Electronic Document

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Electronic Document Records Management System
ProjectMalcolm Whyte, CiCS
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Introduction

• Phase 1
• Initial investigation What is EDRMS and what
  does it mean to the University?
• Information Gathering
• Conclusions and Recommendations
• Phase 2
• Scoping Exercise Student Services/Teaching
  Learning Support Unit (TLSU)
• Information Gathering
• Methodology workbook
• Conclusions (wider context, project specific,
  next steps)

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Phase 1 Information Gathering

• Internal
• Which department(s) would benefit from such a
  pilot and why?
• Previous work with departments Student Services
  and TLSU
• Wanted to understand what they did and how they
  did it
• Talked to individuals what were their issues and
  problems
• Based on RM principles Functions and Activities

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Phase 1 Information Gathering (2)

• External
• Web sites Software suppliers and other
  organisations
• National Archives
• JISC (Digital Preservation Coalition) and Records
  Management project
• University of Manchester (Livelink)
• University of Bradford (Epository)
• AIIM/IM University Document Management (CDIA 4
  day course) www.imuniversity.org.uk
• Serengeti Systems Ltd
• Perceptive Vision Inc. presentation
• AIIM IMEXPO 2003

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Conclusions and Recommendations

• Report for Management Application Group
• Established what we thought EDRMS was
• Highlighted the benefits of its introduction and
  problems it could address
• Business Processes Review was critical to success
  how and why are things done the way they are
• Technology is the enabler to improving solutions
  not an end in itself
• The importance of a good RM infrastructure
• Further investigative work required, not a small
  task
• Two preferred departments to investigate
• Other areas of interest e.g. digital signature
  technology, email management, change management
  issues

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Phase 2 Scoping Exercise

• Possibility of a pilot in one of two areas
• Student Services
• Registry Services, Student Support and Guidance,
  Student Administration
• Predominantly forms based and case files, process
  driven
• Approx. 60 staff
• TLSU
• Part of the Academic Division
• Predominantly collaborative and document based
  ARTQ, QAA
• Approx. 30 staff (Academic Division c. 100
  staff)

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Phase 2 Information Gathering

• Internal
• Service Level Agreements Functions and
  Activities
• Meetings with Staff
• Meetings in CiCS
• Web CMS
• Portal
• Multi Function Devices
• Technical infrastructure
• FOI
• Interaction with other areas keeps on broadening

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Phase 2 Information Gathering (2)

• External
• Adobe Electronic Web forms processing
  demonstration
• Documentum / Serengeti / Objective
• IM EXPO 2004
• Butler Group presentation on Document Management
• Web Sites / Documentation
• BS ISO 15489 and PD 0008
• JISC
• National Archives UK and Australia
• Conspectus www.conspectus.com
• Butler Group www.butlergroup.com
• Gartner Group www.gartner.com

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Phase 2 Methodology (3)

• Interviews with staff
• Identified problems and issues re. current
  processes
• Talked to those undertaking activities. Nearly
  all positive regarding benefits of EDRMS
• Mapped the SLAs to the FAM / RRS
• Mapping departmental business processes two
  different approaches stemming from different
  requirements and ways of working
• Student Services mapped from forms
• TLSU mapped from SLAs
• Established quantities of records and record flows

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Proposed Solution - EDRMS Overview
Documents/Records support the business process
and provide evidence of transactions.
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Proposed Solution Main Requirements

• Student Services
• Electronic Student File searchable repository
  of student-related forms and documents in
  electronic format.
• Mechanism allowing students to electronically
  complete and submit forms via the web for
  workflow processing.
• TLSU
• Collaboration environment to facilitate the
  development and sharing of documents.
• RM/DM functionality
• Integration with other systems and the Sheffield
  technical environment
• Business Process Management

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Recommendations

• From the findings of the work undertaken within
  the scoping exercise, it is recommended
• That Student Services be selected as the pilot
  installation.
• That a pilot system be run in parallel with
  current paper-based systems to minimise
  implementation risks.
• That collaboration functionality is implemented
  and tested as part of the pilot installation.

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Reasoning

• Risk Factor
• Business processes are optimised and well
  established. Fundamental re-engineering of
  processes is not required prior to EDRMS
  implementation.
• Need a successful pilot to provide a showcase
  system and to ensure successful staged roll-out.
  Risk associated with an unsuccessful pilot
  appears smaller.
• Web Forms Processing
• Forms are the main source of data, but current
  systems do not enable electronic capture and
  processing. Subsequent business processes are
  therefore heavily paper-based.
• Capture and processing of web-forms is relevant
  to other areas within the University and is
  viewed by CiCS as a priority issue.

