The document discusses the results of a survey conducted at the 2013 Oracle OpenWorld Conference regarding document review processes amongst Oracle users. Some key findings include: - 70% of respondents said document review was part of their job but 40% had no review process - 95% said lack of a proper review process caused challenges like working on the wrong document version - Common documents reviewed included procedures, product specs, code, and proposals - Most reviews involved 2-5 people via email with no ability to work on documents simultaneously - Oracle users reported more issues than SharePoint users with their review processes and were more open to alternative solutions like PleaseReview, a collaborative document review software.

1. Exploring document review amongst Oracle users
March 2014
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2. Need help to understand your document review requirements?
Take our document collaboration questionnaire…
http://www.pleasetech.com/collaborationquestionnaire.aspx
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3. So hello…
In 2013 , PleaseTech conducted a survey at the Oracle OpenWorld 2013
Conference in San Francisco.
422 conference participants responded to the survey. Of this IT driven
audience 85% had a relationship with Oracle as a customer (64%) or partner
(21%). Only 15% had no relationship with Oracle.
The research set out to examine document collaboration & review amongst
Oracle users and their partners.
It follows on from similar research conducted amongst SharePoint users in
2011/12, which explored document collaboration in the workplace.
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4. How did they fair…?
(You can view more of our cartoons at
www.documentreviewcartoons.com) 4

5. 70% of respondents said
document review was
part of their job
Of these, nearly 2/3rds
have between 2-5
people involved in the
process
…yet 40% have no
document review
process
95% of respondents said
the failure to have a
proper review process
caused them challenges
Amongst other issues,
2/3rds said they
frequently find they are
working on the wrong
version of a document
The barrier to
implementing a better
review process is TIME
The headlines
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6. The devil’s in the detail…
52%
procedures
47%
product
specs
40% code
40%
proposals
36%
contracts
17%
marketing
materials
What sort of documents are being reviewed?
28%
complex
47%
time
critical
59%
business
critical
The documents worked on are…
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7. How many people are involved in a typical document review/s?
2-5 people 6-10
people
11-19
people
20+
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Oracle
SharePoint
Regardless of platform, remarkably large
numbers of people need to collaborate
together to produce documents
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8. What processes do Oracle users and their partners have in place to
manage document review?
37% file
share
46%
DMS
66%
email
17%
online
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9. How does this compare to SharePoint users?
There are many similarities, SharePoint users also predominantly use email to send out
attachments or use their collaborative platform/file share service to access documents
But…in all these instances, only one person can work on a document at one time
Twice as many respondents within
the Oracle community use an online solution
(17% v 10%)
The raises the question of whether this group have
a greater understanding than their SharePoint
counterparts of the need to seek out specialist
software to solve specific business issues?
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10. Are the processes being used within the Oracle community (email,
file sharing) meeting their document review requirements?
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Manual process of merging changes from
multiple contributors
Cannot access the document at the same
time
Working on the wrong version
Too time consuming
The process is too unwieldy and inefficient
People overwrite others' changes
Cannot capture any metrics / details for the
review
Formatting and style issues on the
document
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Strongly agree
Slightly agree
Slightly disagree
Strongly disagree
%

11. Over ¾are unable to access the document at the
same time
8 out of 10 said the process of
reviewing documents was too time
consuming
70% said the process was too unwieldy
¼ didn’t think that their review process resulted in
formatting issues. Most people agreed it was a
problem
No, they aren’t…
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12. There were some startling contrasts between the responses given
by the Oracle and SharePoint communities
62% said colleagues overwrite changes v
28% of SharePoint users
78% of Oracle respondents declared the
process of reviewing a document was too
timing consuming v 35% of SharePoint users
80% of Oracle respondents said they had to
manually merge changes v 24% of
SharePoint users
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13. From its 2012/3 survey, PleaseTech concluded that SharePoint users
accepted these challenges as a necessary evil, unaware better solutions
were on offer
There’s been a lot of marketing hype around SharePoint, positioning it as
the document collaboration platform – it wouldn’t be unreasonable to
suggest this has had a negative impact on users willingness to seek out
alternative solutions to bridge the gaps in its collaborative capabilities
In contrast, Oracle is not heavily promoted as a collaborative platform and it
is therefore reasonable to suppose that Oracle users are more open to
seeing out alternative solutions to their document review process
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There are some conclusions we can draw…

