Case study: Advising on document management best practice

Electronic document management systems allow organisations to capture, track and store digital assets such as PDFs, word processing files and scans of paper-based content.

The benefits of a good cloud-based document management system are that it can effectively organise a business's files and data, increase findability, automate data loss prevention policies, keep track of critical documents, and speed up document workflows.

The brief

Lander & Rogers was engaged by a large retail client to advise on document management best practice. The client wanted guidance on how to move from an on-premise network drive to SharePoint Online, part of the Microsoft 365 suite of products. To kick off their project, the client required advice on migrating data, setting up and structuring document libraries, and using custom metadata.

The challenge

The client had previously designed a folder structure architecture and had migrated data across to the SharePoint document management system. However, given the complex nested folder structure and naming conventions, the client found that users were having difficulties with the schemas and were instead electing to file documents via custom folders and naming conventions, which posed the risk of non-compliance and misfiling.

The solution

A team of UX and information management specialists from the iHub by Lander & Rogers developed a solution incorporating the inbuilt metadata capabilities of SharePoint to manage the client's large data sets in an intuitive and flexible way. Using metadata and customised document types within SharePoint, the solution reduced the need for deep nested folder structures and hard-to-remember file-naming conventions, and allowed documents to be surfaced in multiple ways.

Lander & Rogers also advised on how Power Automate workflows could facilitate moving documents automatically based on initial folder or naming structures and by automating the deletion or archiving of historical documents.

Equipped with best-practice document management systems and suggestions, the client now has the tools they need to operate optimally, reduce administration and risk of data loss, and ensure compliance with internal policies and procedures.

To learn more about how the iHub by Lander & Rogers can help you set up and optimise your document management processes, or for information on other business transformation solutions, please contact Joel Kennedy.