Document Management / Electronic Records Management in the Department of Internal Affairs (Presentation for Govis Session 23 April 2002)
Introduction I am Jean Cavaney Work for Dept of Internal Affairs Two Titles – was Manager of Facilities Information / now Principal Advisor Records Management (currently a project role) Project Steering Committee Member Belong in the Information and Facilities area (IT, IM, plus others)
Dept of Internal Affairs The Challenge -- Complex dept 1000 employees -- 38 sites, 20 centres in NZ 11 Business Groups (varied activities e.g. Gaming & Censorship Regulation versus Ministry of Civil Deference and Emergency Management). Largely devolved. Multiple units within some business groups – e.g. – GCR with Censorship, Casinos, Gaming Licensing, Gaming Compliance At least 4 Business groups (BGs) have been restructured in last 2 years (including my own area) Mobile / field workers (3 BGs) The Project Introduction of a records and document management system across the department Replaced Trim software (data conversion) – large task (nearly 40,000 applicant files alone) Physical and electronic documents managed together Life cycle management -- i.e. managing documents during creation / when they become records / managing physical folders (files) The selected product --Lotus Notes Application –Re-developed the Ministry of Health document management system adding a file classification structure and records management capabilities.
Question : Over the life of your project what were the biggest drivers that helped push ERM/DM through? Senior Management awareness of: - Statutory obligations, business risk, best practice - Awareness developed through presentations / papers / audit of current practices/ conversations. Real risk experiences after restructuring in 1997
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Growth of shared drives (issues -- version control, duplication of documents, retrieval), loss of emails etc Need for BGs to work as one across NZ (efficiency / effectiveness) e.g. sharing information on same client Champions – IT/ IM area but also in some BGs (the vision of what could be) Purchase of Lotus Notes – a new way of working vision
Question : How did you sell it and get real funding : in a series of projects, or as one continuous business case, or some other way? Series of Projects Early projects included – Records Management Policy Implementation 1998. A high level policy statement was approved in 1996-- compliance with Archives legislation, central listing of records, requirement to develop retention and disposal schedules) Implementation Project included-- audit questionnaire (e.g. covered induction practices / practices of managing electronic and paper records), appraisal work / retention & disposal schedules, development of records management standards
Corporate Data Model Project 1999 (Wang Ltd) Objective was to locate and scope DIA’s current knowledge base – e.g. applications, documents, emails and issues of sharing knowledge / information These projects set the stage for the document management project Plus the informal selling by IT/IM of the need for a document management system
Question : What practical steps were taken?
Document Management Project 1999 Stage 1 --Project plan approved February 1999 Formation of an across DIA project team (reps from all BGs) Background work –definitions / research, user requirements, legal requirements Investigation of technology options Development of a strategy for DIA Stage 2 Strategy presentation Paper presented June 1999 Approval in principle to proceed with strategy and go to the market Project team and steering committee members to continue Senior management agreed to provide strong leadership 2
Began file classification development (some consultant help) Granting of some basic funding
Stage 3 Selection of technology / development of standards and principles FFI / RFP and case development Development of corporate standards and guidelines (the environment needed for the DMS) (2 stages – draft document and then requesting senior management input) Stage 4 Approval Business case presented to senior management October 1999 Request to proceed with recommended purchase Approval of standards and principles paper Agreement of pilot group composition Stage 5 Planning Contract negotiation Functional specification development Acceptance testing Implementation plan development File classification development Development of documentation / training materials Briefing of pilot group Stage 6 Going live Pilot group went live May 2000 After about one month – implementation for other business groups. Upgrades / acceptance testing Records management module available July 2000 Trim conversion project March 2001 Post- implementation Locking down shared drives Limiting mail boxes Retention & disposal module testing
Question : In hindsight, what could have been done differently? Realised that rolling out a document management system is not like rolling out any other software application We lacked an awareness of the size of what we were trying to do. We should have proposed a longer implementation period and extra resource. Why -- a cultural change is involved – asking people to work differently (resentment / fear of change / lack of trust in new).
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-More provision of support at individual’s desktop plus helpdesk resource -Need to explain benefits – can be different for different groups. -The concept of sharing is foreign in many cases -Knowledge of records management principles / business continuity requirements needs to be taught. Started with a basic training format – beginners guide –(not try to cover everything) Different format of user manual – trainer who is familiar with the system and DIA (including the concepts) Offered basic computer skills training from day one (great variety of levels of computer literacy) Spent more time finding out how your organisation works – what people really do. File classification development - More skilled resource needed. - A standard template for the basic admin/functions for each BG would have been useful. - File classification is critical to success -- if not right users will not use system. Accepted that restructurings / other priority projects are going to cause extra stresses and expect delays
Question : In terms of information accessibility, can you state where the organisation was positioned, where it is now, what it will be doing next? Document Management Before the DMS Two examples The only way of sharing documents across DIA was as email attachments – putting real stress on the email system. Staff were re-doing work as couldn’t find originals – or were spending hours looking. The Now Complete the DMS implementation -- by end of June 2002. All BGs are currently using the system to some extent – but needs to be expanded to all sites (some line speed issues) The Next Year Metadata fields were designed with best knowledge of the time (e.g. Dublin Core) – may need minor change Review the DMS project including quality control check of databases Need Archives NZ signoff on system. Implement the Retention and Disposal Module / move material to inactive storage
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DIA Website – This Year Relaunched this year – NZGLS Metadata and accessibility requirements Content management -- (Notes based)– grateful for Ministry of Health sharing their development. Next Web content to be archived back into the document management system (DMS) Online (Web) access for DIA Customers -Last 18 Months Identity Services – enquiries (Call Centre) – Have own DMS database for managing the emails e-licensing for Gaming Group COGs on-line for Community Development (Community Organisation Grants – Crown funding) Next
Lottery Grants Applications On-line
Portal / Intranet for DIA Internal use Now Have basic menu environment in place – policies procedures, link to Helpdesk, Bulletin Board etc Project Underway Tailoring the portal for individual BGs General IT Development Positioning for sharing across agencies – complying with e-government standards Question : The fundamental change has been what? Cultural Change at End User Level Staff are working differently e.g. sharing across BG lines (avoiding duplication e.g. property management), document links not emails Learning to manage paper and electronic together Thinking outside the square – and coming up with own ideas – call centre email recording, EMT minutes link to Portal, ideas for enhancements to DMS Partnership Between IT and IM areas – we are now the same business group I&F with other BGs – real partnership, DMS Champions in each BG – Collective involvement in other systems and where they fit in with the DMS Acceptance of idea – that records management requirements must be considered in any database development.
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Reduction of risk Documents are less likely to found on hard disks or personal drives Documents filed in a logical structure Emails can be captured / reduction of email load (doc links) Retrieval tools now available Electronic documents in structure that matches paper records Databases are clustered – with planned business continuity site outside of Wellington Better security e.g. doc links not email attachments, security at database, folder or document level if needed
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