The Document and Content Management Decision Matrix
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The document presents a decision matrix developed by Silverside to guide business executives and IT managers in selecting appropriate document and content management solutions based on usage needs and control preferences. It outlines four solution quadrants: document sharing, document collaboration, document point solution, and enterprise content management (ECM), emphasizing the importance of understanding document lifecycles and organizational requirements. Silverside recommends a hybrid approach or the Docova Document Manager as effective methods to span the matrix and meet various organizational needs.
The Document and Content Management Decision Matrix
- 2. Executive Summary The Document and Content Management Decision Matrix was developed by Silverside to help Business Executives, IT Managers and End Users understand the broad spectrum of technologies used to manage, share and use business documents & content – collectively known as ‘Document Sharing’, ‘Document Collaboration’ and/or ‘Document Management’ solutions. The Matrix is part educational, part selection tool, used to guide a customer towards the most appropriate solution area based on (i) the degree of usage or need and (ii) the degree of central control the organization requires or wants to exert over its documents and content. Our Matrix contains 4 solution quadrants: Document Sharing, Document Collaboration, Document Point Solution and Enterprise Content Management. Often at the conclusion of an exploratory discussion, a customer will perceive themselves landing in two or three quadrants, not just a single one. We call this ‘spanning the Matrix’. Silverside recommends two (2) different options to span the Matrix: (i) Deploy a hybrid model comprising of multiple solutions from each quadrant or (ii) Pick the Document Management solution that ‘Gets it Right’: Docova Document Manager.
- 3. Table of Contents Part I: The Life (and Death) of a Document ......................................................4 Stage I: Document Creation ..............................................................................4 Stage II: Review and Approval .......................................................................... 4 Stage III: Release.............................................................................................. 4 Stage IV: Retirement.........................................................................................4 Part II: The Document and Content Management Decision Matrix Primer ...5 Horizontal Axis: Degree of Usage Specificity .................................................... 5 Vertical Axis: Degree of Central Control............................................................5 Part III: Mapping to the Decision Matrix............................................................7 Quadrant I: Document Sharing.......................................................................... 7 Quadrant II: Document Collaboration ................................................................ 9 Quadrant III: Document Point Solution............................................................10 Quadrant IV: ECM (Full Document and Content Management ) ..................... 11 Part IV: The Silverside Advice: Span the Matrix for the Best Results.......... 13 About Silverside................................................................................................ 15 About the Authors ............................................................................................15 -3-
- 4. Part I: The Life (and Death) of a Document Every document has a ‘life’ and ultimately a ‘death’. Factors like regulatory laws, corporate policies, and the type of content will impact how long that life will be. Whether a document lives for seven (7) days or beyond seven years, every document goes through the same four (4) stage lifecycle: Document Creation, Review/Approval, Release, and Retirement. Stage I: Document Creation Everything has a starting point. For a document, this is in the form of either (i) a Document Draft or (ii) an Electronic Document Capture. 1. Document Draft Creation The process of developing a new document through new and/or repurposed content materials. The draft document is created either by an individual or a group or team of people (“document collaboration”) 2. Document Capture The process of converting a paper-based document into an electronic replica Stage II: Review and Approval Once the Author(s) have created the final document, it might have to be fully vetted before being authorized (“Approved”) for its intended use. Note: Those documents not requiring a formal approval, this stage is combined with Stage III. Stage III: Release The formally Approved document becomes “Released” – entering a static state in which no modifications or edits can occur. At this point, the document is placed into a repository to be accessed and consumed by a broader audience or is advanced to its intended audience (ie. A proposal sent to a client or an expense claim to be paid). Stage IV: Retirement Very few things are timeless. A document enters “Retirement” when it becomes irrelevant (the information has changed, used for its intended purpose, etc). When Retired, the document is either (i) retained for future reference (“Archived”) or (ii) permanently destroyed (“Deleted”). -4-
