Collaborative Workspaces for HP HP TRIM / HP Records ... · Collaborative Workspaces for HP...

Collaborative Workspaces for HP HP TRIM / HP Records Manager: an analysis of two options

White Paper

Revision: 3

Date created: 21 March 2016

Principal author: Nigel Carruthers-Taylor, Principal

iCognition reference: 09/2668

Summary

This White Paper provides an analysis of two options for collaborative

workspaces for Hewlett-Packard’s HP TRIM / HP Records Manager

(HP RM) Electronic Document and Records Management System

(EDRMS).

Generally, organisations have a number of technology options to

choose from to develop a collaborative information management

workspace. This White Paper provides an analysis of two options for

collaborative workspaces using HP TRIM / RM EDRMS as the core

capability. The options are the most popular for HP TRIM / RM, and

are Microsoft SharePoint and iCognition RM Workspace. An

alternative option of integrating the two will also be briefly discussed.

It should be noted that this is a comparison of two different

approaches: although Microsoft SharePoint can be installed ‘out-of-

the-box’, to achieve good outcomes it requires design and

development; whereas RM Workspace is a Commercial-Off-The-Shelf

(COTS) product implementation.

iCognition implements both RM Workspace and the HP TRIM / RM

integration to SharePoint, and we recommend either solution based

upon an analysis of business needs and overall requirements.

Collaborative Workspaces for HP TRIM/RM: two options of 16

Contents

Summary ............................................................................................................... 2

Business Requirement ............................................................................................... 4

Option 1: Microsoft SharePoint ................................................................................... 6

HP TRIM / RM Integration Module ........................................................................... 7

Option 1 Benefits ................................................................................................ 9

Option 1 Disadvantages ..................................................................................... 11

Option 2: RM Workspace .......................................................................................... 12

Option 2 Benefits ............................................................................................... 13


Option 3: Placing RM Workspace in SharePoint ........................................................... 14

Option 3 Benefits ............................................................................................... 14


Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 14


Business Requirement

The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that approximately 62% of workers are

‘Knowledge Workers’. The management guru Peter Drucker said “The great challenge to

management today is to make productive the knowledge worker. This is the key to

economic growth and economic performance.” Significant value can be realized through

Knowledge Worker solutions that facilitate faster, more efficient and effective

collaboration, both within and between enterprises.

Knowledge Workers have a primary task of "non-routine" problem solving that requires a

combination of convergent, divergent, and creative thinking. Typically they need to

discover, identify, gather, analyse, assess, share and collaborate around information. This

type of worker is different from a traditional Information Worker whose key goals are to

inform decisions and take actions. Typically an Information Worker needs to search,

create and access information, which are key tasks that a conventional Electronic

Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) focuses on. For the Knowledge

Worker a solution that is a ‘super set’ of EDRMS is required that will facilitate the key

tasks of gathering, analysing and sharing information.

Software or business applications such as Microsoft SharePoint are rapidly being adopted

to meet these organisational needs. These systems usually have web-based end user

interfaces that are accessed by web browsers. However, organisations have realised that

these systems quickly break down their information management controls and

governance, so organisations are now requiring the outputs of these collaborative

processes to be captured as records in their EDRMS.

While the collaborative workspace provides key functionality, the underlying EDRMS

provides a ‘corporate information store’; a consistent and cohesive information

management environment that is an enterprise-wide platform of controlled and managed

documents designed to meet recordkeeping, accountability, governance and legislative

requirements. A good example of an EDRMS that provides strong governance and

legislation compliance is HP TRIM / HP Records Manager (HP TRIM/RM).

Figure 1 shows the collaborative solution from a holistic perspective. The greyed area

indicates the key components and interactions in the solution: individuals and groups

generally access the solution through a web-based collaborative workspace that is

underpinned by the core EDRMS. There can be navigation links from the workspace to

the intranet, network drives and other line-of-business solutions. The users can easily

navigate between these systems to find relevant information such as a corporate


document or record in the EDRMS, a working document in a network directory, or a

published policy on the intranet.

