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SmartDocuments offers a comprehensive training program designed to help users, administrators, and subject matter experts use the platform efficiently and confidently. The training courses provide the knowledge and practical skills required to make the most of SmartDocuments and successfully manage document processes. Training is tailored to different experience levels and roles, ranging from introductory courses for new users to advanced topics for experienced users and technical specialists. This allows participants to expand their expertise in a targeted way and leverage the full capabilities of SmartDocuments according to their individual requirements. Through hands-on content and practical exercises, participants gain valuable insights into document creation, management, and automation, as well as the effective use of templates, data sources, and workflows.

More information about our training programs can be found here.

Why Does a Template Management System Have a Place Alongside a DMS?

As part of digital transformation, companies and organizations are faced with the challenge of creating, managing, and archiving documents efficiently and in a legally compliant manner. In this context, traditional Document Management Systems (DMS) often come into play.

But how does a template management system differ from a DMS, and do companies and organizations really need both? At first glance, many people mistake our template management system for a DMS. At trade fairs and conferences, we often hear comments such as, "Oh, another DMS!" But that is not correct.

Focus and Core Functions: Template Management System vs. DMSDMS

A template management system is a specialized solution that focuses exclusively on the management and structuring of document templates. It is designed to store, maintain, and reuse standardized templates, content building blocks, designs, and layouts. Its main purpose is to optimize document creation, minimize errors, and ensure a consistent appearance across all documents. In addition, template maintenance efforts are significantly reduced through the use of variable data fields and content building blocks (standard content that is reused across multiple templates).

Traditional document management systems, on the other hand, provide a comprehensive platform for managing the entire lifecycle of content. They enable the capture, management, storage, and distribution of all types of information and documents throughout the company or organization. While document creation is often only a small part of the overall solution, DMS platforms typically offer capabilities such as document storage, version control, workflow management, archiving, compliance management, and much more.

Does Having a DMS Make a Template Management System Unnecessary?

For companies and organizations with a high volume of documents, the answer is a definite no.

While SmartDocuments specializes in optimizing template management and document generation, DMS solutions focus on the comprehensive management of content and documents throughout their lifecycle. However, the two systems complement each other perfectly. SmartDocuments can be integrated into a DMS as a specialized component, combining powerful document generation and template management with enterprise-wide document management capabilities.

Yes. SmartDocuments offers professional consulting services for the design, creation, and optimization of templates and workflows. Our experienced consultants help organizations unlock the full potential of document automation and build efficient, future-ready processes. Our consulting services cover, among other things, the development and structuring of templates, the optimization of document and communication processes, the definition of governance guidelines, and the implementation of best practices for sustainable document automation. The goal is to design documents and processes that are efficient, consistent, scalable, and easy to manage. Working closely with your organization, our specialists analyze existing processes, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop solutions tailored to your specific requirements. This creates a solid foundation for the successful implementation and long-term expansion of your SmartDocuments environment.

Whether you need support with implementing new templates, designing complex approval workflows, or strategically evolving your document landscape, our consulting services help you establish a powerful and sustainable document automation solution.

Customers benefit from comprehensive support services designed to help them use SmartDocuments efficiently and reliably. Through the SmartDocuments Support Portal, users can easily submit and track support requests, access relevant documentation, and make use of additional resources and tools. In addition, technical support is also available by phone, ensuring that urgent questions or challenges can be addressed quickly by experienced specialists.

The Support Portal serves as a central hub for managing support cases and provides transparent tracking of request statuses. At the same time, customers have access to helpful information, user guides, and documentation that support their day-to-day work with SmartDocuments. Response times and service levels are determined by the agreed support contract and any additional services that may have been purchased. This allows organizations to choose the level of support that best meets their requirements while benefiting from reliable and professional assistance.

Getting started with SmartDocuments begins with a conversation about your goals, current document processes, and technical environment. From there, our team helps define the project scope, identify the systems to be integrated, and create a clear implementation plan.

Most organizations start with a small selection of high-impact templates and processes and then scale gradually as adoption grows. No specialized technical expertise is required from your team, as our consultants provide the guidance and support needed throughout the entire implementation process.

Professionalize Your Template Management with SmartDocuments

A template management system offers numerous advantages, especially for organizations that regularly create, manage, and distribute documents.

Time Savings

By using predefined templates, employees can work faster and more efficiently, as they no longer need to create every document from scratch. With SmartDocuments, template designers also benefit from significant time savings. Our templates are built using reusable content building blocks, making updates and modifications quick and effortless. Changes only need to be made once and can then be applied across multiple templates automatically.

Consistency and Corporate Design Management

A template management system ensures that all documents maintain a consistent and professional appearance, strengthening your brand identity and avoiding inconsistencies across communications. SmartDocuments plays a key role in enforcing corporate design standards. The platform ensures that all documents and materials comply with approved design guidelines, including colors, fonts, logos, and layouts. Corporate design changes can be managed centrally and, most importantly, only by authorized users. Updates are then automatically applied across all relevant templates, preventing outdated or inconsistent designs from being used. As a result, employees always have access to the latest approved templates and can create documents without inadvertently deviating from corporate design standards.

