The Workshare Blog

Metadata Removal for Mobile and Webmail Users

chia.ling — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:41:00 GMT

The Workshare team is hard at work on a new version of the Workshare Protect Server to complement the metadata protection of the Workshare Protect desktop client. Many customers have asked for a solution that goes beyond the desktop and provides security for confidential information being shared by mobile and webmail users. With a server-based metadata cleaning solution you will be able to manage your risks and gain control over your confidential information even with employees exchanging information outside the office.

Hidden metadata in documents can pose serious business and ethical risks if left unmanaged or ignored, which makes extracting hidden metadata central in any approach to metadata management. The Workshare Protect Server is a unique server side metadata solution that protects confidential information whether information is shared via a Blackberry, an iPhone, or some other mobile device. With protection for desktops and mobile users, Workshare customers will now have an unified solution to manage metadata across the entire organization.

The beta program is underway for the next product release. If you would like to test the Release Candidate and provide direct feedback to the product management team before the product is finalized please register below.

> You can request a download the Release Candidate here.

Quickly Compare Spreadsheets With Workshare Compare for Excel

Matthew Brown — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:09:00 GMT

Today I am pleased to announce Workshare Compare for Excel and Workshare Compare Basic for Excel, two software applications that compare and identify changes made to Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.

These products join Workshare’s portfolio of application comparison software – the newly introduced Workshare Compare for PowerPoint and its flagship Workshare Professional for Microsoft Word and PDF.

Typically, changes in spreadsheets are made quickly, and spreadsheet owners and approvers often have no idea what was changed during a collaboration with colleagues. Workshare Compare for Excel allows users to streamline their spreadsheet review process, making it much easier to collaborate and identify changes to Microsoft Excel workbooks.

The Workshare Compare for Excel capabilities allows users to compare two different spreadsheets -- or two versions of the same spreadsheet -- and graphically see the differences. The software will compare cell values as well as macros, cell formatting, entered and calculated values, formulas, structural changes, and more.

This new software joins Workshare’s portfolio of comparison software which includes solutions to compare Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and PDF file formats. Review the feature differences between the two versions or download a free trial.

Training Tutorials for Workshare Professional

Bonnie Leib — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 19:37:00 GMT

Customers have been asking for more help with training and I am excited to announce new training tutorials are now available for Workshare Professional. These tutorials are free and will help beginners as well as advanced users become product experts.

A new 40 minute demonstration illustrates the many ways to leverage the comparison functionality of Workshare Professional. It includes an overview of the user interface, comparison features, and multiple examples showing how to compare Word documents and PDFs.

We have also recently added four new "How-to..." videos that provide quick tips for the most commonly asked features in Workshare Professional.

And finally I wanted to let you know we are working on more tutorials that focus on the many other features of the Professional product. If you have a specific request please leave a comment below or contact me directly.

> Check out the new training materials on the learning center

Keep the feedback coming, your input helps us understand what training tools you need and how we can refine them in the future.

Release Candidate Available: Workshare Professional 5.2 SR3

Kevin Docherty — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:50:00 GMT

The Workshare Professional SR3 beta program is currently underway and we value your feedback and look forward to your participation. You can register now to download the release candidate for Workshare Professional 5.2 SR3. This is your opportunity to provide direct feedback to the product engineering teams before the products are finalized and released.

What’s New in Service Release 3?

Product quality, usability, and performance are the top priorities for Service Release 3 (SR3). Customers participating in the beta program have provided a wealth of suggestions that have led to significant speed improvements with the metadata removal features, and a number of user interface improvements to streamline the user experience.

New metadata removal and security improvements:

Email addresses and distribution lists are resolved faster creating less user interruption
Dynamic Discovery improves the user experience with more flexibility, faster alert windows, and real time discovery
Reboots are faster and less memory is utilized as Protect no longer runs as a service
Users can have more control with a Send and Protect button in the email message window
Less email add-ins create a lighter Workshare presence in Microsoft Outlook/IBM Lotus Notes
Navigating between emails with auto-preview is now faster
Optional Asynchronous Cleaning moves processing out of Outlook to allow users to continue working without disruption
Improved error message handling and easy to understand pop-up windows

New comparison improvements:

Improvements to advanced table comparisons
Support for the comparison of Microsoft Word’s drawing tools, such as SmartArt and shapes
Ability to specify the default name for a Redline document or to select the document ID as the default
More commands available in the Quick Access Toolbar to allow user customization
Select a different comparison mode directly from the Microsoft Ribbon

Office Integration:

You can now select whether or not you want Workshare to integrate with different components of Microsoft Office. Without integration the comparison functionality is only available from the Workshare application.
The Workshare Ribbon in Office 2007 can now be moved to other custom Ribbons. This adds flexibility and means that the Workshare Professional ribbon can be included in corporate, or other custom ribbons, to avoid a profusion of ribbons on the desktop.

