In a previous post, I chatted about the goals of ECM and the business problems it aims to resolve.  This post describes how ECM is architecturally viewed from a MOSS perspective.  The diagram below highlights the components within the ECM architecture.

User Interface

The user interface is an important component in any system as this is the buy-in to the system.  Users need to feel comfortable and confident with the interface otherwise the resistance to the product will increase.  The interface should also provide a productive means of working, where things are easy to get hold of and without problems.  MOSS is a powerful and leverages of several other products.

Microsoft Office

The average business user working on a PC is already comfortable with tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook and spend most of their PC work day in these products.  The wide spread adoption of these products through organisations helps companies introduce SharePoint to assist with ECM.  The content generated from this is a perfect candidate for an ECM solution.  Microsoft Office and SharePoint are made to work with each other. 

Content can created, edited in these products and centrally stored in a SharePoint document library.  The organisation my create a simple document library with folders or the better practice of many different document libraries in different sites brining the content closer to a user and in a place where the user will normally work.  When a document is created, it can be directly stored on SharePoint by connecting to the site.

Mail is integrated into SharePoint where SharePoint can send mails, notifying users of tasks, Users can create and read mails.  SharePoint can even receive mails with attachments and store them into a document library.

Web Browser

SharePoint is a portal in a box and is hosted on a web server.  Users can use a browser to navigate through the site to gain access to information from various other sources within the portal.  Users can search for and retrieve content from the library and edit the document.  With web access, users can remotely connect to the site and get the information they need.

3rd Party

Other products such a SQL Server Reporting Services and Dynamics CRM can be integrated with SharePoint, giving a user a single and central access point to all data.  SharePoint is extensible and developers can create custom content components that run within SharePoint, giving a true portal look and feel.  Additional front-end products can be created to store and retrieve information from SharePoint.

ECM Components

SharePoint addresses a majority of ECM needs with different components and features.  These features are accessed from the front-end through SharePoint sites.  Each site created in SharePoint will use a combination of unified services to deliver the required solution.

Records Management

Many companies have ignored records management in their solutions, thus not adhering to regulations and other compliance rules. These problems can now be addressed using Record management functionality.  The product assists with keeping records up-to-date thus preventing outdated records.  Auditing can be implemented thus knowing who is using the information.  Records are locked thus preventing change and protecting the information.  Powerful search functionality assists in finding the correct data.  Retention policies can be put into place thus managing the library.

All of these features assist protecting a company with legal and compliance adherence.

Some key deliverables

• A repository for structured and unstructured content
• Record schedules through retention policies
• Audinging
• Secure repository
• Changes to content including metadata cannot be made
• Searchable
• Access control

Web Content Management

Web presence within a company helps businesses communicate effectively and information disseminated to all parties throgh a managed environment can be achieved.  Not only can the content be delivered to staff, also customers, partners, suppliers thus facilitating transparent communication. 

Content of the site is put into the hands of users allowing them to provision new content an new sites, thus reducing the burden on IT.  This provisioning obviously runs under security and can be fully process controlled. Web content management allows an organization to easily manage multiple Web sites with different content, in different languages and in geographically dispersed and managed environments

Key points:

• Users can publish their own content
• Editors are designed for business users
• Workflow can manage publishing of content, e.g. approval
• Critical content can be published immediately
• Consistent corporate branding
• Content deployment and management is simple
• Can target intranet, extranet and internet sites
• Multi-lingual site
• Mobile devices

Business Process Management

A workflow solution typically follows a single process stage within SharePoint and facilitates the movement of data through various channels.  This could be from a simple approve / decline to a more complex workflow requiring input from different individuals.  SharePoint uses the Windows Workflow Foundation to deliver User Interface Workflow and application workflow solutions.

Workflow thus manages a process from a SharePoint view, however in an enterprise the process may span multiple other systems and communication between systems becomes vital.  SharePoint has been developed to be extended, products like BizTalk server can easily integrate with SharePoint using the SharePoint Adapter in BizTalk to manage the enterprise process.  Custom components can also be created to integrate the solution.

Document Management

Departments within organisations produce large volumes of unstructured content such as Microsoft Office documents.  This poses a huge storage problem and management nightmare as users store this content in different places resulting in duplicates, different versions and unknown content.  Generally this content lies around for years and no-one actually knows what it is.

Through SharePoint, an organizations content can be effectively managed. Through different unified services, document management goals enforce policies through the entire documents lifecycle. Documents are stored centrally, with optional version control and check in/out functionality.  Workflow can be associated with the document to mange approval processes through the company.  Metadata can be placed on the document such as account numbers, bar codes helping documents to be discovered an managed.

Documents can be secured and controlled through security and can be sent integrated with Record Management.  Information rights can also be enforced on documents thus preventing documents be removed from the organization, features such as printing can be prohibited and view restrictions made to a specific user account.

Key points:

• Centrally store content
• Classify content
• Index and search information
• PowerPoint Slide libraries enable slide reuse
• Protect sensitive information
• Integrated rights management
• Excel services for protecting spreadsheets
• Streamline document collaboration
• Document workflow templates

Forms Management

Business have forms that are vital to many processes.  Using electronic forms, they can be filled out in a web browser thus allowing it to be available to many users.  These forms do not only have to be internally facing and could face internet and intranet sites as well. 

Once the forms have been captured with the required information, they can be submitted for processing. A workflow can be associated with a form to start a process, even external systems such as BizTalk and SQL could process the data.  Forms can also be used within Outlook 2007, then sent as e-mail messages.

Using Microsoft Office InfoPath, forms are easily created with a consistent appearance and behavior across all applications.  The forms can be from simble capture only forms to once with data connections and complex pre validations.   Once forms have been created they can be deployed to a forms library in SharePoint and in MOSS they can be rendered onto the web.

Key points

• Helps automate manual processes
• Use Windows workflow foundation
• Monitor in-progress and completed workflows
• Rapidly design forms
• Centrally manage forms
• Use office InfoPath 2007 for easy form creation
• Track status of forms
• Extend information gathering across boundaries
• Design forms once, run on rich client, browser, mobile devices
• Access LOB system data thru the business data catalog
• Data entry validation rules

Unified Services

The SharePoint offering delivers a set of components that are available though all components, these include workflow, metadata, policies, library services, security, collaboration, information rights management, Microsoft Excel® Services and search. These rich features not only provide consistency through the product, each component can be reused and customised for company specific needs.   No matter if you are using Records Management, Document management or content management, the services are used.

Key features that are shared amongst the ECM components are

• Workflow
• Metadata
• Policies
• Library services
• Search
• Security
• Information Rights Management (IRM)
• Collaboration

Unified Storage

The heart and core of MOSS is a SQL server database, all content, metadata is stored in various different databases.  The server farm is managed through a configuration database, which manages the services and roles of each server offers.  Provisioned features and templates are through this database as well.  Content is stored in different content databases, from a single to multi-partitioned tables.

The SQL backend can be fully scaled from a single SSEE database to a multi-clustered, geographic dispersed solution.  Your budget is your only limit!