14. What is the main reason for not researching or implementing a
better solution?
45%
29%
11%
5%
3%
1%
6% Time
Budget
Unaware
No authority
Management
IT
None
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15. …we asked ‘would they consider an alternative solution; consider an Oracle partner; look to any
potential 3rd party partner or try to resolve the problem in-house’?
Having already established that those within the Oracle community are more likely
to seek external solutions, PleaseTech went on to examine this in more detail…
83
24
33
58
49
35
54
66
153
158
173
118
93
134
111
100
44
71
51
80
Only consider an alternative Oracle
solution
Consider an Oracle partner
Any 3rd party
Build an in-house solution
Very unlikely
Unlikely
No opinion
Likely
Very likely
The high % of people considering an in-house
purpose built solution is likely to be as a result of
the inherent nature of the Oracle IT departments
whom are used to extending Oracle
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16. No matter which platform is
being used, those involved in
document review are still
reviewing predominantly by
email and face to face
meetings
There is now more than ever,
a greater emphasis on how to
collaborate around key
business processes, and there
is much discussion around
the value of managing and
sharing content
However, there is a huge lack
of understanding and
awareness around what is
possible, so end users put up
with outdated and frustrating
methods of document review
A recent Whitepaper
published by Osterman
Research confirms ‘it is
important to incorporate
complimentary technologies
that augment its native
functionality*
However, to deal with certain
business processes, such as
collaborative document
review, it is necessary to look
out of the SharePoint box
Rarely has a platform
received as much hype as
SharePoint and there are
many reasons why this is
justly deserved
Oracle is a mature technology
and has a realistic idea of
what it can and can’t deliver.
This is demonstrated by the
willingness within its
community to seek out
alternative solutions
The most startling learning to
emerge is that 40% of
businesses surveyed don’t
have a process for the review
of business and time critical
complex documents. Is any
other process so overlooked?
There is no doubt that as
organizations gain an
increased understanding of
the benefits to be gained
through collaborative review,
people will seek out specialist
software solutions
So what does this tell us?
*SharePoint Governance: Do something or do nothing. Osterman Research
whitepaper, March 2013 16

17. Caught your attention?
Maybe you’d be interested in finding out about PleaseReview; collaborative review and
co-authoring software from PleaseTech. PleaseReview facilitates controlled,
simultaneous and secure collaboration for the reviewing and editing of documents.
Why not get in touch for a short PleaseReview product demonstration:
Email: info@pleasetech.com
Web: www.pleasetech.com
Tel: +44 01666 826540
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18. PleaseReview is a secure, collaborative, browser-based environment for the controlled review and co-
authoring of Microsoft Word (and other) document types. Its unique functionality gives secure,
simultaneous access to the same copy of the document (on or offline on any device), control over
who can do what to where, automated consolidation of proposed changes and comments and
comprehensive reporting and metrics.
About PleaseTech
PleaseTech Ltd is the document authoring and review specialist, providing software solutions for the
collaborative review and authoring of documents. A UK based business, PleaseTech focuses on
providing controlled collaboration and co-authoring through its review product, PleaseReview.
Launched in 2005, it has over 75,000 users from more than a hundred companies across the globe.
Clients range across industry sectors and business disciplines, with the majority operating in regulated
and document-intensive industries, such as life sciences and defense. It is in these sectors where the
creation and review of large, often complex documents is of particular importance due to strict
regulatory and corporate compliance requirements and tight deadlines.
About PleaseReview
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