Westbrook Gives iPad, Android, BlackBerry Access to FortisBlue Document Management
Since Westbrook Technologies introduced its cloud-ready enterprise content management system FortisBlue in October 2009, it has been building up functionality as the market demands. The latest upgrade is to make it mobile.

FortisBlue Mobile

The result is that as of this week, FortisBlue content can be accessed from iPad, Android-based tablets, and Blackberry Playbook, and enables users to switch between desktop computers or tablets at will.

Users have access to all FortisBlue databases on-the-fly, can use searches that they have already created and, with an easy-to-use interface, can flip through documents produced from searches by pointing and clicking.

These days, access to documents and data from mobile devices is just about a given by enterprise content users. However, it is only when you try accessing content from mobile devices that you realize how many systems are still not accessible that way.

Clearly, this has been on Westbrook’s mind for a while, and it has now given its users access in keeping with the "simplicity" principle behind the original FortisBlue design.

FortisBlue Document Management

It may be recalled that, when it was introduced originally, the basic concept was a system that was designed for entry-level document management software users.

FortisBlue is a thin client that captures, archives, searches, annotates, retrieves and safeguards paper and electronic documents, built on Web services and designed to be compatible with other similar applications.

Learning Opportunities

However, that didn’t and doesn’t mean that it lacked functionality in any way whatsoever. If the user interface looks somewhat simple -- that really should read easy-to-navigate -- some of the functionality is at the advanced end of the spectrum such as built-in scanning capabilities, workflow and full text and metadata search.

And there have been other regular upgrades, with the latest onea forms module, which was added last July and responded to the growing use of business process management and the role forms play in those systems.

It also comes with the SharePoint Integrator Module (SIM) that enables users to meet the challenge of searching, accessing and viewing SharePoint and non-SharePoint content from one interface.

FortisBlue is part of the wider Westbrook document management portfolio that includes two older, client-server document management products from Westbrook: Fortis and FortisSE, of which FortisBlue is a complete rewrite of the software done by a separate, internal development team. If you’re interested in the mobile functionality, check out the video below.