Creating, distributing and archiving documents is often harder than it needs to be. You’re likely wasting time navigating rigid formatting or struggling to personalize documents for your customers and clients. On top of that, connecting data from different systems feels like a nightmare, often forcing you to rely on costly and slow developers for even simple updates.
These tasks create bottlenecks that slow down your whole team – just when you need to move fast. What you need is output and document management software. However, not all software is created equal.
Common Mistakes When Choosing Document Management Software
We see companies making four common mistakes when choosing output and document management software: misunderstanding the output management capabilities they actually need, not giving security and compliance enough consideration, sidestepping beneficial integrations and underestimating the role of performance.
Misunderstanding output management
Output management is often misunderstood, so it’s not prioritized at the start of new ERP projects. This lack of awareness and preparation can cause issues later in the project, as the ERP system, data and reports haven’t been designed with output management in mind.
Overlooking security and compliance
Not considering the security compliance, long-term storage and auditing of your documents also leads to problems, and quickly. This can lead to your end customers facing issues with the documents and wider communications they receive from your business, negatively impacting your reputation (and, in some cases, even incurring financial penalties).
Sidestepping beneficial integrations
With the right output management provider, integration possibilities are nearly endless. It’s important to consider the integration you need as early in the ERP project as possible – there are big advantages to be had in automating your document-based workflow processes. The productivity gains aren’t small, either. You could save yourself and your team several hours each week.
Underestimating the role of performance
Understanding your performance and throughput requirements is vital to a successful ERP and output management project. The last thing you want is your staff or customers waiting for the documents they need.
SSRS vs Lasernet: At a glance
Feature | SSRS | Lasernet |
Document design tool | Visual Studio | Drag-and-Drop Lasernet Form Editor |
Developer skill level | High | Low to none |
E-invoicing capabilities | Custom | Native |
External data | SQL only | Almost any source |
SSRS
Best for companies with in-house SSRS developers
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a Microsoft platform for creating, managing and deploying reports. Users can create reports from a range of data sources to meet business and compliance needs. Undeniably a developer-centric tool, using SSRS means you’re often dependent on your IT team (or external developers) to build or modify even simple reports.
The report layouts are static, offering users little room for customization. Distribution capabilities are often restricted, which makes delivering documents to your customers more challenging than it needs to be.
Ease of use
Unlike other more intuitive document management software solutions, SSRS requires a deep understanding of the platform. Users need specialized developer skills to use the platform, often requiring them to work within complex environments like Visual Studio. Plus, reliance on RDL files for report definitions makes SSRS inaccessible to business users without coding experience.
Configuration and scalability
SSRS tends to require manual environment setup, which adds complexity and time to the deployment process – not what you need when important documents need to be created and sent out. The output is typically restricted to static reports, which offer little room for customization.
Finally, the platform suffers from limited scalability, making it difficult to support growing data loads or expanding infrastructure requirements in an efficient (and budget-friendly) manner.
Compliance and data orchestration
The platform lacks native support for e-invoicing – a real thorn in the side for companies required to send e-invoices under the EU’s e-invoicing directive. Today, many organizations are forced to develop costly and time-consuming custom workarounds to meet or prepare for e-invoicing regulations.
To make things more complicated, data connectivity is restrictive, meaning datasets are effectively limited to SQL-only sources. This prevents direct integration with modern APIs or non-relational data systems.
Lasernet
Best for medium to large enterprises needing a centralized and automated document management platform that pulls data from multiple systems
Lasernet brings advanced document management capabilities directly into D365 F&O, offering a highly scalable and user-friendly alternative to SSRS. Within the familiar F&O interface, users with no technical background can define which data to include, its formatting and its destination.
Ease of use
Lasernet simplifies the document deployment process by removing the need for a routing agent. The Lasernet Query Wizard, a visual SQL tool, allows a system administrator (with no development experience) to update reporting structures by adding tables or fields into forms. No external developer support or downtime is required, making it quick to create and customize documents.
In terms of connectivity, Lasernet works with external systems outside of D365, such as CRMs or legacy databases, giving you access to data and eliminating silos that prevent users from having a single source of truth.
Configuration and scalability
Lasernet makes it easy to manage configurations through environment variables, allowing users to move settings between environments without difficulty and avoid the friction of manual resets that other document management tools require.
Lasernet also excels in omnichannel distribution. This means users can generate multiple formats from a single dataset. For example, users can email a branded PDF to a customer while triggering a different file type, such as a JSON or XML file, to a different portal, all in one workflow.
Finally, Lasernet’s modular architecture allows you to scale as your document needs grow – choose only the applications you need to solve your document challenges.
Compliance and data orchestration
Lasernet is very strong when it comes to compliance. The platform supports the creation of templates for global e-invoicing standards, with native support for a wide range of international standards, including PEPPOL, XRechnung, and ZUGFeRD – all without custom coding.
Beyond e-invoicing standards, Lasernet acts as a centralized location for data orchestration across multiple sources and destinations, meaning you can bridge the gap between D365 and your other business-critical systems.
Why We Support Lasernet
Each organization has its own specific document management requirements and therefore its important to review all of your options. Through our experience implementing and supporting Lasernet, we do believe it stands out as the complete output and document management package. With enterprise-grade compliance, future-proof data orchestration and native e-invoicing capabilities, the platform gives you everything you need to automate document processes – no custom coding required.
It also solves performance issues with robust scalability, handling high-volume document creation, distribution and archiving loads with ease. Last but not least, it allows for fast deployments without downtime – wave goodbye to developer bottlenecks or maintenance windows that slow your operations down.
Partner With Us to Simplify Document Management
It’s our job to help our clients choose the right document management software fit for their businesses. We work with clients worldwide where we offer implementation, custom development, and support services to help you solve all of your document challenges.
Don’t let complex, rigid tools slow your document workflows down. Let the ERP Mechanics be the team to help you save you time and money on document creation, distribution and archiving.
Contact us today to discuss your project.