Document Management Concepts

Most of BA's have worked with some type of document management systems, or have basic knowledge about the subject. For those who didn't, this is good place to see basic concepts.

Document  management has been named differently over time;

1. DMS (Document Management Systems),
2. DIS(Document Information Systems),
3. EDM(Electronic Document Management),
4. ECM(Enterprise Content Management),
5. Content Management and Knowledge Management.

It's all about the same concept- a set of processes & technologies supporting the evolutionary life cycle of digital information. It allow you to create a document or capture a hard copy in electronic form, store, edit, print, process & otherwise manage documents in image, video & audio, as well as in text form.
Today we know that;

• 85% of information is unstructured, outside a database
• 30% of people’s time is spent searching for information
• 60%-80% of workers can’t find information they need
• Over 80% of enterprise information is unstructured (checks, PDFs, contracts...)

So, we must manage business documents- results from most business processes.  They can be made of multiple media.

If you have a process for creating, reviewing, approving documents, you need workflow (i.e. workflow of contract approval).

An electronic document has the following characteristics (Sprague):

1. holds information of multiple media: text, graphics, audio, video
2. contains multiple structures: headers, footers, TOC, sections, paragraphs, tables
3. is dynamic: can be updated on the fly
4. may depend on other documents

There is difference between Document Management System and Electronic Records Management System (ERMS). ERMS is a system used by an organization to manage its records from creation to final disposition. The system’s primary management functions are categorizing and locating records and identifying records that are due for disposition. The Electronic Records Management System also stores, retrieves, and disposes of the electronic records that are stored in its repository.
The Electronic Records Management System may contain a content management and document management component to its system.

There are seven basic components of DMS:

1. Capture of documents for bringing them into the system,  
2. Storing and archiving methods (set retention periods for documents, and schedule archival or removal processes.)
3. Indexing and retrieving tools for document search (find documents and files in seconds)
4. Distribution for exporting documents from the systems
5. Security to protect documents from authorized access
6. Audit trails (Verify who viewed and made updates to documents.)
7. Version control gives you the ability to manage document changes and revisions-including going back to a previous version of a document.

Today, DMS become ECM (Enterprise Content Management). Wikipedia says: ECM is an umbrella term covering document management, web content management, search , collaboration, records management, digital asset management (DAM), work-flow management, capture and scanning.
ECM is primarily aimed at managing the life-cycle of information from initial publication or creation all the way through archival and eventually disposal. The benefits to an organization include improved efficiency, better control, and reduced costs. For example, many banks have converted to storing copies of old checks within ECM systems versus the older method of keeping physical checks in massive paper warehouses. Under the old system a customer request for a copy of a check might take weeks, as the bank employees had to contact the warehouse to have someone locate the right box, file and check, pull the check, make a copy and then mail it to the bank who would eventually mail it to the customer. With an ECM system in place, the bank employee simply searches the system for the customer’s account number and the number of the requested check. When the image of the check appears on screen, they are able to immediately mail it to the customer—usually while the customer is still on the phone.

Figure: Enterprise Content Management Overview
Source: IBM


References:
Wikipedia
IBM