Collaborative Workspaces for HP HP TRIM / HP Records Manager: an analysis of two options

Transcription

1 Collaborative Workspaces for HP HP TRIM / HP Records Manager: an analysis of two options White Paper Revision: 3 Date created: 21 March 2016 Principal author: Nigel Carruthers-Taylor, Principal icognition reference: 09/2668

2 Summary This White Paper provides an analysis of two options for collaborative workspaces for Hewlett-Packard s HP TRIM / HP Records Manager (HP RM) Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS). Generally, organisations have a number of technology options to choose from to develop a collaborative information management workspace. This White Paper provides an analysis of two options for collaborative workspaces using HP TRIM / RM EDRMS as the core capability. The options are the most popular for HP TRIM / RM, and are Microsoft SharePoint and icognition RM Workspace. An alternative option of integrating the two will also be briefly discussed. It should be noted that this is a comparison of two different approaches: although Microsoft SharePoint can be installed out-ofthe-box, to achieve good outcomes it requires design and development; whereas RM Workspace is a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) product implementation. icognition implements both RM Workspace and the HP TRIM / RM integration to SharePoint, and we recommend either solution based upon an analysis of business needs and overall requirements.

3 Contents Summary... 2 Business Requirement... 4 Option 1: Microsoft SharePoint... 6 HP TRIM / RM Integration Module... 7 Option 1 Benefits... 9 Option 1 Disadvantages Option 2: RM Workspace Option 2 Benefits Option 2 Disadvantages Option 3: Placing RM Workspace in SharePoint Option 3 Benefits Option 3 Disadvantages Conclusion Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 3 of 16

4 Business Requirement The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that approximately 62% of workers are Knowledge Workers. The management guru Peter Drucker said The great challenge to management today is to make productive the knowledge worker. This is the key to economic growth and economic performance. Significant value can be realized through Knowledge Worker solutions that facilitate faster, more efficient and effective collaboration, both within and between enterprises. Knowledge Workers have a primary task of "non-routine" problem solving that requires a combination of convergent, divergent, and creative thinking. Typically they need to discover, identify, gather, analyse, assess, share and collaborate around information. This type of worker is different from a traditional Information Worker whose key goals are to inform decisions and take actions. Typically an Information Worker needs to search, create and access information, which are key tasks that a conventional Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) focuses on. For the Knowledge Worker a solution that is a super set of EDRMS is required that will facilitate the key tasks of gathering, analysing and sharing information. Software or business applications such as Microsoft SharePoint are rapidly being adopted to meet these organisational needs. These systems usually have web-based end user interfaces that are accessed by web browsers. However, organisations have realised that these systems quickly break down their information management controls and governance, so organisations are now requiring the outputs of these collaborative processes to be captured as records in their EDRMS. While the collaborative workspace provides key functionality, the underlying EDRMS provides a corporate information store ; a consistent and cohesive information management environment that is an enterprise-wide platform of controlled and managed documents designed to meet recordkeeping, accountability, governance and legislative requirements. A good example of an EDRMS that provides strong governance and legislation compliance is HP TRIM / HP Records Manager (HP TRIM/RM). Figure 1 shows the collaborative solution from a holistic perspective. The greyed area indicates the key components and interactions in the solution: individuals and groups generally access the solution through a web-based collaborative workspace that is underpinned by the core EDRMS. There can be navigation links from the workspace to the intranet, network drives and other line-of-business solutions. The users can easily navigate between these systems to find relevant information such as a corporate Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 4 of 16

5 document or record in the EDRMS, a working document in a network directory, or a published policy on the intranet. The non-greyed area indicates the major inputs to the solution: physical documents are scanned into the EDRMS or are registered along with physical files. Electronic documents and s are captured from network drives, Microsoft Office and . Figure 1: Collaborative Workspace to Meet Compliance Requirements Collaborative Workspace Options Organisations have a number of technology options for the collaborative workspace interface. For the purposes of this White Paper, we will only look at two popular product options that integrate with HP TRIM / RM, and an alternative option of combining the two. The options are: 1. Microsoft SharePoint: the SharePoint system is used for the collaborative interface, while a HP TRIM / RM integration module provides the integration with SharePoint. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 5 of 16

