Select and implement off-the-shelf records management software packages

• What is an off-the-shelf records management software package?
• Identifying recordkeeping requirements that your software package should meet
• Assessing
• Reviewing your software package

What is an off-the-shelf records management software package?

An off-the-shelf records management software package is a piece of software that you can purchase to help you meet a number of your records management needs. They are pre-configured software systems that undertake a range of key records management activities such as registration, indexing, tracking and disposal. These software systems can generally interface with a range of other business applications.

Particular off-the-shelf records management software packages have been recommended to NSW public sector organisations, based on a rigorous selection process undertaken by the Department of Commerce. These products are listed in State Records' Recordkeeping in Brief 2 - Selecting Records Management Software. An off-the-shelf software package could be used:

• across your organisation
• across a range of business areas, or
• within a specific business unit.

The scope of this project can therefore be flexible, depending on your business needs and budget.

The DIRKS process can be used to establish the requirements you want your records management system to meet. It can then be used to establish the training and other strategies you need to effectively implement the software system across your organisation.

Tip: Off-the-shelf packages are not the ultimate solution

Remember, an off-the-shelf software package is not a complete solution to your organisation's records management issues. It can definitely help with the management of records and will improve the accessibility of organisational information. However these systems need to be supported by policies, procedures, training and recordkeeping tools, in order to be effective in your organisation.

Over time you should also consider the recordkeeping needs that your organisation may have in other business systems, particularly those that are not or cannot be connected to your records management software. Many function specific applications, such as personnel, financial or particular business applications will not be connected to your records management software. You need to make sure that adequate records are created and kept of the business transacted in these systems.

The DIRKS Manual can help you to develop adequate recordkeeping strategies in such systems. See also Doing DIRKS to develop new systems with adequate recordkeeping functionality for more guidance.

Identifying recordkeeping requirements that your software package should meet

Undertaking Steps A-C of the DIRKS methodology can help you to identify the types of requirements you will need your software package to satisfy.

Step A: Preliminary investigation

In Step A you should assess your organisation, or the specific area of your organisation where you wish to implement your records management software. You should examine:

• what business is performed?
• how is it performed?
• why is it performed?
• what risks are inherent in this business?
• what technical infrastructure is present?
• what compatibilities are required to integrate with this infrastructure?

Establishing this context will give you a good overview of the environment in which your software package will be implemented and will begin to give you an understanding of the functionality the package must possess.

Step B: Analysis of business activity

In Step B, you examine your organisational business activities more closely. You will particularly focus on the activities you want the software package to support, in order to gain a thorough understanding of these activities. As part of this assessment you may also want to determine:

• what records are generated in the course of business activity?
• who generates them?
• are they in different forms and formats?
• how are these records currently managed?

Understanding issues such as these is important to help you determine the specific functionality you need within your records management software.

Step C: Identification of recordkeeping requirements

In Step C you determine the recordkeeping requirements - requirements for evidence and information, or requirements for the management of information - that your organisation needs to meet. When you are looking at purchasing software, you need to ensure that the software you are considering is capable of meeting some or all of these requirements.

Example: Make sure systems can capture all your records
You may transact a lot of organisation business via your website and the online services it offers. Your organisation has a significant recordkeeping requirement to capture evidence of these online transactions. If looking at off-the-shelf packages, you need to ensure that they can capture records of these online transactions.

Recordkeeping requirements can be derived from law, business needs, business practices, community requirements or best practice standards your organisation may choose to meet. They can relate to a wide range of issues. For example, legislation can require that specific types of records are created, or it can specify that particular records must be managed in a specific way. Be sure to identify the full range of requirements that affects your organisation.

Assessing

Steps D-G of the DIRKS methodology can help you to assess existing systems and potential software packages to determine their ability to meet your needs. They can also guide you through the process of system configuration or design and system implementation.

Step D: Assessment of existing systems

In Step D you can:

• assess business information systems currently used in your organisation, and/or
• assess the software package or packages you are considering.

In either case, you would use your recordkeeping requirements as a benchmark.

