Ontario Document Management: Guidelines for Successful Implementations

1
Ontario Document Management

• Guidelines for Successful Implementations

2
Ontario Document Management

• With every Ontario document management system,
  you want to make sure the implementation is done
  right the first time. To do this, you and your
  vendor must follow industry best practices that
  will lead to a successful outcome. The key is to
  have a vendor solution match your requirements.

3
Ontario Document Management

• Companies must explore all practical
  considerations when purchasing and implementing
  an Ontario document management system. You must
  understand all the components typically included
  in a system and how your company will benefit.
  Its important for you and your team to go into
  any document management project with your eyes
  wide open so you can make informed decision.

4
Ontario Document Management

• The first stop in any document management
  project is to understand your company and its
  vision. You must analyze how technology will
  help you achieve your goals. The project should
  address where in your company youre deficient
  and where you have the greatest opportunities.
• Starting with a holistic view will better
  position your solution within your organization.
  For example, you need to consider how documents,
  information and automation will affect all
  departments and business units within your
  company. If you dont, you could waste valuable
  resources and miss opportunities to gain
  efficiencies and cost reductions. You want to
  create cohesive indexing plans, search strategies
  and records management plans so you can save time
  later.

5
Ontario Document Management

• In addition, you need a thorough understanding
  of your companys political landscape, including
  who makes decisions and how they typically make
  them. Your Ontario document management
  implementation may fail if you dont pay
  attention to political ramifications.
• Executive management, functional department
  managers and IT managers should all understand
  the requirements for a solution and agree on the
  overall vision. They need to have consistent
  views on how the technology will fit now and into
  the future within the company. Everyone needs to
  agree on the projects goals and make sure theyre
  logical, relevant and scaled properly.

6
Ontario Document Management

• All sides must work together to establish the
  vision, goals, plan and implementation schedule.
  And, critically important for best practices, is
  to select the right Ontario document management
  system for the organization. The solution must,
  without a doubt, solve the business document and
  information challenges. The implementation must
  be done in a way to produce the optimum results.
• Furthermore, the team must keep focused on what
  will best achieve the companys goals and product
  the most meaningful results. Companies often get
  side-tracked by focusing too much on all the
  bells and whistles that come with different
  solutions. But, sometimes this doesnt provide
  whats needed. Instead, you need to find the
  best match for your short- and long-term
  requirements and implement it based on the plan
  you and your team developed.

7
Ontario Document Management

• With any Ontario document management system, you
  need to follow some basic rules. The following
  list of items will help you get, and stay, on
  track to a successful outcome.
•  
• Select a vendor with a solution that will
  integrate with your current applications and any
  additional applications you plan to purchase in
  the future.
• Develop an agreement that is comprehensive and
  all-inclusive in terms of what the vendor will be
  providing. You dont want to leave anything open
  to misinterpretation.
• Make sure a complete list of all solution
  components is provided to you before the project
  begins. This includes all hardware, software,
  resources and other things you must have
  available before the vendor can proceed with
  implementation. If you dont understand
  everything thats need to start the project, you
  might experience significant delays and cost
  over-runs.

8
Ontario Document Management

• Schedule regular project meetings between you and
  the Ontario document management vendor to review
  project status.
• Develop a project time table that includes
  milestones and estimated completion dates for
  each step in the Ontario document management
  project. Indicate expectations for communicating
  progress at each milestone.
• After implementation, make sure you document all
  suggestions from your solution vendor. Identify
  how you will handle upgrades, support and other
  things once implementation is completed. You
  want to have clear-cut plans for maintaining your
  Ontario document management system for many years
  to come.

9
About the Author

• Kevin D'Arcy is VP of Sales and Marketing for
  MES Hybrid Document Systems, Ontario's leading
  document scanning and document management
  supplier.
• For more information about our Ontario Document
  Management, visit http//www.mesltd.ca/pages.html
  ?pid54