6 2. icognition s RM Workspace: icognition has developed a collaborative workspace for HP TRIM / RM that allows users to discover, tag, analyse, share, manage and collaborate over corporate information. 3. Integrated RM Workspace with SharePoint, or vice versa: either RM Workspace could be integrated into a SharePoint environment, or RM Workspace could integrate SharePoint web parts as trays in the Workspace. Both SharePoint and RM Workspace facilitate information discovery, gathering and collaboration / sharing. Both of these solutions can also be set up as a presentation layer over HP TRIM / RM, thus allowing the Knowledge Worker to conduct their key tasks uninhibited by the requirement to manage records and meet compliance requirements. The records management activities are then transparent to the knowledge worker, thus maximising both productivity and compliance. Option 1: Microsoft SharePoint Microsoft SharePoint provides potentially rich collaboration functionality as well as an entire user environment. According to Microsoft, SharePoint is an integrated suite of server capabilities that can help improve organizational effectiveness by providing comprehensive content management and enterprise search, accelerating shared business processes, and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business insight. Additionally, this collaboration and content management server provides IT professionals and developers with the platform and tools they need for server administration, application extensibility, and interoperability. 1 As you can see, SharePoint provides an organisation with an entire platform to develop a variety of functions to meet user needs, not just a collaborative workspace. Microsoft SharePoint is typically used as a Content Management System and collaboration platform. While more recent versions of SharePoint include native Electronic Document Management (EDM) capabilities within the core product, these features do not fully comply with Australian Government legislative, accountability, and mandated records management requirements. For example, NSW State Records Office states that SharePoint is not a recordkeeping system (i.e. a system purposely designed to capture, maintain and provide access to records over time). When implemented out of the box, SharePoint has limited capacities 1 Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 6 of 16

7 for capturing and keeping records in a way that supports their ability to function as authentic evidence of business. 2 For further information that explains why SharePoint does not fully comply with Australian Government records management requirements, and also explains how HP TRIM / RM integration can be used behind SharePoint, refer to the attached icognition white paper, Microsoft SharePoint and Records Management Compliance White Paper. HP TRIM / RM Integration Module Microsoft is supporting full records management compliance through integrating with existing EDRMS, such as HP TRIM / RM, that allow organisations to maximize the value of their SharePoint investment while supporting effective compliance and governance. HP states that integrating SharePoint to HP TRIM / RM will provide a complete solution where users collaborate in an environment that is easy to use, and records are captured transparently to the EDRMS. This requires establishing a SharePoint environment that all staff are comfortable using, then integrating the HP TRIM / RM EDRMS into the back end of SharePoint for seamless records management. In this scenario HP TRIM / RM is not seen at all, and the user simply uses SharePoint to capture and manage documents, meanwhile records are captured as a seamless backend process. HP TRIM / RM offers two SharePoint integration methods: 1. Records Management function that can transparently manage, finalize, relocate, and archive SharePoint content such as blogs, wikis, discussions, documents, forms, and published pages for the end user according to established business rules. 2. Archive capability that enables administrators to set lifetime management policies on content for automatic archival of entire sites. The HP TRIM / RM Integration for SharePoint allows users to leverage complete SharePoint functionality without compromise and does not need end users to engage in, or undertake, records management tasks. Removing the records management burden from users reduces barriers to adoption and associated training overheads. 2 Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 7 of 16

8 SharePoint uses hierarchical site and list structures, while HP TRIM / RM uses a hierarchical folder structure that may be built on the business classification. SharePoint users are relatively indifferent to governance and these weaknesses don t matter to them since they don t interfere with daily work. Using records management structures forces users to organize information in a way that doesn t match how they use the information. It s unfamiliar to them and requires greater levels of user training. Using the HP TRIM / RM SharePoint integration shields the user from these prescriptive structures, allowing them to focus on their use case while the HP TRIM / RM integration transparently manages the records at the back end. Figure 2 shows an example Microsoft SharePoint out-of-the-box user interface. The HP TRIM / RM integration is active in this interface (noted by the managed status of the documents in the Management column of the SharePoint interface), but the integration is not pervasive at all. Figure 2: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 out-of-the-box interface Figure 3 shows an example where Microsoft SharePoint has been highly customised to meet the Knowledge Workers requirements. This interface has been designed to give the user a rich experience with access to documents, news, social networking, calendar Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 8 of 16

9 events, and other important items. It should be noted that this requires significant configuration and design effort. Figure 3: Microsoft SharePoint customised interface Option 1 Benefits SharePoint can potentially provide a functionally rich collaborative workspace, with blogs, wikis, forums, a Web Part for publishing and receiving RSS feeds, and document stores bringing people and processes together. Some development or sourcing from third parties may be required to meet specific needs. Moreover, SharePoint provides much more than a collaborative workspace, it provides Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 9 of 16