The non-greyed area indicates the major inputs to the solution: physical documents are

scanned into the EDRMS or are registered along with physical files. Electronic documents

and emails are captured from network drives, Microsoft Office and email.

Figure 1: Collaborative Workspace to Meet Compliance Requirements

Collaborative Workspace Options

Organisations have a number of technology options for the collaborative workspace

interface. For the purposes of this White Paper, we will only look at two popular product

options that integrate with HP TRIM / RM, and an alternative option of combining the

two.

The options are:

1. Microsoft SharePoint: the SharePoint system is used for the collaborative

interface, while a HP TRIM / RM integration module provides the integration

with SharePoint.


2. iCognition’s RM Workspace: iCognition has developed a collaborative

workspace for HP TRIM / RM that allows users to discover, tag, analyse, share,

manage and collaborate over corporate information.

3. Integrated RM Workspace with SharePoint, or vice versa: either RM

Workspace could be integrated into a SharePoint environment, or RM

Workspace could integrate SharePoint web parts as trays in the Workspace.

Both SharePoint and RM Workspace facilitate information discovery, gathering and

collaboration / sharing. Both of these solutions can also be set up as a presentation layer

over HP TRIM / RM, thus allowing the Knowledge Worker to conduct their key tasks

uninhibited by the requirement to manage records and meet compliance requirements.

The records management activities are then transparent to the knowledge worker, thus

maximising both productivity and compliance.

Option 1: Microsoft SharePoint

Microsoft SharePoint provides potentially rich collaboration functionality as well as an

entire user environment. According to Microsoft, SharePoint is “an integrated suite of

server capabilities that can help improve organizational effectiveness by providing

comprehensive content management and enterprise search, accelerating shared business

processes, and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business

insight. Additionally, this collaboration and content management server provides IT

professionals and developers with the platform and tools they need for server

administration, application extensibility, and interoperability.”1

As you can see, SharePoint provides an organisation with an entire platform to develop a

variety of functions to meet user needs, not just a collaborative workspace. Microsoft

SharePoint is typically used as a Content Management System and collaboration platform.

While more recent versions of SharePoint include native Electronic Document

Management (EDM) capabilities within the core product, these features do not fully

comply with Australian Government legislative, accountability, and mandated records

management requirements.

For example, NSW State Records Office states that “SharePoint is not a recordkeeping

system (i.e. a system purposely designed to capture, maintain and provide access to

records over time). When implemented ‘out of the box’, SharePoint has limited capacities

1 http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/sharepointserver/HA101656531033.aspx

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/


for capturing and keeping records in a way that supports their ability to function as

authentic evidence of business”.2

For further information that explains why SharePoint does not fully comply with Australian

Government records management requirements, and also explains how HP TRIM / RM

integration can be used behind SharePoint, refer to the attached iCognition white paper,

Microsoft SharePoint and Records Management Compliance White Paper.

HP TRIM / RM Integration Module

Microsoft is supporting full records management compliance through integrating with

existing EDRMS’, such as HP TRIM / RM, that allow organisations to maximize the value

of their SharePoint investment while supporting effective compliance and governance.

HP states that integrating SharePoint to HP TRIM / RM will provide a complete solution

where users collaborate in an environment that is easy to use, and records are captured

transparently to the EDRMS. This requires establishing a SharePoint environment that all

staff are comfortable using, then integrating the HP TRIM / RM EDRMS into the back end

of SharePoint for seamless records management. In this scenario HP TRIM / RM is not

seen at all, and the user simply uses SharePoint to capture and manage documents,

meanwhile records are captured as a seamless backend process.

HP TRIM / RM offers two SharePoint integration methods:

1. Records Management function that can ‘transparently manage, finalize,

relocate, and archive SharePoint content such as blogs, wikis, discussions,

documents, forms, and published pages for the end user according to

established business rules’.

2. Archive capability that ‘enables administrators to set lifetime management

policies on content for automatic archival of entire sites’.

