Recently, both Synergis Software and BlueCielo ECM Solutions have released major upgrades to their Adept and Meridian data management software products respectively. In this article, I would like to highlight some of the major features available in each of these new products.
In Adept 2015, some of the major enhancements and improvements include:
- Adept 2015 includes some very important performance improvement changes. These changes make it possible for Adept to handle 10,000+ libraries and thousands of named users. Even with this number of users and/or libraries, user login and other functions are extremely fast.
- One completely new feature added for Adept 2015 is the concept of Sharing. Sharing enhances Adept user collaboration by allowing users to share some of the work or configurations they’ve done in Adept with other Adept users. Some items that can be shared in Adept include Saved Searches, Saved Favorite Lists, Column Sets, Library Sets, Transmittal Templates and Report Templates.
- The Search Card in Adept is now pre-populated with criteria from the last search that was performed. The criteria can easily be removed by selecting the big red X button on the search card or recalled later.
- There is an all new reporting module. With the results of a file, transmittal or audit trail search or a FileGuide listing, any user can create, run, publish, and share reports.
- Significant changes have been made to the FileGuide with this release. The two major improvements are the addition of the Favorites View and a cleanup of the Inbox.
- he Favorites View in the FileGuide displays Saved Searches, Saved Lists and shows what Favorites are being Shared.
- E-mail notifications have been extended to include more data and information about the files in reference.
- Many more actions and data points are now available in the audit trail to give administrators more insight into the details of file and data flow throughout Adept.
- Significant performance improvements exist in this version of the web client. Searching, paging, changing views and leaf selection in the FileGuide are consistently 4X faster than previous releases. There are new options for viewing files, administrating the web client, auto-login, append and refine search, and many of the new features from the Adept Desktop Client, like using shared saved searches and favorites lists.
- A complete (29) page document detailing all of the new features and improvements is available on Synergis’s web site or by contacting us here at Hagerman & Company.
While the new version of Meridian is called 2014SP1, it is actually a major upgrade to the software and includes a whole host of improvements well beyond what one would normally find in a service pack release. New features and improvements include:
- Multiple drawing sheets in the same AutoCAD file are now supported by title block synchronization. A new system property page named Title Blocks appears in PowerUser and the Meridian Web Client (read-only). This page allows users to edit the title block properties independently for each layout.
- Numerous changes and improvements have been made to the Meridian web client so that it is becoming more and more in line with the Power in terms of features and usability. These changes and improvements include:
- The Meridian Web Client now supports drag-and-drop for importing files.
- A new command Open has been added to the document and selection shortcut menus in the Meridian Web Client. The command downloads the selected documents and opens them in the registered Windows application similar to the PowerUser client.
- The look and feel of the Meridian Web Client has been improved and updated to be more consistent with current web application technology. Internet Explorer 9, 10, and 11 no longer require Compatibility View mode.
- A new client registry value DisableChangeViewerPriority has been added that, when set to 1, disables users’ ability to change the priority of viewers for particular file types.
- AutoCAD Civil 3D is now supported.Numerous improvements to the Meridian Publisher and Asset Management modules.
- Many other behind-the-scenes improvements in regard to system administration, customization and stability.
Let us know if you would like to a copy of the Meridian 2014SP1 release notes or simply e-mail us with any questions you might have.
Finally, we would like to urge everyone to contact our technical team before attempting to deploy either of these upgrades within your organization in order to make sure no CAD, hardware or operating system compatibility issues might exist within your environment. Also, we would urge our customers, if at all possible, to contract with us to have one of our experienced data management consultants perform testing and deploy the upgrade for you.
Submitted by Matt Lane, Director of Consulting Services, Hagerman & Company, Inc.