Mastering the Art of SharePoint DMS

CM304 - Thinking LEGO
Mastering the Art of SharePoint
DMS Implementation
Oliver Wirkus (MVP)
Sr. Consultant at DevFacto
Oliver.Wirkus@devfacto.com

INITIAL SITUATION
How many DMS projects start ….

DETERMINING FACTORS
Considerations regarding a DMS implementation

REQUIREMENTS WORKSHOP
Gather requirements from the stakeholders
 What does the customer understand when thinking
about document management?
 How does the customer work with documents today
and where are the “pain-points”?
 How does the customer envision a future document
management system?
 What internal processes, requirements, and
characteristics must be considered?
Important: Understand your customer and their requirements by listening!

INTRODUCTORY WORKSHOP
Introduce SharePoint DMS functionality and provide next steps
 Quick introduction to SharePoint and standard
possibilities for working with documents
 Examination of observed pain-points and outlines of
possible solutions
 Detailed description of the migration plan and the
migration process
 Explanation of further steps based on a project plan
and definition of milestones
Important: The customer wants to be confident that they have been understood!

STRUCTURE WORKSHOP
Work with stakeholders on building a structure for a corporate document repository
 Quick introduction to SharePoint site structure, site
templates, document libraries and folders
 Examination of corporate policies and requirements
regarding the structure of a document repository
 Involve all units and divisions
 Explanation of further steps regarding the creation of
the document repository structure
Important: Coordinated document repository structure concept for the entire enterprise!

METADATA WORKSHOP
Work with stakeholders on a corporate metadata structure
 Short presentation on metadata and their value to
document management
 Support tool: Use an Excel sheet to build metadata
structures (can be imported back into SharePoint)
 Term sets should be comprehensive…these can still be
amended later
Goal: Coordinated metadata concept for the entire enterprise!

CONTENT-TYPE WORKSHOP
Work with stakeholders on a corporate content-type structure
 Short presentation about content types and their use
for document management
 All available document types should be known and
validated (e.g. via a review)
 Consideration should be given to the previously
defined metadata structure
Goal: Clear alignment of corporate document types to content types!

CONTENT-TYPE CONCEPT
Work with stakeholders on a corporate content-type structure
 Up to three (3) company-wide (global) metadata
definitions per content type (required)
 Up to four (4) unit-specific metadata definitions per
content type
 Optional metadata and required metadata should
be well-balanced
Content
Type 1
Global Global Global Devision 1 Devision 1 Devision 1 Devision 1
Content
Type 2
Content
Type 1
Content
Type 2

USING TEMPLATES
Associate approved corporate document templates to Content-Types
 Close tie-ins with the MS Office client applications
 Saving directly to libraries, no need to navigate with
URLs
 Easy transition from previous ways of working
 Ensures that new documents are created based on
an approved corporate document template
(corporate Governance)

DOCUMENT EDITING
Enable additional features regarding editing of documents
 Enable Versioning
 Clear User Experience advantages
 Be aware of Draft Item Security!
 Offer Check-In / Check-Out functionality
 Helps users transition from previous ways of
working
 Co-Authoring works with:
 Microsoft Office client application
 Microsoft Office Web apps

DOCUMENT SET vs FOLDER
Avoid folders if possible – check if Document Sets are an alternative
 Multiple documents can be grouped together as a Document Set
 Comparable to a typical file folder
 Document Sets are saved as one single entry in libraries
 Document Sets are much more powerful than folders
 Recommendation: avoid using folders in libraries!
 To use, the relevant Site Collection Feature must be activated
 … and a custom Content Type based on Document Set must be added to each library!

