Successful EDM Implementation:

Introduction

by Rainer Hoff, Ph.D., P.Eng.

January 1998

© 1998, Gateway Consulting Group, Inc.

Hello!

My name is Rainer Hoff ("Rainer" rhymes with "diner"), and I’ve been asked to write a series of articles on "Successful EDM Implementation". Our firm has been involved in over 50 Electronic Document Management, "EDM", and Product Data Management, "PDM", projects over the last 7 years, and I’ll be drawing on these experiences to provide examples of what works and why. I shall use a very structured, step-by-step approach, and shall provide references to original source material wherever possible.

So, if you have a serious need to deliver a successful EDM system, then I hope you’ll find this series of articles helpful. Feel free to contact me with questions, comments and suggestions.

 

The Methodology

The design and implementation of an EDM system is a specific example of implementing business processes using information systems technology. Volumes have been written about how to successfully deploy computer systems, and those lessons apply to EDM as well. Most authors recommend the use of a "methodology". A methodology is:

"…a set of guidelines or principles which in any specific instance can be tailored both to the characteristics of the situation in which it is to be applied and to the people using the approach"

An EDM systems development methodology is shown in Figure 1. The arrows indicate the sequencing of the phases, whereas the numbers are simply used to identify the phases.

Is This A Cookbook Approach?

Methodologies are normally organized into phases, and the phases are divided into steps and activities. One could (erroneously) draw the conclusion that a methodology is like a high school chemistry experiment method, and describes everything that a novice would need to do in order to successfully deploy an EDM system. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, since:

"Such is the variety of human problem situations that a would-be problem solving approach could not be reduced to a standard formula and still manage to engage with the richness of particular situations."

We’ve found that a methodology provides a framework for an experienced person to conduct the project, and allows an inexperienced person to have the appropriate expectations and to measure progress.

Proprietary methodologies have been developed by most of the large system integration firms. They tend to be very comprehensive and cover a large spectrum of potential applications. However, there are a number of characteristics of typical EDM projects, which allow us to reduce the universe of potential phases to the ones shown in Figure 1:

• Commercial Off-The-Shelf "COTS" Software: EDM system implementation is based on the installation, configuration and customization of COTS software. Therefore, it is approached as an "implementation" effort, rather than a "programming" effort.
• Strategic Planning: It is presumed that the strategic planning exercise has already been completed before the EDM project begins. Although I can’t substantiate the observation, I sense that less and less strategic planning is taking place, due to the accelerating pace of I.T. architecture change, from centralized mainframe, to client/server to web-based computing.
• Natural Scale of EDM: The size of an initial EDM implementation is balanced by two opposing forces—the initial system must be large enough that the dollar benefits can be realized, but it can’t be too large or the project will be overwhelmed by technical and managerial complexity. This usually results in initial system cost in the range of $1 million to $2 million.

A "pilot" project (and this is a vaguely defined term), can be useful to:

• help educate your team about EDM in general,
• learn what capabilities certain EDM software has, in order to take maximum advantage of it,
• learn what capabilities are difficult to implement, in order to eliminate or refine these requirements,
• build demos to raise awareness in the organization.

You will note that none of these pilot benefits leads to a conclusion that a methodology is not needed. On the contrary, a pilot can easily be used within the context of the overall methodology.

I submit that a proper system development methodology is needed in order to ensure the success of a typical ($1 - $2 million) EDM initial deployment.

In the subsequent issues we shall explore each step of the methodology. We shall begin with the Phase 1 project scoping activities, in the next issue.