Hyland Software's Document Management Blog

The White House on Records Management: ‘We Can’t Wait’

// November 29th, 2011 // No Comments » // Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Affordable Housing, Back Office, Document Management, Enterprise content management, Federal Government, Finance & Administration, Government, Health & Human Services, Human Resources, Justice & Public Safety, Public Works, State and Local Government // Terri Jones

“Records management can’t wait,” President Barack Obama told the federal government agencies yesterday, via presidential memorandum. It’s likely the federal government could learn a lot from state and local government agencies who have already embraced records management. Maybe you can, too.

The president hopes to transform federal agencies and create more transparency. How this will happen is captured in a White House blog post titled “We Can’t Wait: Bringing Records Management into the Twenty-First Century.”

It is a great post, but I believe it’s possible many readers will overlook a small – but important – phrase:

“…The [Records Management] Directive will focus on maintaining accountability to the American public through documenting agency actions; increasing efficiency (and thus reducing costs); and switching, where feasible, from paper-based records to electronic records.”

In those few words highlighted above, the enterprise content management (ECM) community rejoices. Why? Because ECM is a valuable tool for government, and it is an investment that should be made at every level of government, even in this time of severe budget reductions.

You see, the flexibility of a good ECM solution means the solution can become a tool for many government departments and initiatives. Understanding this, thousands of cities and counties across the country have already embraced electronic records and ECM, and have used the solution to meet a number of needs. We can see the result:

• Reduced costs. From eliminating paper and file cabinets to the costs of storing and moving files.
• Reclaiming staff time. No more searching for files, no lost documents, no filing, printing or photocopying.
• Speeding up government. Workflow automation shaves days off of processes; physical paper files replaced with electronic allow more staff to simultaneously access information.
• Connecting documents and data. Easy information retrieval helps make the transition from paper files to electronic records easy and intuitive for users, and requires little or no staff training.

At the same time, the ECM investment lays the foundation for meeting transparency and open government initiatives, while realizing all of the lowered costs and efficiency government organizations need to survive. So, access to records can take place through a website or a kiosk or a computer station at an office, improving constituent service while reducing the staff time needed to fill requests.

The good news for federal agencies is that they need look no farther than the counties and cities who have invested in an ECM solution. Other counties and cities who are considering an ECM solution can similarly find ideas and proven value thanks to the examples of their peers.

Current government ECM users show that creating transparency is just one of the benefits of moving to electronic records. So, while federal agencies may make this transition to meet a presidential memorandum on Open Government, their efforts could end up improving government operations, reducing costs and reclaiming staff time for the important work they do. The proof is in the results of cities and counties who have already moved to include ECM as one of their IT tools.

Leading from the bench: How courts can improve the justice system with document management

// September 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Government, Justice & Public Safety // Terri Jones

Once, I was visiting a clerk of the courts when very bad news came. An individual with an outstanding warrant was not arrested as the warrant ordered, and he had gone on to commit an additional and deadly crime.

The sheriff’s deputies stored their warrants in the trunk of their vehicles. This individual’s warrant had been lost in one. Of course, the story ends in a terrible headline.

As we face our current economic downturn, the cuts to government agencies are getting serious. Thankfully, public safety is often the last to be cut. But, there is still plenty of pressure to cut non-personnel costs, while doing everything possible to preserve the staff necessary to respond to and prevent crime.

Unfortunately, more staff would not have changed the story I mentioned. The fact is that courts are overwhelmed. This story is not about staff error, it’s about how paper impedes the functioning of the justice system.

Courts are the end-of the-line for lots of paper. The paper file begins with a crime, grows with investigation, passes to prosecutors and finally, goes to courts and incarceration. Not unlike the chain of evidence, the documents, reports, briefs, orders and sentences must be maintained and readily available to those asked to make decisions. Only then is the justice system functioning properly. Like the chain, loss or access to key documents must not be broken.

But what happens when it is broken – like when a document goes missing that is supposed to trigger the next event?