DOCUMENT SET BENEFITS
Document Set provide the following benefits
 Permitted Content Types can be defined
 Metadata are inherited from Shared Columns by all documents in a
Document Set
 The Welcome Page is configurable
 Columns to display metadata can be defined
 Individualized logos can be displayed
 SharePoint Designer can be used for configurations
 Default documents can be added automatically when a Document Set gets
created
 Workflows can be linked with Document Sets
 Version control can be implemented for Document Sets und embedded
documents

RATING vs LIKE/DISLIKE
Rating is a great feedback channel, 5-Star rating is more meaningful
 SharePoint offers two (2) different types of Ratings
 Both types of rating can be configured for every library or list individually
 Helps to engage users and to improve search results
 Can safely be added via PowerShell to Communication sites. (Reference)
5-Star Rating (anonymous)Like / Dislike (personalized)

DOCUMENT CENTER
Create a Document Center to be a central repository for corporate documents
 All available possibilities are introduced and
summarized in the “Document Center”
 Configure Document Center
 Design the Welcome Page
 Set up permissions
 Create libraries based on Content Types
 Define procedures, e.g. when documents are
moved to a Document Center

DOCUMENT CENTER APPROACHES
There are mainly two approaches which can be used to build document repositories
Traditional Distributed

DOCUMENT CENTER STRUCTURE
How to build an internal structure for a corporate document center

SiteSiteSite
CONTENT-TYPE SYNDICATION
Utilize the Content-Type hub as central repository for all corporate Content-Types
 Corporate Content Types should be saved and
managed centrally
 SP on prem: Site Collections are defined as Hubs
within the Managed Metadata Service
 SP on prem: Activate the Site Collection Feature
Content Type Syndication Hub
 SP Online: Already defined OOTB
 Content Types are published via a TimerJob (Content
Type Subscriber Job) – Content-Type publishing can
take some time!
Content-Type Hub
Site Site Site
Corporate Content-Types
https://<<Tenant>>.sharepoint.com/sites/contenttypehub

PUBLISHING DOCUMENTS
How can we ensure, that documents are saved to the correct libraries?
?

CONTENT ORGANIZER
Create a rule-based automatic document forwarding system
 Users do not necessarily need to know where to save a document.
 The Content Organizer automates saving within the Document Center
 Documents are moved to target Libraries based on defined rules
 Users use the Drop Off Library exclusively
 The required Site Feature must be activated:
 Documents can also be moved to other sites:

CONTENT ORGANIZER
Rules are based on Content Types…
…and expressions that evaluate metadata…
…and a target library where documents are moved
when rule applies

CONTENT ORGANIZER
 Documents should not remain in the Document Center forever. They must be checked or subjected
to review periodically!
 Setting Retention Rules (in Information Management Policy Settings)
 Retention Rules are based on conditions and actions
 For example: “When document is older than one (1) year, execute a workflow”
 Retention Rules are configured based on Content Types and Metadata
 Local Retention Rules apply to individual Libraries or Folders. They are activated via this Site
Collection Feature:

SUMMARY
In a nutshell – this is what I want to show you
 Professional Document Management is possible
with SharePoint
 Many features improve working with documents
 Templates support the building of structures
 Content types and metadata can both be
managed centrally
 SharePoint is optimized for large volumes of data
 Office 365 & Azure offer solutions to protect your
documents

MY BEST-PRACTICES
Personal lessons-learned from various DMS-related SharePoint projects
 Use workshops with all divisions in order to create metadata structures truly reflective of company
requirements
 Use Content Types and Content Type Inheritances whenever possible! Provide corporate templates
associated with Content-Type to ensure a consistency!
 Carefully plan Content Organizer Rules! Involve corporate divisions as Rule Administrators!
 Subject Metadata and Content Types to multiple validations before beginning the implementation of
a Document Center or Records Center in SharePoint!
 Involve corporate divisions as metadata administrators. Metadata should not be administered by the
IT department alone!
 Decide on a document repository structure that reflects corporate requirements and policies.
 Plan user-adoption campaigns and tailored training for all employees!

QUESTIONS
Are there any questions regarding Document Management in SharePoint?

Mastering the Art of SharePoint DMS

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