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Authority figures

Editorial Type: Feature     Date: 07-2010    Views: 3049   





Dr Vijay Magon, Managing Director of OITUK Ltd., explains how local authorities, working closer with IT suppliers, can realise tangible benefits by careful use of existing technologies to deliver successful information management strategies and systems

As cash-strapped councils across the UK face further budget pressures and even more complex demands on the range of services provided, they are turning to information technologies for help. At a time when the amount of information and records being dealt with by councils grows year by year, in the form of documents, emails, electronic data streams, faxes, etc., the need to embrace a practical strategic policy towards records and information management grows ever more pressing. The bottom line is: invest now to streamline operations and cut costs.

In order to achieve this, Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) offer the chance for local authorities to evolve their practices and embrace a culture of effective and compliant information management practice. EDRM should be seen as a key component of the wider Enterprise Content Management (ECM) framework which includes web content management, document and records management, electronic forms, business process management, collaboration, and compliance processes.

ECM is essentially a conceptual framework for centralised information access, creation, management, and standardisation of business processes. There is no magic bullet solution - just a common sense approach which focuses the available technologies on specific business processes to ensure that the solution delivers what is expected of it. The process is a migratory one which promotes a corporate-wide information repository, with newly created documents being 'born into' the repository whilst 'legacy' information is scanned and digitised in a staged manner. While there is some time lag in this process, a properly planned implementation should lead to harmonisation with minimal disruption to the business.

Document management started with turning paper into electronic files, allowing them to be moved around and shared while saving space. Lessons learnt from early adoption of such systems are now being realised through more sophisticated Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) which support other electronic documents and content. Add in e-forms, systems integration, workflow, collaboration, and compliance, and suddenly organisations are beginning to realise tangible benefits from these technologies. However, goalposts keep moving - the worldwide migration towards the Internet and the resultant connectivity is pushing digitisation further into business processes and practices. This requires greater integration between disparate systems to capture data just once and help streamline data flow between systems alongside a consistent approach to data storage - a Centralised Information Repository.

At OITUK Ltd., we believe that EDRMS is likely to become as ubiquitous and pervasive a part of a council's corporate application infrastructure in the coming few years as database management systems have been over recent decades. Database management systems based on open standards enabled organisations to move away from proprietary, legacy systems and opened up options for inter-operability. Similarly, EDRMS will enable organisations to minimise dependencies and process inefficiencies created by "information silos."

A STRATEGIC APPROACH
ROI from EDRMS implementations (e.g. process and staff efficiencies, standardisation, automation via workflow, etc.) are being realised through careful application of technologies to address strategic business requirements, rather than short-term measures to solve paper problems. By managing the document while it retains a high business value, deployment and use of EDRMS will benefit from the long awaited executive attention and backing, as organisations begin to realise that these systems are not a luxury, but essential tools that are needed to succeed and maintain the competitive edge in the new "information enterprise."



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