Yes, the traditions of the bar are wrapped in paper. But here’s the reality: using paper to make the next events and responses happen – all among the separate, moving parts of our justice system – is too unreliable.

I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I’m a huge advocate for managing paper and processes in a more electronic way. Throughout my career in the public sector, I’ve found great success in using document management software, especially when it’s integrated with other systems.

How could it have helped the overburdened staff in this situation? That warrant document would have been:

• Electronically stored in a secure system.
• Able to be viewed by multiple people at the same time, ensuring that the justice process doesn’t slow down.
• Automatically routed to the right people for review and then for action, specifically, arrest.
• If they weren’t reviewing it soon enough, both they and their supervisor would receive a notification.

Let’s take this to the next steps in the justice system. What if parole and probation officers could access the same system when they are asked to watch over a client? What kind of savings would be generated by a system that never loses a document, never needs to messenger case files, and even accepts filings electronically to avoid paper? And, what if the workflow could complete the circle, making sure that all warrants were successfully closed with an arrest and processed into custody?

This vision of integrated justice is one that’s time has come. The source of savings in this type of software lies in a central and secure repository that eliminates duplication and document loss, while also using workflows to help overburdened staff keep on top of necessary activities. In a big picture sense, it would help the justice system function effectively in its most vital mission – keeping the public safe.

Courts may be last in the decisions, but they have the opportunity to be the first in leadership. Their decisions, procedures and traditions can provide a path to a better and cheaper justice system.

It’s time to link the entire justice system using the right technology, such as document management software. Doing so would not only improve justice, reallocate staff and reduce errors – it would help the courts cut costs. And, it would produce that elusive and nearly impossible government moment – a cost savings effort that makes government better.

Fixing the process (and paper) in due process: the story of document management and courts

// July 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // Government, Justice & Public Safety // Terri Jones

I had a brief stay in county government. It turned out to be the most exciting microcosm of government that I ever worked in. Just walking from one floor to another showed amazing variation in the daily tasks and challenges of a county government worker.

Counties do it all – tax collection to historic records to planning to jails – you name it. But when it came to the technology side of things, the most interesting place to be was the courts’ office.

In case you’re not familiar, for most courts, government software solutions start and end with the CMS, or court management system. The CMS story began when the folks in the courts simply had too much work to do, and they needed a better way to do it. Sometimes, this “better way” meant a state-built mainframe system that courts were given to use. Other times, it was a vendor-purchased system.

But that was all the CMS was meant to do – act as a specialized database and scheduling tool with occasional “imaging.” That’s it. It wasn’t built to manage paper like document management software is. And since paper is a tradition of the legal profession, having paper was actually preferred in the courts.

The CMS also wasn’t designed to automate processes with workflow. This is often one of the misconceptions about what the system can and can’t do. Unfortunately, like many specialized databases, a CMS does not have robust workflows or other true content management capabilities. So, while the CMS database may track events, create calendar items and schedule courtrooms, it does not safeguard the paper or make documents available no matter what courtroom the hearing or case ends up in. Nor does it enforce due process or ensure that documents like orders or warrants get circulated to those who act on judges’ rulings.

It may – emphasis on may – have been okay for this disconnected paper/process-CMS dynamic to exist in the past. But today, the situation is very different, and a CMS clearly isn’t enough anymore.

Don’t believe me? Here are a few situations of what life is like in the courts sans document management. Imagine:

• A judge is unable to find a missing document for a case, with no way to see who had it last
• A court clerk having to carry files to a hearing location, only to find that the hearing has been moved to another building, with no way to get physical files to the new location in time, resulting in another delay
• Unmanageable case loads for staffs, resulting in backed up trials and extra costs for the court

Few other government agencies have so much scrutiny and so many reasons why they must keep track of the events and the documents they are using. With all the heightened service expectations and process requirements, it’s time for courts to again embark on a search for that “better way.” Just as the CMS was the answer a decade ago, today it’s a CMS paired with document management. Only then can courts prevent all of the scenarios I described, while also achieving their very reason for existence – public safety.