Covington - The Dangers of Relying On a "Canned" Document Management Solution

The Dangers of Relying On a "Canned" Solution

Phillip A. Covington

Personal Web Site

When people purchase off-the-shelf document management software they often forego much, and sometimes all, of the planning which would go into the proper development of a custom programmed, "in-house" solution. Big mistake! Many also don't realize that even if they are not using software specifically titled "Document Management," that by creating and storing information electronically via regular software like word processing programs, etc., they are still implementing a form of document management system. It is also common to innocently misinterpret certain types of software or software features as being document management software when they are not. For instance, descriptions of Microsoft's Outlook mention features designed to make it easier to keep track of documents "without you having to worry about where you put them." However, despite the fact that Outlook is one of the most feature-rich applications of its type available (which is why I use it everyday), it IS NOT the same as a program designed specifically for document management, and it isn't designed to be.
Then there are the numerous programs that advertise to "manage" your documents. Most such programs are designed primarily for you to scan your documents in, but some are capable of working with documents created with other software, like word processors, etc. Actually, most of these are excellent programs. However, once again, they are not designed for "serious" or large-scale document management applications.

[Home]

This page last updated
29-Jan-1998

What is "serious," or "large-scale?" Well, let's start by taking a look at what they aren't. If you are an individual user (such as at home)

or, in a business setting, are using such software primarily for personal documents (personal meaning you would be expected to take them with you if you left the organization)

AND you basically only need to keep track of a fairly small number of documents over a fairly short period of time, then using the above types of software might be ok. However, if you are doing anything more, or you need to be able to manage and have access to your documents on an indefinite and flexible basis, then you should consider a document management system with broader capabilities and one that is planned around your needs into the foreseeable future.

Rules Enforcement

There are two main problems with the above types of prepackaged software. The first is that they only loosely support the enforcement of rules, if at all. The term "rules" as applied to computers has basically the same meaning as it does elsewhere. What the rules are is determined as a part of a thorough planning process. Once in place those rules determine what a user can and cannot do throughout almost every phase of the document management process. For instance, one of the most important functions of any true document management system is control over how files are named. As an example, it might be determined that the filenames for all letters start with the letter L followed by a hyphen, "L-," and that the letter S and a hyphen, "S-," precedes the filenames of all monthly statements.
Another major aspect of rules enforcement is controlling the keywords which can or cannot be assigned to each file. An excellent example of keyword enforcement is probably within arm's reach of you right now, the yellow pages in your phonebook! Looking in my Ameritech yellow pages for "Gas Stations" I'm told that I must instead look under: "Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil." If you look up the word "Gas" by itself in trying to find gas for your car you'll find that term isn't specific enough. The word "Gas" can refer to natural gas, propane gas, welding gases, and gases used for industrial or medical purposes (and those are the keywords used in the phonebook). Yet other people might look for the same thing under the heading: "Fuel." But if you look there the yellow pages will tell you to see: "Coal & Coke-Retail; also Diesel Fuel; also Firewood; also Gas-Propane; also Gasoline-Whsle; also Oils-Fuel." Are you starting to get the hang of it?

Just in looking for one item above we have gone through no less than 11 different phrases or variations on phrases which might possibly be construed as describing the same thing. And this is an excellent example of how documents, even if stored electronically, can become "lost;" because if the document is stored under one keyword and you are searching for it using combinations of at least 10 other possible phrases then the document may not come up. Keep in mind that the above is a VERY basic example. In a more typical business setting, especially in a large organization, the numbers of potential keywords that might apply to a particular document can be significantly greater.

The phonebook "forces" you to use its rules when looking up phone numbers. In the same way the rules enforcement process of document management forces you to store and retrieve documents in a consistent and orderly fashion so that at any time in the future you, or someone else, can find and retrieve the same documents, using the same rules. Incidentally, even though the phonebook we used in this example is printed on paper, remember that the yellow pages IS an example of computerized document management since the management and creation of the phonebook is done entirely by a computerized document management system. In this case, of course, that system is highly customized to apply just to phonebooks. When updating existing business or residential listings or creating new ones the computer forces each person entering data to do so according to the same rules. That way the listing for your local Mobil or Shell station doesn't get "lost" by being placed under "fuel," but must go instead under "Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil."

To finish, let's create a quick example using the information above. Let's assume you are with a company that sells maintenance and cleaning supplies and that your local gas (oops!) "Service" Station is one of your customers. Two documents need to go out today, the monthly statement showing how much they owe, and a memo in answer to an inquiry from the station manager.

The filenames and keywords might look something like those below:

S-Mobile01311998A
Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil, Monthly Statement

L-Mobile01311998B
Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil, Reply, Inquiry

Keep in mind that this is only a very basic hypothetical example. The actual filenames assigned by a real document management system would likely be in a different format, and there might also be a greater number of keywords, etc. However, you can now see that if you are using software that does not utilize features like those above you can very quickly and easily end up with documents that are difficult to find and may even become lost.

We still haven't gotten to the second main problem that's easy to encounter with off-the-shelf software: data that may be stored in a file format that is difficult and sometimes impossible to access from or integrate with other software that you might have

and, should you outgrow it, the inability to export ALL data and information into a new document management system. If you do feel that your needs are sufficiently basic that the above type of software might work for you, at the very least make sure it does not have these two limitations. Otherwise, you may end up later down the road with more documents than you ever thought you would have inside of a software program that is difficult and/or slow to use, and doesn't offer the capability to easily transfer the data to a larger program.

I should mention that there are good document management programs already available on the market which do not require you to create one in-house. They were not mentioned in the off-the-shelf category because they can neither be obtained from your favorite computer retailer, nor do they come cheap. Unlike the smaller packages referred to earlier, which usually range from just under $100 to several hundred dollars, preprogrammed document management systems designed for larger organizations (and which can include hardware, such as bar-code scanners, etc.) can range from a minimum of several hundred, to tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Lastly, it should be noted that for limited use by an individual or small organization it may be possible to implement an acceptable document management solution using regular software, like Microsoft Office, and perhaps even a scanning-oriented off-the-shelf package like those mentioned earlier. Much of the same planning still needs to go into such a system. One of the biggest differences is that the enforcement of rules usually ends up largely being done manually and is therefore much more subject to human error.

More information on planning a document management system and how to decide which is right for you can be found in the section titled "Don't Rush: A Good System Takes Time," under the Document Management Table of Contents.