Adobe Adds Document Cloud to Mix, Revamps Acrobat

I wouldn’t normally write about this here, because its relation to digital marketing is small, but Adobe’s introduction of a document cloud that could take on Google, Microsoft Office 365 and Box, among many others, is worth a mention.

It’s called the Adobe Document Cloud and it sits alongside Adobe’s Marketing Cloud and Creative Cloud – and it hooks into both. The Document Cloud is an online storage hub where users can view, create, edit, and share documents.

The Document Cloud includes a brand new version of Acrobat, called Acrobat DC, which includes e-signing capabilities (what we know as Adobe EchoSign), as well as tracking capabilities. Acrobat DC has a touch-enabled interface and uses Photoshop imaging to take a picture of any paper document and turn it into an editable digital document.

There are also new mobile apps: Acrobat Mobile and Fill and Sign – that support creating, editing and sharing and signing documents on smartphones and tablets. In addition, you can use your device’s camera to take a picture of the document and turn it into a digital file.

For those who move between desktop and devices, Mobile Link enables you to take your files, settings and signatures with you wherever you go.

The Document Cloud also integrates with SharePoint and MS Office, two of the most used productivity tools in organizations today.

There are two ways to get Document Cloud:

• End Users (Acrobat DC with Document Cloud): Three different versions include Reader, Standard and Pro – this one is only for managing and working with documents. It doesn’t include e-signing, workflow and other enterprise level capabilities.
• Enterprises (Document Cloud for Enterprises): Reader, Standard & Pro; Plus Advanced Enterprise e-sign capabilities, user controls, workflow and API/ 3rd party Integrations. The Document Cloud comes as part of the Creative Cloud subscription, or for others it starts at about $15/user/month.

Adobe Document Cloud isn’t available yet – Adobe says within the next 30 days it will be rolled out.

Everyone is Talking about the Document Cloud

The news broke early this am, and there’s no shortage of chatter about the Document Cloud. Everyone seems to like what they see, but most aren’t talking about the potential competition with other cloud document storage/management solutions. Adobe is saying it doesn’t compete with vendors like Box and DropBox, that it’s more complimentary with File Sync and Share options and maybe that’s true – for now. But if you are one of the Creative Cloud subscribers, which document management solution are you going to use to share and management your documents? And if you are using the Marketing Cloud, and generating online forms, which document management solution will you use?

Integration with SharePoint is smart, as is integration with Office. Some might question the lack of integration with Google Apps, but I expect that will only be a matter of time. And with a robust set of APIs that option may already be on the table.

In the end Adobe is covering all the angles for today’s organizations. It has the resources and the smarts to know what to do and how to get things done. And although we may talk about wanting best of breed over end-to-end with one vendor, the truth is it can be much easier to implement and manage a single set of vendor solutions than trying to piece together many different ones (although I’m sure Adobe would say everything it offers is best of breed!).

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