- 5. Part II: The Document and Content Management Decision Matrix Primer From our numerous conversations with customers, we found many shared the same confusion and/or misconceptions regarding solutions labeled ‘Document Sharing’, ‘Document Collaboration’ and/or ‘Document Management’. These discussions formed the foundation of the Document and Content Management Decision Matrix. The Decision Matrix serves as our discussion tool, guiding customers through the large spectrum of technologies found in the areas of Document Sharing, Document Collaboration and Document Management. Whether employing the Matrix with Business Executives, IT managers, and/or End Users, the tool provides focus; framing the potential benefits and drawbacks of a particular solution in context of the expected usage, document lifecycle, IT strategy and end user requirements. Horizontal Axis: Degree of Usage Specificity The horizontal axis measures the Degree of the Usage Specificity. Do you need to: Share files for only one short term event (ie. a project) or really need to share all files across the organization? Improve one specific process or would multiple document and content-driven processes benefit from a repeatable approach? The more specific or defined the need, the greater likelihood the solution is available ‘out of the box’. Vertical Axis: Degree of Central Control The vertical axis measures the Degree of Central Control. -5-
- 6. In other words, the vertical axis measures the extent to which business content or documents are subjected to regulatory compliance, corporate policies, organizational ‘comfort’ level and/or aligned with business processes. Not all documents and content need to be treated equal, so they don’t have to be controlled in the same manner. Some documents must be tightly integrated with business processes, others have no connection. Some types of content must have one version of truth, for others it’s not as critical. The preference for control will dictate the course of action. Where you land vertically on the Matrix is partially determined by Who should retain “Administrative” control over the document: The organization (IT Group), End Users or some mix in-between. -6-
- 7. Part III: Mapping to the Decision Matrix Quadrant I: Document Sharing “I just want to share some files for my (small) project” Users just want to quickly share their files. Document Sharing solutions aim to make it easy for people to share documents within a group. The core functionality of Sharing solutions focus on the simple sharing of documents. The solutions are hosted by a 3rd party. Users don’t have to wait for IT to make a ‘decision’; they can instantly start sharing files by just creating an account with one of the readily available services on the Internet. -7-
- 8. Functionality for the Document Lifecycle Functionality beyond document sharing is either non-existent or very simplistic and static. This limited functionality makes these solutions ideal for only one purpose: to share files and documents. Examples Google® Docs LotusLive® 4Shared.com Benefits: Instant availability Cost: Free to very low End Users can control their own destiny Drawbacks: No structure – everyone has their own idea on structuring their ‘information’. This could become very chaotic very quickly rd External ownership of documents. Documents reside on a 3 party server outside your control, your firewall. You’re dependant on the 3rd party for security No warranties / guarantees. Documents get deleted? Too bad. Service goes down? Tough luck. Backups probably don’t exist Reliable Internet access required No IT control, no IT involvement. For documents that carry an inherent degree of risk, Document Sharing solutions represent a significant amount of unnecessary risk Lack of expansion. The platform ‘is what it is’, expansion will not be possible -8-
- 9. Quadrant II: Document Collaboration “We want to roll out Collaboration functionality across the organization. We’re willing to make the investment” Organizations who want more than simple sharing are initially attracted to Document Collaboration solutions. Going beyond simple sharing, Document Collaboration solutions aim to make it easier for groups of people to jointly create documents and share them within their group. The core functionality is focused on driving out the inefficiencies associated with creating draft documents (Stage One of the document lifecycle). Functionality for the Document Lifecycle Functionality and tools are concentrated towards jointly creating documents within a group or team, with these tools generally easier to use than those provided with a typical ECM solution. While Collaboration solutions have deeper functionality than Sharing solutions, common features like version control, check in/check out, security and workflow are still relatively basic and not at the level of depth contained within an ECM solution. Examples IBM Lotus® Quickr® Microsoft SharePoint® TM EMC Documentum® eRoom Benefits: Customizable User Interface. Standards can be set Designed for ‘Ease to use’ Internal ownership of documents and content Administrative Control and Insight. Better insight into the usage, control over storage of the documents, etc Integration with Business Productivity applications (Microsoft Office, email, etc) Broad usage -9-
