Many Feature Tiers
There are standard features, optional features, and custom features in the FileHold product spread. With software as complex as document management systems, tier-ing products this way may prevent users from understanding their particular needs, as there are very seldom ways to describe document management features in a way that makes immediate sense to the prospective buyer.
Therefore, as is the case with eFileCabinet, having a single solution (with a few delivery platforms) where all the features are readily available gives the user greater learning bandwidth and potential with the software, and with less complex pricing models.