ActiveDocs vs. Windward Core

I often use ActiveDocs for team building materials. During the day to day rush, we really like to use the models provided, we can be agile with that ease. And the team can share different documents. We no longer have to spend hours in front of the computer typing up a document that can easily be created in minutes.

Incentivized

AutoTag is a brilliant solution for less complex reports where native Microsoft Office output is required. This is where AutoTag really shines. It's also appropriate in situations where our customers want to develop and maintain their own reports but don't necessarily want to commit an experienced data person or report developer to do the work. For complex report requirements that need JavaScript or considerable data manipulation inside the report templates, we will continue to look at other tools in our kit.

Incentivized

• Easy to use for basic users, extremely configurable for advanced users.
• Deep Microsoft Word integration ensuring consistent document output.

Incentivized

• AutoTag can easily be connected to virtually any data source. The wizard walks you through all the needed steps. This is very helpful in getting reports from multiple sources or departments.
• WindWard has put together a Wiki based user guide and has the best tech support I have ever worked with. For the rare occasions that we get stuck trying to convert a report the help is plentiful.
• AutoTag is built within the Office suite and is therefore able to leverage all the familiar features. This is very useful when you need to make reports useful and appealing.

• The built-in template designs are a bit lackluster. While there are numerous, they all have the same blase style and formatting
• The built-in template designs are not very diverse and could be expanded upon.

Incentivized

• It would be very helpful if it was possible for tag logic to handle an array of data. Without it, the syntax can become very verbose when there are multiple logical conditions to check.
• Most tags are only built to handle a single piece of data so it can be a little confusing when a query only appears to return 1 record.

Incentivized

Very good usability overall. Any user can pick this up and run with it. HotDocs, the closest competitor, has similar end-user usability, but from a designer of templates perspective, ActiveDocs definitely has the edge in this regard. I would recommend this for any company that mass produces documents from templates as deliverables.

Incentivized

For the most part, the Windward report designer is intuitive for our users; but there are a few areas where it is less intuitive. In these cases, our users need to search Windwards support wiki site, or even contact their support technicians. This can also be due to the short time we've had Windward and our lack of knowledge.

Incentivized

The software overall is very excellent. It responds quickly and produces documents well. The integration with systems makes data input easy. Questions can be designed to allow further expansion of template creation/customization. The rules section is very useful for complicated If/Than/Else style templates. Although experience and training help, the software is very user-friendly out of the box.

Incentivized

ActiveDocs can be a considerably complex product because your use cases can be potentially endless. In our experience, when we have come across a problem or issue with the product ActiveDoc's support has always responded to our queries within 24 hours. Support is only provided via email in 95% of cases. Each year your support and maintenance includes support hours. These are used when you contact support and your issue is not found to be a bug or problem with the product (completely fair and understandable). When we've identified or discovered bugs (mainly with the latest version of Word) it is patched by the next release. They typically release about 4-5 updates per year.

Incentivized

Support is something they take pride in. Once an issue is raised, they are quick to respond and provide details on a fix. No complaints on support here.

ActiveDocs and HotDocs are very similar. HotDocs requires training or a technically savvy mind to pick up and run with. ActiveDocs seems much more user-friendly and easy to use. HotDocs, however, can produce some very intricate documents based on the templates. Both use rules and question-based information intake. Another benefit of ActiveDocs is its integration with numerous systems including Office 365.

Incentivized

Prior to Windward, we were using an HTML to PDF conversion for our reporting solution. It required substantial development to create and modify our reports and the styling was never up to our standards. Windward has certainly helped decrease our time in developing and modifying reports and has also helped us greatly improve the styling of them as well.

Incentivized

• ActiveDocs allows us to create, edit and validate any type of content quickly and with no coding skills.
• Easy and quick editing.
• Really flexible and simple to set up
• Helped us achieve a much higher level of efficiency in our daily operations.

Incentivized

• As a fully integrated solution, the ROI is impacted when a client gets stickier with our solution because they see the benefit of Windward.
• Support has been fantastic for our development team so that as we integrate the solutions we have a clear and clean design.

Incentivized