DocuCentric Process
Document-Centric Process Management System (DCPMS) by Jack Dougher A document-centric view of process recognizes the key role documents play in the day-to-day operation of an organization. The benefits an organization can gain from a document-centric view of process can be realized through the implementation of a collaboration infrastructure that supplies documents (and content) on-demand and facilitates the creation and management of documents as knowledge objects of enterprise processes. A Document-Centric Process Management System (DCPMS) requires a Document Technology Architecture (DTA) that can efficiently manage the concurrent lifecycles of documents and process. A Microsoft SharePoint based implementation of the Document Technology Architecture is composed of three components: network infrastructure, collaboration infrastructure, and structured document services. The network infrastructure is built on Windows Server 2003 (or 2008) that includes client/server platform services. The collaboration infrastructure is built on SharePoint 2007 (or 2010) and Windows Workflow Foundation to provide a document and records management platform that enables document-centric workflow services. The structured document services integrate the two inter-related lifecycles, the document lifecycle and the process lifecycle, through the use of information hierarchy services (developing information architectures) and content classification services (defining content types). Information architectures determine how business information is organized and presented to knowledge workers. Content types define and categorize enterprise content and documents as knowledge objects. Benefits of DCPMS A Document-Centric Process Management System built on the Document Technology Architecture provides an organization with the following benefits: The Document Technology Architecture is a set of hardware and software technologies based on Microsoft SharePoint that provides a client-server network to deliver an extensible, collaborative, web-based platform that enables structured document services. Implementing a Document Technology Infrastructure consists of the following major planning steps: I. Establish a governance oversight committee to manage the design and deployment of technologies and applications that comprise the DCPM system. II. Design the server farm topology that defines both the physical (hardware) and logical (software) network infrastructure components that are required to provide client/server platform services, document and process management services, and information architecture and content classification services. Implementing a Document-Centric Process Management System built on the Document Technology Infrastructure consists of the following major planning steps: I. Identify Document Management Participants and Stakeholders Ensure that your plans incorporate the feedback of your organization's key stakeholders, that you have the right team in place to implement the solution, and that you know who will participate in document management processes. II. Analyze Document Usage Determine the types of documents knowledge workers will use and how they will be used. · Analysis documents for type, purpose, author and consumer roles, authoring and publishing formats, required format conversions, workflows, regulatory or legal requirements for records management, corporate policies for content auditing and retention, configuration management for information integrity and change control, and Information Rights Management (IRM) for document security. III. Plan Content Types Content types are used to organize information by encapsulating the specifications that define a category of content. Content types are used to define and categorize documents and content by managing the structure of their state information and the execution of their behavior in a centralized, reusable, and extensible way. In this manner, content types increase the semantic meaning, structure and management of documents. This is an essential step to help organize documents and enforce consistency across the organization. · Design the content type elements including columns (metadata), information management policy requirements (auditing, labels, and retention), event handlers, workflows, and template (document content type only).
IV. Plan Information Architectures Structural elements such as site collections, web sites, web pages, document libraries, lists, navigation and search components are provided in the Document Technology Infrastructure to build sophisticated hierarchical information architectures. Information can be categorized, linked, labeled, and indexed to assist end-users in locating and navigating to the most relevant information. A well planned and organized taxonomy or site hierarchy based on corporate work chains is critical for knowledge workers to quickly and accurately locate the right business information at the right time. · Develop an Information Architecture Governance Plan. The plan should establish governance policies for the design, implementation, and operation of the system. · Design information architectures that organize enterprise content around business processes and provide well planned hierarchical structures of web sites, web pages, document libraries, and lists. V. Plan Workflows By planning workflows for your organization, you can control and track how documents move from one team member to another as each participant collaborates in a document's life cycle. Office SharePoint Server 2007 includes workflows for common team tasks such as reviewing and approving documents. Office SharePoint Server 2007 also supports creating and installing custom workflows. · Design a document-centric organization by identifying forms-, document-, or content-based knowledge objects within business processes and creating document-centric workflows to automate and record business process activities. VI. Plan Versioning, Content Approval, and Check-outs You can plan the appropriate degree of control for each content type and storage location. For example, for a document library you can plan to require check-in and check-out and to protect documents from unauthorized distribution by using Information Rights Management. VII. Plan Information Management Policies For each content type, plan information management policies to ensure that documents are properly audited, retained, labeled, and otherwise handled according to your organization's institutional and legal requirements. Office SharePoint Server 2007 includes policies that implement auditing, document retention, labeling, and barcodes (to ensure that printed content can be correlated with corresponding versions in document libraries). VIII. Plan Enterprise Content Storage Office SharePoint Server 2007 supports high-capacity document storage; a document library can contain up to 5 million documents. However, depending on how the content is used, the performance of sites containing a very large number of documents can degrade. The prescriptive guidance provided in this section can help you design large-scale content management solutions that scale to the requirements of your enterprise while providing the users of your solution with a well-performing environment in which to create and use documents.
Documents are at the core of all business processes. Documents simplify complexity inherent in systems by creating structures of aggregated data. They provide a way for knowledge workers to comprehend and act on enterprise knowledge. Documents are used to define, initiate and control the flow of processes. They reveal the state, record the output and summarize the results of processes. Process documents record an organization’s core knowledge, provide the intellectual capital that differentiates it from other organizations, and represent the source material for developing a business strategy to gaining a competitive advantage.