You would assess your current systems if you wanted to identify problems that are experienced as a result of your current business systems. This may be useful background information for your purchase of a new system as it will identify a range of issues that you want to rectify. Your system evaluation process may also demonstrate that your current systems operate well and actually do not need replacement - staff just need a good training program to introduce them to the system's full functionality.

If purchasing an off-the-shelf package, it is very important to do a thorough assessment of the functionality of a number of different packages. Compare them to your recordkeeping requirements. Can they do all that will be expected of them? How do they compare in terms of price? What kind of post-implementation support is offered?

Tip: Liaising with software vendors

Compile a list of your recordkeeping requirements. You may choose to prioritise them and make some mandatory and others desirable. Give the list to the software vendor whose products you are considering and ask them to demonstrate how their product meets your specific requirements.

For example:

• if you have a legal requirement to maintain your licencing records for fifty years, ask the vendor to demonstrate the migration strategies they have built into the software application that will help maintain your records for the required fifty years.
• you are legally required to use authorised disposal authorities for the destruction of records. Can the packages you are considering implement and incorporate State Records' general retention and disposal authorities and your own functional retention and disposal authority?
• does the metadata contained in the package meet your business and accountability needs? Can it be reconfigured to do so?
• can the software package inherit metadata from your retention and disposal authority, business classification scheme, thesaurus and/or other metadata already present in the system?
• in your software package you don't generally want 'user defined fields'. You will require data fields that are appropriately designed, that integrate with the rest of the fields in the software package and that can automatically inherit values, rather than you having to manually enter all necessary metadata. Can the package accommodate this?
• can the software package incorporate and apply your thesaurus product? Can it create the necessary connections between your thesaurus and disposal authorities?
• can the application capture adequate information about people and workgroups, and can this data be used to enable or restrict record access where appropriate?
• can metadata or audit logs be kept after the record to which they relate has been destroyed?

Completing Step D and undertaking all these assessments should enable you to select an appropriate records management software package for your organisation.

Tip: Document your assessment and any undertakings
Be sure to fully document your recordkeeping requirements and your software assessment process. Document vendor responses to your questions, and any undertakings they have given you.

Step E: Identification of strategies for recordkeeping

Once you have chosen your records management package, you need to determine the best way to implement it. To do this you need to chose from the range of Step E strategies - policy, design, standards or implementation - to determine the approach that will work best in your organisation.

The research you undertook in Step A: Preliminary investigation and Step B: Analysis of business activity will help you significantly in this step. Be sure to consider your business environment, corporate culture and other issues when determining the mix of strategies that will work best in your organisation.

Example: Determine the right approach for you

You decide that the best way to ensure your recordkeeping requirements are met and all people are using the system appropriately, is to:

• put the software package on everyone's desktop
• interface between the software package and other common applications
• establish a policy which says all staff must capture appropriate records into the records management package
• develop basic guidance that says what 'appropriate records' are.

You decide on this approach in Step E. In Step F you start developing these rules and interfaces.

Step F: Design of a recordkeeping system

In Step F you make your plans a reality. You liaise with IT to undertake any system changes or interfaces you require. You draft policies and guidelines and develop any training materials you would like to support your new system.

Step G: Implementation of a recordkeeping system

In Step G you unveil your new system and roll it out across your organisation. You may undertake a pilot program before making it available to all staff. You may choose a staggered implementation schedule or release it to all staff at once. In Step G you also make any policies, procedures or other rules available to staff, and undertake training programs if these are required.

Reviewing your software package

Step H: Post implementation review

In Step H you evaluate your software choice and implementation. Is it working effectively? Do staff know how to use it? Is it meeting all your requirements? Do the vendors need to come in and do any remedial work?

Tip: Remember to undertake a post-implementation review
Step H is a very important one if you are implementing off-the-shelf software packages.
Make sure everything is correct and working as it should before you give vendors the final payment and sign off. Try to include a period of official evaluation and any remedial work necessary in your contract with vendors, so that you can ensure that all your requirements have actually been met.

Further information

System assessment, development and implementation is referenced throughout the DIRKS Manual, so read the manual for more guidance.

State Records' Recordkeeping Brief 2 - Selecting Records Management Software will also provide additional guidance.