Plan your data organization
Before intensive use of your application, you should plan your data organization in the repository.
Take the information that follows only as a general idea about the basic steps you should consider before intensive use of your application.
A good analysis of your organization and an understanding of the application can help you find the best way to solve your problems. OpenKM is not a closed application; it is more than a couple of features focused on document management. OpenKM is a flexible application and can be used in several ways. It's a good idea to spend some time understanding your organization, your business logic and the processes involved and how the OpenKM features can work together in your day-to-day, helping your organization become more efficient and save money.
Some questions you should ask yourself about your organization:
- Where are your information and documents?
- What kind of documents do you have?
- Are your documents in electronic format or not?
- What format are your documents? PDF, MS Office, LibreOffice, etc.
- How are you currently finding the documents? How would you like to find them, and which terms do you consider relevant?
- Who can access the information and in which way?
- Do you need a workflow process?
What are the objectives of the previous questions?
- List in a table all the distinct types of information you have (invoices, budgets, legal papers, etc.).
- Identify the format of the documents (PDF, DOC, etc.)
- Identify non-digitized information that should be processed (scanned). The digitization process can be a basic process.
- Identify for each type of information (document type) what information is relevant (metadata). For example, invoices usually have an invoice number, a date range, and customer information, among others. The metadata will help users retrieve information quickly and efficiently.
- Identify the security that must be applied to each document type. Determine who can read, write, or delete information. Also, your security needs will help you set the level of application logging you require. OpenKM provides a full audit of any user action that can be configured in a more or less restrictive way.
- Identify workflows and the people involved in them.
The goal is to create a plan with a calendar and milestones.
What are the goals you are looking for in the implementation of the application? Usually they could be:
- Set some order in your organization. The application "forces" users to work in a certain way, which benefits your company because it helps you "set rules" that all users must follow.
- Consolidate your intellectual capital. By consolidating all your company's knowledge in a single place, that knowledge becomes available to be shared among all your users, and you can set rules for it.
- Help comply with legal regulations.
Try to set a specification in a single document answering these questions and others. It will help you plan how to organize the information.
Good practices
- Consider OpenKM a project that affects all your departments and usually your customers.
- Choose the leaders.
- Implement the project gradually. You can start with a department, a group of users, or a specific business process. Think of the implementation as a virus in your company. A good leader should demonstrate the benefits of the new system and show them to other users. Users usually perceive any change in the company as negative; if they perceive the application as something that helps their work (efficient search, saving time, and solving real problems), they will be the first to be interested in using it. One of the major goals of OpenKM is an intuitive UI, which helps in this process (after two weeks the user feels comfortable using the application).
- Keep it simple; the best solution is usually the easiest way to solve problems.
- Listen to your users and try to get them involved in the project.
- Periodically review your plan and try to refine it and identify possible problems.
