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Move Away from File Shares and Organize Enterprise Information
You need a taxonomy, a plan, and a governance strategy.
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Your Challenge
- Most enterprises suffer from information overload. They have too many files, on too many shared drives, and in too many repositories.
- Business users are notoriously resistant to using new technologies such as SharePoint for managing content.
- IT has experimented with technologies such as SharePoint in the past, but has met with little success.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Information growth is becoming a bigger concern for both the business users and management.
- Everyone recognizes that developing a descriptive taxonomy to support business initiatives and manage risk is important, but nobody knows how to actually do it.
Impact and Result
- Take the first steps towards Information Organization. Balance business, IT, and user requirements to build an effective strategy.
- Create a rough-cut taxonomy to kick-off search, ECM, or SharePoint projects.
1. Create a plan for organizing unstructured information
Build a corporate taxonomy for managing internal information.
2. Maintain the information organization practice within the enterprise
Document information gathered during the information organization workshop.
Guided Implementations
This guided implementation is a three call advisory process.
Call #1 - Retention schedules and metadata
Get insight into the appropriateness of your retention schedule and approach to taxonomy creation.
Call #2 - Ensure user buy-in
Information Organization is only the first step. Get guidance on how to actually use your new taxonomy to develop systems that cater to user needs.
Call #3 - Rationalize the product roadmap
Discuss the various technologies in the IT portfolio that could be used to meet the enterprise mandate for Information Organization.
Book Your Workshop
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Document existing conditions
The Purpose
- Create a list of priorities for your information organization strategy.
- Align the priorities with IT and business strategies.
- Identify information sources that can serve as targets for an Information Organization initiative.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Identify key issues that need to be addressed by the Information Organization initiative.
- Recognize roles that will be affected by the initative.
- Target key information sources.
Activities
Outputs
Establish business priorities
- Completed project background and justification
Prepare the business case
- Completed business case template
Identify key sources of information
- Draft listing of information sources
Prioritize information sources
- Prioritized listing of information sources
Module 2: Optimize Information Organization
The Purpose
- Detail user personas that are crucial to developing both taxonomies and information architectures.
- Determine project plans for moving forward with the information organization project.
- Create a governance plan to facilitate the ongoing maintenance of the Information Organization project.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Build a straw man taxonomy.
- Develop project plans for initiatives that will incorporate the taxonomy.
- Create a governance structure for the Information Governance project.
Activities
Outputs
Build user profiles
- Detailed user personas
Create the taxonomy
- Initial managed metadata template
Plan the migration
- Pilot project plans
Govern the Information Organization project
- Governance plan