10 portals, enterprise search, enterprise content management, business process and forms, and business intelligence. Records managers, compliance officers, risk managers, and others tasked with addressing cost, compliance, and risk requirements can find all the information classified in a particular way, reducing the time and cost of information governance tasks. Using the HP TRIM / RM integration enables records managers and users to navigate the business classification and uncover the information that belongs to each category, while end users organise the information the way they want to see it. Using the HP TRIM / RM integration also enables information to be surfaced in multiple places in SharePoint while maintaining a single authoritative record. Without it there are no restrictions to prevent the creation of duplicate information in SharePoint. For example, SharePoint s mechanism for copying actually makes a new copy of the file, not just a link to the original, making additional duplication inevitable. Since SharePoint does not support de-duplication within a document library, the ongoing accumulation of duplicate records strains the storage system. This ever growing information footprint and associated storage starts to impact the IT Managers budget and resources. SharePoint itself also has difficultly in applying retention policies based on the type, classification, or location of information, rendering these more efficient approaches unavailable and exposing the organization to risk. HP TRIM / RM can apply retention policy to information based on its type, location, and classification either automatically or ad-hoc. Studies have also shown that, on average, 60% of data stored in SharePoint is never accessed again after three months from its creation date. Yet SharePoint makes no distinction between the older, rarely accessed items and newer content for more efficient and cost effective storage. HP TRIM / RM supports tiered storage and configurable caching options to balance the need for search and retrieval speed with storage costs. Old and inactive information can be moved to appropriate storage to meet the needs of the organization. The use of the HP TRIM / RM integration also applies governance and control over information. In SharePoint people can easily create sites, lists, and content that information governance personnel have no way of controlling or bringing into compliance. Security and access to this information is governed by the individual and not corporate or regulatory policy. The HP TRIM / RM integration controls and manages this creation process. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 10 of 16

11 Option 1 Disadvantages SharePoint can be an expensive when considering Total Cost of Ownership. Taking into account hardware, software, deployment, information storage, app development, and ongoing labour costs in ediscovery, administration, governance, and management, SharePoint management adds up to an average cost of $49 per user, per month 3. This cost does not decrease, even as the usage of SharePoint expands within the organization, despite expected improvements in economies of scale that normally come from increased technology. Note that using the HP TRIM / RM integration can reduce these costs by controlling and managing the information within SharePoint using lifecycle management policies. The HP TRIM / RM - SharePoint integration implementation is not a Commercial- Off-The-Shelf implementation process. To achieve good outcomes it requires significant analysis, design and development to provide the appropriate environment, producing lengthy implementations and additional costs. The cost of maintaining and upgrading two relatively complex solutions such as SharePoint and HP RM is quite expensive. When upgrading to new versions there is a potential that the integration will need to be redesigned or reconfigured in some way. If the SharePoint environment is not designed correctly, there is potential to create further siloing of information within the organisation, similar to current network drives. SharePoint team collaboration spaces and documents can be easily duplicated in SharePoint, thus creating many unmanaged spaces and documents throughout the organisation. Users have to be invited to these spaces to participate; therefore it is likely that each space will have limited access. Similarly, many SharePoint designs can be cognitive overload for users, with multiple functions on the one web page, such as document libraries, event calendars, notifications, and so on. 3 In 2012 an independent research report conducted by Osterman Research on SharePoint compared usage trends, costs and inhibitors over the past two years. The survey of IT executives and managers at mid-to-large enterprises found that the mean cost of ownership per user per month for SharePoint increased to $48.47 in 2012, rising from $45.77 in This growth was expected to continue. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 11 of 16

12 Option 2: RM Workspace Option 2 is a collaborative workspace developed by icognition called RM Workspace. RM Workspace is a user friendly, intuitive and accessible (WCAG 2.0 Level AA) collaborative web workspace that will provide staff with the ability to quickly and effectively discover, access and share enterprise information resources. RM Workspace is in use in over 15 customers, including Department of Agriculture, SBS, Australian Public Service Commission, National Blood Authority, Australian Children s Education and Care Quality Authority, and Blacktown City Council. The design of the workspace is the result of a usability design process, providing the multiple navigation methods and ease of use functionality. It provides direct access to documents that the user is allowed access to according to security rules in TRIM. This value-added solution can be used as a general user interface, as well as a web-based workspace. RM Workspace provides the following functionality and benefits over and above HP TRIM / RM functionality: An out-of-the-box WCAG 2.0 Level AA interface that is not required to be scripted or customised to be implemented. Google -like search capability. Ability to apply tags to files and documents with the users own terminology. This process allows users to label or tag any piece of information that is important to the user and recall that information simply. Any object can be tagged a person, a document, a folder. The tags allow the individual to apply personal groupings to their information without having to amend the enterprise content structures. Flexible functionality to meet the organisation s requirements regarding useability, as well as simple methods for turning on and off functionality. E.g. Drag n Drop documents, tags, files etc. Personalised portlets of information to meet user requirements. Ability to share information directly with other users via the workspace Ability to create a collaborative workspace, invite users to that workspace, and share documents and records to the workspace. RM Workspace has an additional module called RM Connector that allows clients to capture, manage and present HP TRIM/RM records into line-of-business systems. This provides a sophisticated and seamless integration between line-ofbusiness systems and a HP RM EDRMS, including providing access to records from the business system, and actions associated with the records. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 12 of 16