> You can download the Release Candidate here.

Availability of the final version will be announced later this year.

Legal Tech Winner Announced

Dan Filby — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:40:00 GMT

I am pleased to announce our winner from the Legal Tech prize drawing. A trainer/help desk manager and local New Yorker is the lucky recipient of the Flip UltaHD Camcorder, congratulations Michelle Duggan! We thank everyone for participating and taking the time to stop by the Workshare booth at the New York show.

I want to also thank Legal Technology News. The team put a lot of effort into building superior products last year and we have displayed the Gold award proudly in the San Francisco office to remind us that staying focused on our commitment to product quality has great rewards.

The show was a great opportunity to speak with Workshare customers and get direct input on how to better meet their needs in 2010. If you didn’t have a chance to speak with me at the show please don’t hesitate to contact me or leave a comment below.

Benefits of Using ABBYY OCR Technology With Workshare Professional

chia.ling — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:07:00 GMT

Due to the popularity of the OCR webinar last month we have scheduled a repeat performance. We hope you can join us on Wednesday, February 10th to learn about the benefits of OCR technology.

Webinar Feb 10th: Benefits of Using ABBYY OCR Technology With Workshare

See how organizations use OCR technology for image-based PDFs
Hear examples of how OCR reduced end-user frustration
Learn how to improve collaboration and work more efficiently
Discover the benefits of leveraging OCR technology with Workshare

Date: Click to register for Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Time: 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. EDT)

White Paper - CIO Thoughtshare 'Seven Dimensions of Meta Information'

Jes Breslaw — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:30:00 GMT

CIO Thoughtshare is series of white papers designed to provoke debate amongst the technology leaders in the Legal market.

Document production is the life blood of our industry. Yet for all the effort put into creating them, we ignore much of the information about the documents. This ‘Meta information’ some of it created but not all of it made available by Workshare can present some fascinating opportunities in terms of improving efficiencies, reducing risk and remaining competitive in a world of accelerating change.

This paper not only presents these opportunities, but poses the question, ‘Is it not just an opportunity but a necessity for law firms to start mining business information and make use of it?’

Workshare is looking for feedback on this paper, either directly or via our Blog, Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. If there is an appetite for this subject we will look to hold a round table event in March.

To download the white paper please click here

Organizational Changes Announced

Scott Smull — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:44:00 GMT

There have been a few changes at Workshare to position the organization for continued growth in 2010.

I am excited to announce Dan Filby is the new Vice President of Sales for the Americas. Dan joins us with more than 20 years of progressive leadership experience with companies including GE Capital, Digital Equipment and Oracle. He has a track record of leading high growth organizations and has experience with Software as a Service (SaaS), On Premise software and Managed Services.

Also, Anton Papp has joined Workshare as Vice President of Business Development. Anton brings extensive experience in investment banking in the software and services industries; he will be responsible for enhancing Workshare’s business partnerships and strategic relationships.

In addition, Alan Fraser has resigned as president and CEO of Workshare. Alan served Workshare well rededicating the organization to our customers with improved product quality and customer service. With an enhanced partner network to better support customers, two major service releases in 2009, the release of the Workshare OCR Server, Workshare Compare for Excel, and Workshare Compare for PowerPoint, and winning the LTN Gold award for Workshare Professional, Alan has positioned Workshare on a path for continued success. We wish Alan the best in his future endeavors.

Workshare has a seasoned executive team in place that will continue to focus on delivering quality solutions and exceptional service in 2010. The board of directors has asked that I assume Alan’s responsibilities as acting President and Chief Executive Officer. My experience serving as Workshare’s CFO and Vice President of Operations has provided unique insights into the business opportunities to better serve our customers; I look forward to continuing our focus on product quality and meeting the commitments of the legal community.

Please feel free to post a comment below or contact me directly with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Scott Smull

What the Microsoft Word XML Patch Means for Workshare Customers

Matthew Brown — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:12:00 GMT

The patent infringement suit that i4i brought against Microsoft has raised a few questions on how Workshare’s comparison software will be impacted.