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Reasoning (2)

• Improved level of customer service
• Benefits of EDRMS directly visible to students.
• Information available to customer-facing staff in
  real-time - queries more likely to be resolved on
  first visit with less waiting time.
• Improved self-service provision.
• Top-up fees will increase expectations - EDRMS
  will add value to the student experience.
• Cultural impact
• Students likely to readily accept new technology
  and changes to the way they interact with the
  University.

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Phase 2 Conclusions (2)

• Specific context
• Identification of a pilot area for an EDRMS pilot
• How it could work benefits and potential
  problems / issues
• Appreciation of the scale of the task and
  resources involved
• Better understanding of information management
  issues and practices
• Access to departments in terms of RM and FOI
• Start of Corporate RM standards / practices and
  documentation

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Phase 2 - Conclusions

• Wider context
• RM / business process analysis must underpin the
  technological solution
• Technology can do pretty much what you want BUT
• Dependant upon your needs and requirements
• Costing the solution easy and difficult at the
  same time
• Time and effort is substantial
• Change of culture
• Converging issues EDRMS / Web CMS / Portal / RM
  / FOI
• The future
• Enterprise Content Management
• Business Process Management
• Process-centric not document-centric

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Business Process Mapping

• Typical Process - Student Services Change of
  Status Form
• This process comprises the following steps
• Completion of form by student.
• Approval/annotation by Academic Department.
• Approval by Taught Programmes Office.
• Update of CIS.
• Copying of authorised form to student and
  relevant departments.

2
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Issues Identified

• Documents/records captured in paper format
• Existing web forms must be downloaded and printed
  before completion and submission - subsequent
  business processes are heavily paper-based.
• Paper processing
• Cost of paper, printing, photocopying, postage.
• Staff time in filing, locating/retrieving,
  disposing of paper records.
• Retention of paper records
• Large numbers of paper records, retained for many
  years -extensive long-term storage space
  requirements.
• Duplicate records held within academic
  departments
• Additional storage problems and costs within
  departments.
• Confidential paper waste disposal costs
• Applies also to duplicate records held within
  academic departments.

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Issues Identified

• Recycling
• University currently recycles 1-2 tonnes of paper
  per week.
• Majority of printing is single-sided, as are
  majority of printers.
• Sharing of/access to information and records
• Lack of a collaboration environment in which to
  share and manage documents - version control,
  changes history, search/retrieval, retention
  scheduling, role-based security.
• Publishing of documents to a wider audience - no
  means for users to search for/subscribe to
  documents or folders of interest.
• Paper records must be physically located and
  retrieved from storage areas. Unless
  photocopied, can only be used by one person at a
  time.

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Issues Identified

• No facility to routinely capture important email
  records
• Legislation
• Freedom of Information Act - documents/records
  may be held in numerous locations. Must be
  located/collated to answer FOI requests - time
  consuming.
• Data Protection - e.g. copies of Medical Notes
  circulated to academic departments for
  notification and local retention.
• Disaster recovery
• Paper records susceptible to fire, flood, theft,
  malicious damage - need to identify vital records.

5
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Pilot System Key Requirements

• Electronic Student File searchable repository
  of student-related forms and documents in
  electronic format. Integration with CIS access
  a student via CIS, EDRMS enables search/retrieval
  of the students documents/records.
• Mechanism allowing students to electronically
  complete and submit forms via the web for
  workflow processing.
• Collaboration environment to facilitate the
  development and sharing of documents by staff.

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• There is nothing more difficult to plan, more
  doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage
  than the creation of a new system. For the
  initiator has the enmity of all who would profit
  by the preservation of the old institutions, and
  merely lukewarm defenders in those who should
  gain by new ones.
• Niccolo Machiavelli

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Benefits of RM

• Reduces Inefficiency
• Improves Services students / staff / third
  parties
• Improves Decision Making
• Improves Accountability
• Legislative Compliance FOI and DPA

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Electronic Records

• The same but different
• Creation
• Management
• Long term preservation

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FOI

• I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig.
  You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.
• George Bernard Shaw

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Compliance

• FOI will drive better RM
• Section 46 Code of Practice
• Good RM will improve legislative compliance
• Further legislation on RM is coming

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Further guidance

• JISC Guidance on RM
• http//www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/InfoKits/records-mana
  gement
• JISC mailing list
• http//www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/RECORDS-MANAGEMENT
  -UK.html
• http//www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/university-rms.htm
  l

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FOI / DPA guidance

• The Department for Constitutional Affairs
• http//www.dca.gov.uk/foi/
• The Information Commissioner
• http//www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
• Liverpool John Moores University Blog
• http//foia.blogspot.com/