Let’s face it, talking about document control or document management is probably not a topic you would pick to discuss at any gathering.
However, understanding document management can make a major impact for your organisation. In this article we will cover the fundamentals of document management.
In a nutshell, document management is the capture, storage and retrieval of documents. With or without document management solution, your organisation already captures, stores and retrieves documents every day. In many organisation this process is not properly implemented. These are some of the pitfalls in not running a proper document management solution:
- No version control
- Multiple source locations dependent upon business unit
- Uncertain ownership between business units
- Processes not streamlined
- No integration with business system for the core data
- Not secure
Information these days is not just stored in documents. Key knowledge elements of information can be found in social posts or a team chat room, even in blogs, discussion groups and many more. A stand alone Document management system that only manages document based information is not enough. That is where organisations today are integrating various sources of information into a Knowledge Management hub. With the digital transformation phenomenon, Knowledge Management and digitalisation of data has been helping organisations retain, reuse important information and assists in making quick and informed decisions.
In understanding this need, Prometix has developed a framework to deliver the Document and Knowledge management in Microsoft’s SharePoint platform (on premise or cloud).
Prometix document management planning process consists of the following high level steps:
Identifying roles of various stakeholders: This is the first step in overall document management planning, wherein, we define and analyse organisations’ key stakeholders.
Identifying the different business units: This is the step to identify which business units will be using this document management.
Identifying various data sources: including file shares, social groups and forums, various information hubs, structured and unstructured data sets and many more
Change Management and Adoption: forms one of the most important aspects of any successful documents and knowledge management roll outs.
Identifying different document types and associated process: This is key step in getting information from various business units to collect all the document types are being used. This process will collect following information:
- What type documents?
- Who owns the document?
- Who can view/edit the document
- What is the process of creating and approving the documents?
Define document lifecycle: includes the process from creating a document to either archiving it or completely deleting it from the knowledge system.
Information architecture: Information architecture (IA) is the art and science of structuring and organising documents that support business goals and objectives. The construction of an IA is the act of specifying the systems that will hold the data that support the business. Within the IA the navigational, operational and business taxonomies’ provide the means to help users, ‘store’ and ‘retrieve’ information. This also covers who can view/edit documents. Prometix has developed a framework to create an effective information architecture for different business sectors.
Workflow planning: Defining document approval process for a specific document type.
Plan for ongoing governance: SharePoint roles and responsibilities define the people who will govern and manage the SharePoint environment, along with their various areas of responsibility. Documenting roles and responsibilities is a critical aspect of the governance framework for a SharePoint rollout.
Document Migration: It is expected that there will be a significant portion of documents that will need to be migrated from the current location to the new document management solution. Prometix proposes following activities included as part of the migration process –
- Analysis of Data Migration Requirements
- Scoping of data to be migrated
- Analysis of nature of data to be migrated which includes rules for migration and potential issues
- Required data cleansing activities
- Design Data Migration processes Mechanism
- Define areas for – Automated Vs Manual migration
- Design mechanism for ensuing traceability and auditability of the data migration process.
Finally Transition: is a key factor and includes accessing various technical and functional dependencies before teams can be transitioned to the new Knowledge platform.
About Prometix: At Prometix, we design implement and support Microsoft based technology solutions that help our client’s staff to more easily use and share information as individuals and in teams. We work with our clients to establish a structure that makes information easier to create, store, find and share with others. We’ve worked hard to understand how people want to access and share information.
For more information on our success stories please feel free to call us on (02) 8072 0666 or email enquiries@prometix.com.au