- 10. Drawbacks: Cost: Requires hardware, software licenses, and general maintenance and administrative support End users can control Security and Privileges for documents and content. Might result in a violation of your corporate policies Requires specific version of business applications and add-ins Just because it’s offered and available, doesn’t mean it’ll get used. End users may need some education on why they should use the solution Quadrant III: Document Point Solution “We just need to get a handle on Process X” Your view or need is narrow: You just want to make Process X more productive. You want full control over that specific type of document as it relates to a specific process -- and have no concern for other processes or document types. In other words, you want the ECM functionality (Quadrant IV) for just one or two documents or processes. Typical examples include managing incoming invoices, Quality Management systems, and managing proposals. Functionality for the Document Lifecycle Point Solutions are designed to handle the complete lifecycle of a particular type of document or content as it relates to a particular process. This limits the ability to extend the same functionality to different documents within the organization. For Document Creation, some Point Solutions may limit themselves to just Document Capture functionality. Examples BasWare Square - 10 -
- 11. Benefits: Ready to go ‘right out of the box’: The solution has built-in document templates to facilitate the specific document type required “Experience Included”: The vendor has probably already ‘baked in’ the latest best practices in relation to the process you’re trying to solve Fast implementation Pre-calculated Return on Investment (ROI): Based on previous experience, vendor has a firm idea of the expected ROI. Some vendors may offer a guaranteed ROI. Rich Document Management functionality specific to one particular process Drawbacks: Limited Customization: If you have a specific requirement not addressed by the solution, you may be out of luck. Extending beyond the initial application into other Document Management applications is not possible Solves only one problem area. Multiple solutions are required for each problem or challenge Require Multiple Point Solutions? Each one will have different User Interface. Users will have to manage multiple profiles, IDs and passwords Product development is dependant on the vendor’s future vision of the process or problem area High entry investment Quadrant IV: ECM (Full Document and Content Management ) “We want full control over our documents and content, but want to make our people and processes more productive at the same time …” The AIIM Association defines Enterprise Content Management (ECM) as “the strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes1.” The goal of ECM is to control all aspects of all documents or content within the organization over its entire lifetime to ensure compliance with corporate policies and/or regulatory laws. ECM usage can be limited to just a particular process (see “Document Point Solution” above) or across all the documents, content and processes within the organization (“Document and Content Management”). True ECM requires a long term, strategic view for your documents and content, as the implementation can take several months or years to be truly effective. 1 AIIM ECM Definition: http://www.aiim.org/What-is-ECM-Enterprise-Content-Management.aspx - 11 -
- 12. Functionality for the Document Lifecycle While spanning the entire document lifecycle, traditional ECM solutions are perceived to be too difficult, time consuming and/or expensive to use. This has limited their use during the Document Draft Creation stage. Therefore most ECM solutions are known for their deep, robust functionality for controlling all aspects of the document after the Initial Document Creation stage. Examples IBM FileNet® IBM Content Manager® EMC Documentum® TM OpenText eDocs Alfresco Enterprise Edition Benefits: Complete control over your documents and content One platform, one user experience Integration opportunities (Business Office Productivity suites, Enterprise applications, email, etc) High availability Highly customizable Applicable to multiple document types. Reusable across many processes Drawbacks: High license costs, long implementation times, and complex to manage Multiple servers often required User Interface traditionally not user friendly. Users don’t like using it Users view some compliance requirements as barriers to getting their job done Requires specific expertise to implement and make successful - 12 -