The HP TRIM / RM Integration for SharePoint allows users to leverage complete

SharePoint functionality without compromise and does not need end users to engage in,

or undertake, records management tasks. Removing the records management burden

from users reduces barriers to adoption and associated training overheads.

2 http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/advice/designing-implementing-and-managing-

systems/sharepoint-2010-recordkeeping-considerations

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/advice/designing-implementing-and-managing-systems/sharepoint-2010-recordkeeping-considerations

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/advice/designing-implementing-and-managing-systems/sharepoint-2010-recordkeeping-considerations


SharePoint uses hierarchical site and list structures, while HP TRIM / RM uses a

hierarchical folder structure that may be built on the business classification. SharePoint

users are relatively indifferent to governance and these weaknesses don’t matter to them

since they don’t interfere with daily work. Using records management structures forces

users to organize information in a way that doesn’t match how they use the information.

It’s unfamiliar to them and requires greater levels of user training.

Using the HP TRIM / RM – SharePoint integration shields the user from these prescriptive

structures, allowing them to focus on their use case while the HP TRIM / RM integration

transparently manages the records at the back end.

Figure 2 shows an example Microsoft SharePoint out-of-the-box user interface. The HP

TRIM / RM integration is active in this interface (noted by the ‘managed’ status of the

documents in the Management column of the SharePoint interface), but the integration is

not pervasive at all.

Figure 2: Microsoft SharePoint 2010 out-of-the-box interface

Figure 3 shows an example where Microsoft SharePoint has been highly customised to

meet the Knowledge Workers requirements. This interface has been designed to give the

user a rich experience with access to documents, news, social networking, calendar


events, and other important items. It should be noted that this requires significant

configuration and design effort.

Figure 3: Microsoft SharePoint customised interface

Option 1 Benefits

SharePoint can potentially provide a functionally rich collaborative workspace, with

blogs, wikis, forums, a Web Part for publishing and receiving RSS feeds, and

document stores bringing people and processes together. Some development or

sourcing from third parties may be required to meet specific needs. Moreover,

SharePoint provides much more than a collaborative workspace, it provides


portals, enterprise search, enterprise content management, business process and

forms, and business intelligence.

Records managers, compliance officers, risk managers, and others tasked with

addressing cost, compliance, and risk requirements can find all the information

classified in a particular way, reducing the time and cost of information

governance tasks. Using the HP TRIM / RM integration enables records managers

and users to navigate the business classification and uncover the information that

belongs to each category, while end users organise the information the way they

want to see it.

Using the HP TRIM / RM integration also enables information to be surfaced in

multiple places in SharePoint while maintaining a single authoritative record.

Without it there are no restrictions to prevent the creation of duplicate information

in SharePoint. For example, SharePoint’s mechanism for copying actually makes a

new copy of the file, not just a link to the original, making additional duplication

inevitable. Since SharePoint does not support de-duplication within a document

library, the ongoing accumulation of duplicate records strains the storage system.

This ever growing information footprint and associated storage starts to impact

the IT Managers budget and resources.

SharePoint itself also has difficultly in applying retention policies based on the

type, classification, or location of information, rendering these more efficient

approaches unavailable and exposing the organization to risk. HP TRIM / RM can

apply retention policy to information based on its type, location, and classification

either automatically or ad-hoc. Studies have also shown that, on average, 60% of

data stored in SharePoint is never accessed again after three months from its

creation date. Yet SharePoint makes no distinction between the older, rarely

accessed items and newer content for more efficient and cost effective storage.

HP TRIM / RM supports tiered storage and configurable caching options to balance

the need for search and retrieval speed with storage costs. Old and inactive

information can be moved to appropriate storage to meet the needs of the

organization.

The use of the HP TRIM / RM integration also applies governance and control over

information. In SharePoint people can easily create sites, lists, and content that

information governance personnel have no way of controlling or bringing into

compliance. Security and access to this information is governed by the individual

and not corporate or regulatory policy. The HP TRIM / RM integration controls and

manages this creation process.