In short:

• Standardization
• Centralized control
• Easy accessibility
• Error reduction

Quality Assurance

Smart templates are designed to include all required information, such as standard text modules, placeholders for specific data, and usage instructions. This helps ensure that important information is never overlooked. In addition, SmartDocuments provides automatic content validation. For example, date formats, phone numbers, and other data fields can be validated automatically to ensure correct data entry. Templates can also include built-in prompts and error messages that alert users when information is missing or entered incorrectly. This helps identify and correct errors early or prevent them altogether. Furthermore, version control and approval workflows ensure that template changes are reviewed and approved before being released. This guarantees that only verified and approved templates are available for use.

In short:

• Predefined content
• Formatting guidelines
• Automatic validation
• Error messages and user guidance
• Version control and approval workflows
• User permissions and access controls

Easy Updates

Template changes can be made centrally and made available immediately to all users, ensuring that documents always remain current and relevant.

Access Control

A template management system makes it possible to control access to specific templates and ensure that only authorized users are allowed to make modifications.

Efficient Collaboration

Teams can collaborate more effectively by working with shared templates, improving communication and coordination across departments. SmartDocuments also supports approval processes and workflows. Team members can access the latest templates from a central location, ensuring that everyone works with the same up-to-date documents and eliminating confusion caused by outdated versions. Templates can also be made available directly within line-of-business applications, CRM systems, ERP platforms, and other business solutions.

Document Automation Through Integration with Existing Systems

SmartDocuments integrates seamlessly into existing IT environments, connecting easily to third-party applications and databases. Through these integrations, many document processes can be fully or partially automated. This reduces manual effort and minimizes errors caused by human intervention. An effective template management system thrives on data from other business systems.

Thanks to these integrations, organizations can:

• Automatically generate documents using data from third-party applications
• Pre-populate templates with information from external systems
• Launch templates directly from connected applications
• Store generated documents automatically in third-party systems or cloud storage solutions

Implementation timelines depend on the scope of the project, the complexity of the required integrations, and the number of templates and workflows to be introduced. A focused implementation can typically be completed within a few weeks, while broader multi-template rollouts with deeper system integrations may take several months. Our team works closely with you during the planning phase to define a realistic timeline and implementation approach based on your goals, requirements, and technical environment.

The Contract Is Signed. What Happens Next?

What Happens Next?

The implementation process may vary depending on the scope of the project and the services commissioned. However, a typical SmartDocuments implementation follows these steps:

1. Kick-Off Meeting

We will contact you to schedule a kick-off meeting. During this session, the following topics will be discussed:

• Overview of the software components
• Infrastructure and architecture overview, including system interactions
• Project objectives and agreed deliverables
• Planning of the technical implementation

2. What Are Your Tasks Before the Installation Date?

• Obtain an HTTPS certificate for the web application
• If required, coordinate with relevant vendors regarding the provision or development of integrations
• If required, provide an Active Directory service account for configuring the AD4Web module
• If required, provide an ADFS server
• Provision the application server and database server

3. Installation

• Installation of SmartDocuments
• ggf.Configuration of additional modules, if required
• Configuration of integrations and interfaces, if required

4. Softwaretraining

Basic Training Course

5. Go Live!

• Testing
• Production launch
• Template implementation and rollout

6. Project Closure Meeting

• Project review and follow-up discussion
• Feedback session

This structured approach ensures a smooth implementation process and helps your organization get the most value from SmartDocuments right from the start.

Let´s Go Workflow ...

Yes, absolutely. SmartDocuments makes it easy to implement digital approval and collaboration processes without requiring additional tools or programming skills. This functionality is particularly useful for cross-departmental collaboration and approval workflows, for example when multiple people contribute to a document or when a manager's approval is required before a document can be finalized. Any number of participants can be involved in the process. Specific content blocks within a template can be assigned to individual users for editing. These tasks can be configured conveniently through the template settings. Following a workflow-based approach, the involved users are automatically notified by email as soon as it is their turn to take action. Each notification includes a direct link to the document, allowing users to review, edit, or approve their assigned content quickly and efficiently.

Does SmartDocuments Offer an Anonymization Feature?

Absolutely!

Easily Anonymize Personal Data in SmartDocuments Documents

With SmartDocuments' intelligent document templates, you can create smart, data-driven documents in no time. Using the built-in anonymization feature, personal data can also be redacted at a later stage, even after the document has been generated. You can simply select specific document sections that contain confidential information and anonymize them. Alternatively, you can choose the "All Variables" option to automatically identify and anonymize all variable data contained within the template. This makes it easy to protect sensitive information, comply with data protection requirements, and securely share documents whenever necessary.