- 13. Part IV: The Silverside Advice: Span the Matrix for the Best Results Business Users like the relative simplicity of a Document Collaboration solution because of the associated ‘quick start’ and ease of use capability these solutions possess vs. traditional ECM solutions. Document Point solutions are appealing because everything is “ready out-of-the-box” and the process headaches can be solved almost immediately. In contrast, the ECM solution strongly appeals to the IT group because of the flexibility to manage multiple document and content types, while offering a potential for long term savings and better customization vs. leveraging multiple Document Point solutions. Most decisions get stuck or delayed, as each stakeholder group weighs in on which approach is the better choice: Solve one tactical challenge now without considering the rest of the organization or Invest the time to solve multiple challenges and move the organization in a more strategic direction with one solution or approach? Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. Rather than minimizing the trade offs with an ‘Either/Or’ decision, the concerns of both groups can be satisfied by spanning the Matrix quadrants: 1. Combine Document Collaboration with Document Point Solution(s) or ECM Under this hybrid model, End Users benefit from a Standardized User Experience. Adding new ‘functionality’ through different Point Solutions becomes seamless to the User with a common, standardized Collaboration interface. This model becomes challenging when multiple Point Solutions are involved, because each one must be managed and maintained separately. The functionality contained in one Point Solution may not be available in another, thus might create End User conflict (Ie. “I have it for X, I don’t understand why I can’t have it for Y…”). 2. Pick a Document Management solution void of the traditional ECM drawbacks: Docova® Document Manager - 13 -
- 14. Docova has done an excellent job of addressing the performance gap between Document Collaboration and ECM solutions by combining ‘Right for You’ ECM functionality with the intuitive user experience & collaborative tools associated with Document Collaboration solutions. Docova is very intriguing because it’s the only solution we’ve recommended that combines the strengths of each quadrant solution into one product – essentially allowing Docova to span multiple quadrants in our matrix. As such, we recommend Docova be included in most research or selection process discussions. We base this recommendation on: “Rich-Enough” Functionality Most organizations don’t require all the functionalities associated with ECM solutions. Docova provides a solid, deep feature set that will satisfy most organizational IT requirements for the next 3-5 years, while releasing regular updates with new and enhanced functionality. Ease of Use (Intuitive User Experience) One of Docova’s core advantages is Ease of Use for both End Users and IT Developers. The User Interface can be standardized and tailored, creating cost savings on training and End User errors. In fact, our customers report Docova is so simple to learn that they don’t require extensive training, leading to additional cost savings up-front (vs. other solutions). Lower Total Cost of Ownership From a licensing perspective, Docova is less expensive versus the Collaboration-Point Solution hybrid model (and against other ECM solutions as well). Administration: One Platform. While the User Experience is standardized under the Document Collaboration & Point Solution hybrid model, you’re still managing and maintaining separate underlying platforms. With Docova, you’re managing only one platform. Flexibility and Speed to Develop Rolling out new document and content applications doesn’t take months, only a few days with Docova. This critical factor enables organizations to achieve the Document Point solution’s ‘near instant’ usage on a reusable, extendable platform again and again – without the additional license costs for multiple Point solutions. - 14 -
- 15. About Silverside Silverside is an IBM award-winning Business Partner specializing in Document Management, Social Intranet, and Enterprise Search. Silverside is based in the Netherlands (Gouda). About the Authors Roland Driesen, Business Consultant & Founder, Silverside. Roland Driesen founded Silverside in 1998 as one of the first companies to focus purely on Knowledge Management. Over the past twelve (12) years, Roland has worked actively with over one hundred clients in building Document Management and Social Intranets solutions. Always inquisitive, Roland is an avid adventurer, always seeking to climb that next highest mountain or exploring another isolated desert. Femke Goedhart, Sr. Consultant, Silverside. Femke Goedhart has been involved with numerous IBM Lotus products over the last ten (10) years. Femke’s specialty is translating and analyzing complex business requirements into technical document management, collaboration and workflow solutions. Femke’s extensive hands-on expertise in IBM Domino® Document Manager, Domino Workflow and Lotus® Quickr® was recognized in 2009, when IBM selected Femke as a co-author of the IBM Redbook "Self Assessment and Strategy Guide for Migrating from Domino Document Manager". - 15 -
- 16. Silverside and the Silverside Logo are trademarks of Silverside B.V. Docova Document Manager and the Docova Logo are registered trademarks of DLI.tools Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks belong to their respective owners.