Option 1 Disadvantages

SharePoint can be an expensive when considering Total Cost of Ownership.

Taking into account hardware, software, deployment, information storage, app

development, and ongoing labour costs in eDiscovery, administration, governance,

and management, SharePoint management adds up to an average cost of $49 per

user, per month3. This cost does not decrease, even as the usage of SharePoint

expands within the organization, despite expected improvements in economies of

scale that normally come from increased technology. Note that using the HP

TRIM / RM integration can reduce these costs by controlling and managing the

information within SharePoint using lifecycle management policies.

The HP TRIM / RM - SharePoint integration implementation is not a Commercial-

Off-The-Shelf implementation process. To achieve good outcomes it requires

significant analysis, design and development to provide the appropriate

environment, producing lengthy implementations and additional costs.

The cost of maintaining and upgrading two relatively complex solutions such as

SharePoint and HP RM is quite expensive. When upgrading to new versions there

is a potential that the integration will need to be redesigned or reconfigured in

some way.

If the SharePoint environment is not designed correctly, there is potential to

create further siloing of information within the organisation, similar to current

network drives. SharePoint team collaboration spaces and documents can be

easily duplicated in SharePoint, thus creating many unmanaged ‘spaces’ and

documents throughout the organisation. Users have to be invited to these spaces

to participate; therefore it is likely that each space will have limited access.

Similarly, many SharePoint designs can be cognitive overload for users, with

multiple functions on the one web page, such as document libraries, event

calendars, notifications, and so on.

3 In 2012 an independent research report conducted by Osterman Research on

SharePoint compared usage trends, costs and inhibitors over the past two years. The

survey of IT executives and managers at mid-to-large enterprises found that the

mean cost of ownership per user per month for SharePoint increased to $48.47 in

2012, rising from $45.77 in 2011. This growth was expected to continue.


Option 2: RM Workspace

Option 2 is a collaborative workspace developed by iCognition called RM Workspace. RM

Workspace is a user friendly, intuitive and accessible (WCAG 2.0 Level AA) collaborative

web workspace that will provide staff with the ability to quickly and effectively discover,

access and share enterprise information resources. RM Workspace is in use in over 15

customers, including Department of Agriculture, SBS, Australian Public Service

Commission, National Blood Authority, Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality

Authority, and Blacktown City Council.

The design of the workspace is the result of a usability design process, providing the

multiple navigation methods and ease of use functionality. It provides direct access to

documents that the user is allowed access to according to security rules in TRIM. This

value-added solution can be used as a general user interface, as well as a web-based

workspace.

RM Workspace provides the following functionality and benefits over and above HP TRIM

/ RM functionality:

An ‘out-of-the-box’ WCAG 2.0 Level AA interface that is not required to be scripted

or customised to be implemented.

‘Google®-like’ search capability.

Ability to apply tags to files and documents with the users own terminology. This

process allows users to ‘label’ or ‘tag’ any piece of information that is important to

the user and recall that information simply. Any object can be tagged — a person,

a document, a folder. The tags allow the individual to apply personal groupings to

their information without having to amend the enterprise content structures.

Flexible functionality to meet the organisation’s requirements regarding useability,

as well as simple methods for turning on and off functionality. E.g. Drag n Drop

documents, tags, files etc.

Personalised ‘portlets’ of information to meet user requirements.

Ability to share information directly with other users via the workspace

Ability to create a collaborative workspace, invite users to that workspace, and

share documents and records to the workspace.

RM Workspace has an additional module called RM Connector that allows clients

to capture, manage and present HP TRIM/RM records into line-of-business

systems. This provides a sophisticated and seamless integration between line-of-

business systems and a HP RM EDRMS, including providing access to records from

the business system, and actions associated with the records.


Option 2 Benefits

Fast implementation: The COTS product approach allows for fast and effective

implementations using an ‘out-of-the-box’ interface that is not required to be built,

scripted or customised to be implemented.

Low implementation cost: the RM Workspace product is low cost to implement as

the product itself is just required to be installed, configured and then training can

be provided. The cost would be less than a third of the SharePoint integration

option.