Workshare’s comparison software has the ability to compare custom XML tags for both WordML (Word 2003) and DocX (Word 2007) XML formats. The removal of this functionality in Word will remove the capability for Workshare to compare the custom XML tags but it will still continue to compare the content within a tag. For example, Workshare will no longer be able to compare the tag change to </Matter Name> but will identify the content change within the tag as highlighted in the following text:

Original: <Matter Name>ABC Company</Matter Name>
Modified: <Matter Company>XYZ Organization</Matter Company>

Please note that Workshare will still handle and compare documents that contain custom XML in the manner described even if has been removed from Word functionality.

You can learn more about the patch that Microsoft released here.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to post a comment or contact customer support.

Webinar Jan 14th: Benefits of Using OCR Technology With Workshare

David Brennan — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:00:00 GMT

We hope you can join us on Thursday, January 14th to learn about the benefits of OCR technology.

Benefits of Using OCR Technology With Workshare Professional

See how organizations use OCR technology for image-based PDFs

Hear examples of how OCR reduced end-user frustration
Learn how to improve collaboration and work more efficiently
Discover the benefits of leveraging OCR technology with Workshare

Date: Click to register for Thursday, January 14th, 2009
Time: 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. EDT)

Workshare Wins Gold for Collaboration in LTN Awards

Alan Fraser — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:11:00 GMT

I am pleased to announce Workshare Professional has earned Gold in the 2009 Law Technology News Awards.

Since the creation of DeltaView, Workshare has provided the legal community solutions to collaborate and securely share information. This recognition validates the importance of being able to collaborate on documents with users in and outside the firm.

With new desktop applications for PowerPoint and Excel, as well as server solutions for comparison, OCR, and metadata removal, Workshare continues to offer the legal community leading solutions for comparison, collaboration, and security.

If you have not tried the latest version of Workshare Professional you can download a free 14 day trial here.

New Training Tutorial for Workshare Compare

David Brennan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:45:00 GMT

A new tutorial is now available for Workshare Compare. This 20 minute demonstration illustrates the many ways to leverage Workshare Compare, navigates through the features, and illustrates how to compare documents.

> Check out the demonstration here

Webinar Dec 9th: Why Customers Are Upgrading

David Brennan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:59:00 GMT

We hope you can join us at our next webinar to learn why customers are upgrading to the latest version of Workshare Professional. The latest release, 5.2 Service Release 2, provides increased reliability as well as a host of new features.

Why Customers Are Upgrading to Workshare Professional 5.2 SR2

Watch this webcast to see:

Why Technolawyer called this release "A Rarity in the Software Industry"
What improvements customers are most excited about
How to use the new and improved features

Date: Click here to register for December 9, 2009
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. EST)

Autonomy iManage Integration for 8.5

Matthew Brown — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:04:00 GMT

In July of 2009 the latest release of Workshare Professional and Workshare Compare were released and I wanted to clarify that they are in fact certified to work with Autonomy iManage 8.5. As long as you have the July release, 5.2 service release 2, you are all set to take advantage of the iManage integration.

iManage users have a seamless experience by right clicking any document in iManage to access Workshare features:

Integrated to easily run a document comparison
Saving a document does not require the user to initiate a separate save process
Right clicks provide instant document comparisons, combining content into a PDF portfolio and converting to a PDF

A new version of Workshare was not required as the product teams worked closely with the Autonomy team to ensure our latest release would work fine with iManage 8.5. And the integration is included with purchases of Workshare Professional and Workshare Compare.

Software Industry Veteran Joins Workshare's Team

Alan Fraser — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:11:00 GMT

It is with great pleasure that I announce a new addition to the Workshare leadership team. Dan Filby has joined Workshare as Vice President of Sales for the Americas. He brings more than 20 years of experience to Workshare and has a successful track record leading high growth organizations offering SaaS (software as a service), on-premise software, and managed services.

Dan has helped deliver high levels of customer satisfaction in both start-ups and Fortune 100 software companies. His experience includes successful leadership roles at Oracle Corporation where he managed global accounts and at GE Capital Technology Services.

Dan's experience managing relationships with many of the world’s largest companies will be an invaluable asset to Workshare and his industry experience will help ensure Workshare continues to provide the quality-driven products and services customers demand.