13 Option 2 Benefits Fast implementation: The COTS product approach allows for fast and effective implementations using an out-of-the-box interface that is not required to be built, scripted or customised to be implemented. Low implementation cost: the RM Workspace product is low cost to implement as the product itself is just required to be installed, configured and then training can be provided. The cost would be less than a third of the SharePoint integration option. Low training cost: RM Workspace is quite a simple interface that is designed with the user s experience in mind. Therefore the ability to quickly learn and intuitively adopt the solution is high. With this in mind, and simple 2 hour training session is all that is required, compared to a normal training for EDRMS solutions or integrated SharePoint of 4-6 hours. This virtually halves the cost of training in the initial instance, and ongoing training is very low as most users can adopt the solution through peer assistance or help cards. Low ongoing cost: the ongoing cost is very low as there is only an annual maintenance fee to RM Workspace, and the administration tasks are relatively low so the TRIM administrator can easily manage the Workspace administration as an additional task. Accessible: the interface is WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant, thus ensuring the solution meets Government requirements for accessibility. The look can also be modified to the customer corporate standards. Transparent records management: RM Workspace makes use of HP TRIM / RM s strong security rules and records management rules. This is simply inherent in the solution and the user is not aware of it. The Workspace is loosely coupled to HP TRIM / RM by making use of API calls Flexible architecture options: There are thick client and thin client options, this giving the customer the power to decide if a client side rollout is required for thin clients or mobile device access. Additional modules: for access to the workspace from line-of-business systems or via inter/intranets. Option 2 Disadvantages For the thick client version to operate effectively, deployment of the Diem software (a single dll) and the HP TRIM / RM client to desktops is required. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 13 of 16

14 Option 3: Placing RM Workspace in SharePoint RM Workspace can also be displayed within SharePoint via a web part, as shown in the Figure 6 below. This will provide users with a web interface to HP RM/TRIM allowing users to manage, view and edit their records. Figure 6: RM Workspace within Microsoft SharePoint Option 3 Benefits Provides all users with the same access to HP TRIM / RM, regardless of whether they are SharePoint users or not. SharePoint users can have full access to SharePoint functionality, while also being allowed access to records in HP TRIM / RM. Option 3 Disadvantages The SharePoint functions are separate to the RM Workspace functions and have not functional linkage. Conclusion Ultimately the decision to go with either solution will depend on the organisation's business requirements and vision for their future information management environment. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 14 of 16

15 For organisations willing to invest in a SharePoint solution, a comprehensive and functional solution to the overall business requirement can be achieved using SharePoint. Moreover, SharePoint will provide more than just a collaborative workspace; a whole user environment can be achieved. For those organisations that have already invested in HP TRIM / RM and want to provide a simple and effective collaborative workspace over the top of HP TRIM / RM, the RM Workspace provides a low cost alternative with a fast implementation time. The combined offering of HP TRIM / RM and SharePoint provides a significant records management compliance capability to SharePoint by transparently capturing records from the SharePoint system. Using the HP TRIM / RM integration can reduce these costs by controlling and managing the information within SharePoint using lifecycle management policies. However, to develop the workspace solution itself using the SharePoint technologies is estimated to cost over three times the amount of RM Workspace, would take six times longer (once the appropriate resources had been secured), and has significant IT environment implications in establishing SharePoint sites and farms. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 15 of 16

16 About icognition icognition provides practical leadership, solutions and services for the management and governance of enterprise information. Our vision is to be the trusted advisor of choice to our clients for enterprise-wide information management and governance consultancy and solutions implementation. icognition s goal is to ensure enterprises maximise the value of their information, while minimising cost and risk. We use an integrated Information Governance model that combines the disciplines of data, records, and information management to value, manage, control and harness information across the enterprise. This model applies a strategic design approach at the policy, governance, systems and change management levels. At the systems level we provide useful, usability, effective and satisfying information management systems. We combine business and technical skills to deliver well designed and considered solutions and cloud services using a combination of third-party products, integrated systems, and value-added Commercial-Off-The-Shelf interfaces and solutions developed by icognition, called our Diem Solutions. Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options Page 16 of 16