Inter-council cooperation drives records management efficiencies
In late 2009 Kapiti Coast District Council launched its new eDOCS document and records management system. The system was designed to help with compliance at the same time as ushering in new levels of security, improved document tracking and enhanced document version control. It was a big project that was made much easier through the support and advice of neighbouring Porirua City Council which has been working with a similar system for over a decade.
Until 2008 records management at Kapiti Coast District Council largely consisted of manual processes, some hard copy filing and storage of electronic documents on a shared server. However, with no real retention or disposal policies the quantity of information was growing exponentially and the system was beginning to creak at the seams. Searching through the variety of document formats for all records relating to a certain topic or even locating a single document was becoming harder and harder.
Organisational changes and rebranding of departments further complicated the situation. How were previous records to be managed when departmental silos were being rearranged? Where should old documents be filed and who was to retain life cycle management responsibility for them? These were all matters affecting compliance and in mid-2008 Kapiti's management decided it was time for a comprehensive records management solution.
Peer support
Previously the Council had attempted to bring order to its records management by introducing a document management software system. It had been a limited roll-out and the system never gained favour amongst staff.
With the opportunity to start again, management was determined to use the experiences of other councils and to select something that was already proven in a local government setting. Phil Wall, project manager for eDOCS implementation project at Kapiti Coast District Council, says, “We saw it as an opportunity to share resources and ideas.”
The Kapiti project team considered various options but was soon drawn to eDOCS from Open Text. “We had a core body of management that had worked with eDOCS at regional and local authority levels. We also knew that it was in use at Porirua City Council,” he adds.
KCDC discussed requirements with Techtonics, Open Text’s local partner and reseller, that had worked with Porirua for over a decade. The Techtonics team promptly put the KCDC team in contact with Mike Chapman, the Information, Administration and Democratic Services Manager at Porirua City Council.
The benefits of shared experiences
Chapman met with the Kapiti project team, offering advice and assistance. When Techtonics organised an initial workshop to explore Kapiti's requirements Chapman sent along a number of Porirua staff to provide an alternative council perspective. He also shared documentation and information about the Porirua's processes.
“If Kapiti had just had the standard sales pitch, I don't think the outcomes would have been the same. When councils get together for discussions they can move beyond the vendor talk and hype,” Chapman notes.
This exchange of ideas helped to establish realistic project requirements and best practice right from the beginning. Wall notes, “The input from Porirua helped to smooth the way. At every stage they've been able to tell us the things to watch out for.”
Kapiti's eDOCS project began in earnest in early 2009. “Techtonics has been very involved since day one. They've given us assistance through the requirements planning, helped us to create the directory structure and built the system. The next steps are deployment and testing before we go live in mid-December,” Wall says.
Porirua shows compliance and security lead the benefits
Kapiti's hopes for the project outcomes are focused on compliance, security, better document tracking and enhanced version control. For the first time all documents including hard copy files and reports will be referenced in a single records management system. Yet Wall also knows from Porirua's experience that deployment is likely to bring additional benefits along with some challenges.
“At Porirua we've found that eDOCS gives us considerably better document control. For example , we able to track versions of the District plan far more easily and management of by-laws is a far easier process since the latest versions are all in the system and easy to track. Chapman saysAnother benefit is the breakdown of departmental divisions. “With information so freely available across the organisation, people are getting a wider perspective and have a better feel for how the council works. It's unintentional but it really is breaking down the border fences and fostering the concept of better collaboration.”
“There's also a culture change in any records management roll out,” Chapman advises but he warns that preparing staff for such a change is tricky. “It's a chicken and egg issue. How do you sell the benefits of the system and the efficiencies that can be gained when staff don't really know what it's all about? The concept of a shared drive file structure is completely different to a document management system that breaks down silos and creates an environment where everything is accessible to everyone.”
Long term benefits
For Kapiti Coast District Council, Porirua's ongoing assistance has helped the project team to better understand the challenges it is facing and the importance of a solid metadata foundation. For Porirua staff, the cooperative project has provided a valuable opportunity to develop peer relationships and to experience first-hand how other local governments operate.
Both organisations anticipate that ongoing cooperation will encourage the further development of best practices. They also predict cost and time savings as they work together on enhancements and customisation projects.
Chapman sums up, “From my experience, records management software is just a tool. The hard work is in the peripheral activity, understanding your metadata and how you are going to use it. eDOCS is technically quite a strong piece of software and it can handle whatever you throw at it but all that means nothing if you don't know what you are going to do with it and staff don't know how to use it."
