M-Files

M-Files

Developer(s)	M-Files Inc.
Stable release	M-Files 2015.1 / November 26, 2015 (2015-11-26)
Operating system	Windows(web based interface available for Linux and Macintosh users)
Website	http://www.m-files.com/

M-Files, enterprise information management software, is developed by M-Files Corporation and provides users with a metadata-driven system for organizing and managing documents and other information. M-Files supports on-premises, cloud or hybrid environment deployments. M-Files also provides web-based access using standard web browsers as well as native mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

M-Files works with Windows applications and most database systems, including CRM, ERP & accounting systems, etc. M-Files supports scanned paper documents, electronic documents including email and other user-definable information that is not associated with a document, such as accounts/customers, contacts, projects, etc. Such non-document objects in M-Files can exist as pure metadata.

History

A Finnish software company now called M-Files Corporation ^[1] (The company was formerly known as Motive Systems, and changed its name to M-Files Corporation in 2011^[2]) was looking to improve its internal document management practices. The company had previous experience with Windows software, namely by developing a color plotting application known as M-Color^[3] software for architects and engineers using AutoCAD.

After a few years of development, M-Files 1.0 of the company's document management solution (DMS), was ready to be released in 2005. M-Files received positive reviews^[4] in Finnish IT magazines.

In 2006, M-Files 2.1 was released to the public.^[5] This version contained performance improvements.

Between versions 3.0 and 4.0, features such as workflow, an application programming interface API and a web interface, were developed. M-Files 4.0 was also available in multiple languages.

In 2008, M-Files 5.0 was released with new features, including tighter integration with Microsoft Office and AutoCAD.

In 2009, M-Files 6.0 was introduced, which featured professional capabilities such as fast search, secure user access permissions, check-in / check-out, version management, workflow and notifications, fast offline and remote use, support for scanners and email, a Web interface and a flexible capability to connect to external databases and applications such as an existing CRM, ERP or billing systems.

M-Files 7.0 was released in 2010 and brought enhanced email management for Microsoft Outlook. This version of the M-Files document management system adds automatic processing and organizing of Outlook emails, improved search capabilities, and support for massive document vaults.

M-Files 8.0, was released in 2011 and adds features such as metadata driven permissions and reporting.

As noted above, in May 2011 Motive Systems officially changed its name to M-Files Corporation (M-Files Inc.) to better reflect its focus on the M-Files brand.

M-Files 9.0 was released in September 2012 and included new capabilities such as co-authoring of files via Microsoft SkyDrive, support for multiple document vault deployments, metadata-driven replication, and many other new features.

M-Files 10.0 was released in November 2013 and featured a new Windows 8-esque user interface (UI) that provides quick and intuitive access to content on PCs, tablets and smartphones. M-Files 10.0 also delivers enhanced quality assurance and compliance management capabilities for regulated businesses by enabling them to control and regulate document access, improve visibility and control revisions across multiple departments. Free mobile apps for M-Files 10.0 are also available for iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Phone devices.^[6] M-Files 10.1 was released on June 25 and included several new features including the ability for users to annotate, redline and comment on Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Visio documents and PDFs. M-Files 10.2, released on October 15, enables M-Files mobile app and remote users to securely access on-premises and cloud-based repositories without a VPN.

M-Files 2015.1 debuted in October 2015 and included enhancements focused around improving performance, reliability, productivity and efficiency. Notable improvements included expanded workflow capabilities, easier content sharing across devices, faster, scalable full-text search, seamless integration with Microsoft Azure Active Directory, support for OAuth 2.0 and LDAP protocols in Federated Authentication and compatibility with Windows 10, Microsoft Office 2016 and Autodesk AutoCAD 2016.

M-Files 2015.2 was released in April 2016 and encompassed new features and enhancements to deliver better performance, reliability, productivity and efficiency. Noteworthy changes in this release included clearly perceptible speed improvements, the ability to share files with external users, and direct integration with web-based Microsoft Office applications eliminating the need to install Office Desktop apps. Also Java was eliminated as requirement for M-Files Web use. Several enhancements were made relating to mobility. Automatic population of metadata fields in Word and Excel templates via M-Files Web or the mobile apps was added. Also introduced was the new M-Files Universal App that supports all Windows 10 devices with optimization for both tablets and phones. Offline sync was enhanced to support the editing of objects in offline mode for Android and iOS devices. Lastly, an administrator dashboard was added to allow real-time monitoring of M-Files Server activity.

M-Files Solutions and Deployment Options

The primary M-Files offering is known as M-Files DMS that offers a full suite of content management capabilities. M-Files comes in both on-premises, cloud, or hybrid cloud structures.

M-Files QMS is a solution targeted at two segments. The first is manufacturing organizations needing compliance with quality standards such as ISO 9001:2015, and the second is regulated industries requiring compliance with regulations such as FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and EU GMP Annex 11, among others.

M-Files supports Salesforce CRM as well as Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, Dynamics CRM 2011 Online and Dynamics CRM 4.0, and NetSuite, among others, allowing companies to manage and track any customer-related documents, or other documents and information associated with objects or information managed via the Dynamics or Salesforce CRM systems. In addition, M-Files interfaces with other ERP system, including the Dynamics ERP solutions such as Dynamics AX, Dynamics GP, Dynamics NAV and Dynamics SL. M-Files augments these solutions, enabling companies to oversee documents, information and processes related to the information managed in their ERP solution.

Add-ons

M-Files Inc. has also released optional add-on products for M-Files. These include the M-Files Web SharePoint Part for installations by enabling various types of listings of data stored in M-Files on any SharePoint page or site.^[7]

Another optional add-on is M-Files OCR. M-Files OCR adds integrated scanning and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to M-Files providing the ability to index and search the complete contents of scanned documents allowing full-text search.^[8]

Users

A comprehensive reference listing is available at the M-Files web site.^[9] These references include:

• AstraZeneca
• BSA LifeStructures
• InterOil
• United Nations Environment Programme
• Institute Technology Of Aerospace (ITAS)

See also

• List of content management systems
• List of collaborative software

References