With its Smart Metadata feature, SmartDocuments automatically enriches every generated document with structured and searchable metadata. This enables documents to be located quickly, clearly identified, and traced throughout their entire lifecycle. The metadata is stored directly with the document and may include information such as case reference numbers, customer IDs, process types, processing statuses, or creation dates. This significantly simplifies document retrieval, archiving, and management. Particularly in public administrations, financial institutions, legal departments, and other regulated industries, Smart Metadata ensures that documents remain easily accessible and audit-proof at all times. This helps organizations meet compliance requirements, support audits, and fulfill legal retention and record-keeping obligations. The required metadata fields are defined centrally for each template and are automatically populated during document generation using data from connected systems or user input.

As a result, every document is correctly classified and efficiently searchable immediately after it is created. By doing so, SmartDocuments provides a solid foundation for structured document management, fast information retrieval, and transparent traceability of all relevant documents.

With its Brand Control feature, SmartDocuments ensures that all generated documents consistently comply with your organization's corporate design standards. This guarantees that citizen correspondence, customer communications, reports, contracts, and legal documents are always presented in a uniform, professional, and brand-compliant manner.

Central design guidelines for fonts, colors, logos, page layouts, and spacing are defined and managed across the organization. These standards are automatically applied to all templates and documents, allowing business departments to maintain content independently without affecting the approved design specifications. This prevents the use of outdated logos, inconsistent formatting, or unapproved designs. At the same time, a consistent visual identity enhances your organization's recognizability and helps build trust among citizens, customers, and business partners. Especially in larger organizations with multiple departments and a high volume of document templates, SmartDocuments helps protect and strengthen your brand identity while ensuring consistent communication across all document types.

Yes. SmartDocuments can automatically integrate tables, images, charts, and other content building blocks into documents. During document generation, the relevant content is dynamically retrieved from connected data sources and inserted into the appropriate location within the document. This makes it possible to enrich approvals, contracts, loan documents, quotations, reports, and other business documents with up-to-date data, analyses, and visual elements, without requiring any manual formatting or post-processing. Dynamic content building blocks are directly linked to the underlying data sources. SmartDocuments automatically generates tables, charts, and images at the time of document creation and intelligently adapts layouts, page breaks, and formatting to the specific content. The result is professionally designed documents with a consistent look and feel, supported by current and accurate data. At the same time, manual effort is reduced, errors are minimized, and the efficiency of creating complex documents is significantly increased.

Reusable content building blocks allow frequently used content to be managed centrally and reused across any number of document templates. Typical examples include legal clauses, privacy notices, corporate policies, standard text modules, and disclaimers. Instead of maintaining identical content separately in each template, these elements are created and managed once in a central content library. Document templates then reference the relevant building blocks as needed. This significantly simplifies template maintenance while ensuring consistency across all documents. When a content building block is updated, the latest version automatically becomes available in all linked templates. This enables organizations to make changes to legal wording, compliance requirements, or corporate policies centrally and roll them out organization-wide without having to modify each template individually.

As a result, maintenance effort is significantly reduced, potential sources of error are minimized, and employees can always work with up-to-date and approved content. Organizations with a large number of document templates particularly benefit from increased efficiency, stronger governance, and reliable compliance with regulatory requirements.

Yes. With SmartDocuments' live preview feature, users can see a preview of the final document while entering data. This allows them to immediately visualize how the finished document will look, even before it is actually generated. The preview is updated dynamically whenever data is entered or selection options are changed. As a result, content, formatting, and document structure can be reviewed at an early stage, and potential errors can be identified right away. Especially in environments with high document volumes, such as public administration, financial institutions, insurance companies, or legal departments, the live preview helps reduce rework and significantly increases the efficiency of document creation. By providing immediate visual feedback, users gain greater confidence throughout the document creation process. Errors can be detected before generation, saving time and improving the quality of the final documents.

What Do You Get at the End?

SmartDocuments supports document generation in a variety of formats, depending on the intended use case:

• PDF – for legally compliant document distribution and archiving
  • PDF 1.5 / 1.7 – standard formats for general use
  • PDF/A-1a / 1b – long-term archiving formats compliant with legal retention requirements
  • PDF/A-2a / 2u – modern archival formats with enhanced compatibility
  • PDF/UA-1 – accessible PDF format optimized for use with screen readers
• DOCX – for further editing in Microsoft Word
• ODT – for users of OpenOffice or LibreOffice
• HTML – for display in web applications or email templates
• XML (when used with system integrations) – for the structured transfer of all data collected in the SmartWizard to connected third-party systems

You can decide which output format, or combination of formats, should be generated. This flexibility allows documents to be used exactly as needed, whether for further editing, compliant archiving, digital delivery, or integration with third-party applications.

Personalized Mass Documents ...

Yes, the SmartDocuments template management system fully supports the creation of mail merge documents, both as individual documents (one document per recipient) and as a combined document that merges all individual letters into a single file.

Various formats can be used as data sources, including:

• Excel files
• SQL databases
• XML or JSON data structures.