Implementation of EDMS/RMA for NOAA Marine Fisheries Division, Southeast Region

1. Implementation of EDMS/RMA for NOAA Marine Fisheries Division, Southeast Region Gwen Sanderlin - NOAA Donna Read, CRM - NARA Mike Justen - NOAA John Montel – General Dynamics April 2007

2. Introductions:NOAA – National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service • Protects and preserves the nation’s living marine resources through scientific research, fisheries management, enforcement and habitat conservation. • A voice for commercial and recreational fisheries. • NOAA works to ensure sustainable fish harvests, are the stewards of marine resources and their habitats.

3. NARA – National Archives & Records Administration • 44 U.S.C. 2904 vests in the Archivist of the United States responsibility for providing guidance and assistance to Federal agencies with respect to ensuring adequate and proper documentation of the policies and transactions of the Federal Government, including developing and issuing standards to improve the management of records. • Targeted Assistance Initiative – Providing records management expertise to Federal agencies

4. General Dynamics IT - Team • 20+ years in Document Management • Over 81,000 employees • $21.24B in Revenue • Local offices in 23 states • Unlimited support services • Largest single integrated software suite • Most common shared application • Implemented with 20,000 clients • Secure Intelligent Platform Architecture • CMMi Level 3 Certified • DoD 5015.2 Certified • ISO Certified • On staff certified CDIA personnel • On staff certified NARA records managers

5. What’s in place at NOAA today? • EDMS with RMA moduleElectronic Document Management System with Records Management Application • Laserfiche – a document and image management system • Three NARA Certified Records Managers with more to follow

6. What was the reason for the project? • NOAA needed to meet several business needs:1) Protection of valuable records2) Quick response to FOIA and litigation

7. Edicts & Support from Management • Project Team instructed which department to incorporate into the new system first • Instructed which records to focus on first • The project has received unparalleled support from senior management

8. Project Path • Began in May 2005 • Defining the requirements of the software1) Provide for authenticity of the records2) Scanning capability3) Full text searching4) Proximity searching5) Non-proprietary formats6) User friendly

9. First Hurdle • Convincing the original Project Lead not to build a system from scratch.DoD 5015.2: Design Criteria Standard For Electronic Records Management Software ApplicationsDept. of Justice :Legal Considerations in Designing and Implementing Electronic Processes: A Guide for Federal AgenciesISO 15489:Information Documentation – Records Management (Authenticity – Reliability – Integrity – Usability)

10. Next Challenge Project was on track with project plan and needs assessments under way Project High-jacked by the Procurement Process • Budget issues required a choice of software within a two week timeframe!!!

11. Procurement Process • Service agreements for hardware • License software assurance plan (what you have, lifecycle of the hardware) • Wrong choice of scanning equipment • Time delays meant warranties expired before project started • Architecture of the LAN – will it support the speed at which you are pushing data into the system - had to lay fiber to handle the load

12. Document Prep for Scanning • Who is responsible for the document prep • Part of the contract or not • Details important Remove staples Know how to use copier Lift boxes Filing Nothing to small to note

13. Lesson Learned • Planning will always be superseded by reality!!!

14. Time for Field Trips!!!! • Site visits to locations in Florida where EDMS software was in use • Demos by the users – not by sales staff1) City of Kissimmee – Laserfiche2) City of Tampa - TRIM

15. Continued Research • Phone interviews with users of other software packages across the country • Research in the internet • Demo disks of software • Discussions with other agencies who have already taken the plunge

16. Software purchased • Laserfiche chosen based on cost, functionality, and user friendliness (less clicks to perform functions) • Software installed smoothly and quickly • Records Management module installed at the same time

17. Laserfiche Functionality • Image Capture and OCR • Full text searching • Proximity searching • Redaction • Retention assigned at the folder level • Multiple modules allowing for additional features (like bates numbering)

18. Scanning Contract Signed • Number of pages estimated for the initial records collection • Document preparation taken into account • Contract let based on these figures

19. Trouble at Scanning Central • Contractor said staff experienced in scanning - not true • Scanning staff given misleading information about potential future work • Staff not suited for the work • Resistance to management directives

20. Delay of Project • Due to personnel issues with the scanning staff, the scanning contract was cancelled. • The need to secure another contract caused the project to be delayed for almost a year.

21. The Role of the Integrator • Our scanning woes were tied directly to the lack of a single integrator • Support for product implementation was great • Laserfiche purchased from FC Business Systems (since purchased by General Dynamics) but not hired to implement scanning part of the project

22. Lessons Learned • Don’t underestimate the importance of the having an integrator. • Pay the bucks for the people with experience in both scanning and the software you are using.

23. Needs Assessment Continued • Determined the order of priority for each division to be pulled into the new system • Identify the interdependencies between the business functions • Identify duplicate records (you don’t want to scan records from one department only to find that you already scanned the same records from another department).

24. Identifying Metadata to be Captured • Lots of back and forth with users in department where initial scanning taking place • Difficult to convince users to change business process – wanting to capture way too much metadata • Users don’t trust technology and find it hard to think out of their familiar boxes

25. Assistance from the Records Manager • File plans needs to be in place for mapping records to their retentions • Work of the Records Manager to work with each department to finalize their file plans • Help by raising awareness of records management in general among the staff

26. Training Requirements • High level view of the product shared with almost all staff – they mistook it for detailed training • Included demos of how the product works • Detailed training given to individual users within the pilot department

27. Legal Department Needs Met • Link within their intranet to Laserfiche • Ablitliy to access scanned records • Response to court case with electronic records • Redaction cabability • Bates numbering • Reduction in cost of preparing and shipping administrative records to court and other parties

28. Where the Project is Now • New scanning contract that includes General Dynamics as the integrator for all aspects of the project • 74, 688 pages scanned in a one month period • Able to use redaction feature for a FOIA request • Able to scan and deliver electronic records for court litigation – with bates numbering

29. Vision for the Project • Scanning of all 1.5 millions documents • All employees using the system for everyday document management • All the field office records included for the Southeast Region • Secure disaster recovery • Quick and accurate search and retrieval for response to litigation, FOIA, & everyday work

30. Time for Questions Thank you Contact Information: Gwen Sanderlin – gwen.sanderlin@noaa.gov Donna Read – donna.read@nara.gov Mike Justen – mike.justen@noaa.gov John Montel – john.montel@gdit.com