Low training cost: RM Workspace is quite a simple interface that is designed with

the user’s experience in mind. Therefore the ability to quickly learn and intuitively

adopt the solution is high. With this in mind, and simple 2 hour training session is

all that is required, compared to a normal training for EDRMS solutions or

integrated SharePoint of 4-6 hours. This virtually halves the cost of training in the

initial instance, and ongoing training is very low as most users can adopt the

solution through peer assistance or help cards.

Low ongoing cost: the ongoing cost is very low as there is only an annual

maintenance fee to RM Workspace, and the administration tasks are relatively low

so the TRIM administrator can easily manage the Workspace administration as an

additional task.

Accessible: the interface is WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliant, thus ensuring the

solution meets Government requirements for accessibility. The look can also be

modified to the customer corporate standards.

Transparent records management: RM Workspace makes use of HP TRIM / RM’s

strong security rules and records management rules. This is simply inherent in the

solution and the user is not aware of it. The Workspace is ‘loosely coupled’ to HP

TRIM / RM by making use of API calls

Flexible architecture options: There are thick client and thin client options, this

giving the customer the power to decide if a client side rollout is required for thin

clients or mobile device access.

Additional modules: for access to the workspace from line-of-business systems or

via inter/intranets.


For the thick client version to operate effectively, deployment of the Diem

software (a single dll) and the HP TRIM / RM client to desktops is required.


Option 3: Placing RM Workspace in SharePoint

RM Workspace can also be displayed within SharePoint via a web part, as shown in the

Figure 6 below. This will provide users with a web interface to HP RM/TRIM allowing

users to manage, view and edit their records.

Figure 6: RM Workspace within Microsoft SharePoint

Option 3 Benefits

Provides all users with the same access to HP TRIM / RM, regardless of whether

they are SharePoint users or not. SharePoint users can have full access to

SharePoint functionality, while also being allowed access to records in HP TRIM /

RM.


The SharePoint functions are separate to the RM Workspace functions and have

not functional linkage.

Conclusion

Ultimately the decision to go with either solution will depend on the organisation's

business requirements and vision for their future information management environment.


For organisations willing to invest in a SharePoint solution, a comprehensive and

functional solution to the overall business requirement can be achieved using SharePoint.

Moreover, SharePoint will provide more than just a collaborative workspace; a whole user

environment can be achieved.

For those organisations that have already invested in HP TRIM / RM and want to provide

a simple and effective collaborative workspace over the top of HP TRIM / RM, the RM

Workspace provides a low cost alternative with a fast implementation time.

The combined offering of HP TRIM / RM and SharePoint provides a significant records

management compliance capability to SharePoint by transparently capturing records from

the SharePoint system. Using the HP TRIM / RM integration can reduce these costs by

controlling and managing the information within SharePoint using lifecycle management

policies.

However, to develop the workspace solution itself using the SharePoint technologies is

estimated to cost over three times the amount of RM Workspace, would take six times

longer (once the appropriate resources had been secured), and has significant IT

environment implications in establishing SharePoint sites and farms.


About iCognition

iCognition provides practical leadership, solutions and services for the management and

governance of enterprise information. Our vision is to be the trusted advisor of choice to

our clients for enterprise-wide information management and governance consultancy and

solutions implementation.

iCognition’s goal is to ensure enterprises maximise the value of their information, while

minimising cost and risk. We use an integrated Information Governance model that

combines the disciplines of data, records, and information management to value,

manage, control and harness information across the enterprise. This model applies a

strategic design approach at the policy, governance, systems and change management

levels.

At the systems level we provide useful, usability, effective and satisfying information

management systems. We combine business and technical skills to deliver well designed

and considered solutions and cloud services using a combination of third-party products,

integrated systems, and value-added Commercial-Off-The-Shelf interfaces and solutions

developed by iCognition, called our Diem Solutions.

http://www.icognition.com.au/cloud-solutions.html

http://www.icognition.com.au/products.html

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