Each DocuPhase Application is a virtual filing cabinet where indexed documents are conveniently stored, located and protected, but how will they be used?
§ Just for archive and accessed only on an exception basis?
§ As ready-reference access during the normal business routine?
§ Will they be used in an Ad-Hoc or Automated Business Workflow Process?
§ Will the content of these documents in DocuPhase be changed?
Not all DocuPhase Applications are likely to be used in the same ways so such considerations will impact your design, selection of index fields, and combination of features required.
For example, what if one of your DocuPhase Applications is “Policy & Procedures” where the content documents are the organizations policy and procedure manuals.
•Certainly, these manuals will need to be updated frequently or from time-to-time.
•Another question now arises: Will these changes need to be tracked by Revision Control allowing access to previous copies?
§ Perhaps this will need to be done for legal, auditor required, operational or just best-practices reasons.
§ If Revision Control is needed, then the DocuPhase Revision Control features should be included in this Application’s design so DocuPhase users will be able to check-out one of these documents, make changes and check-in the revised document which is automatically filed as the current revision to the document – All from within DocuPhase.
§ However if DocuPhase Revision Control features are not included in this Application’s design, document content is protected and it CANNOT be changed from within DocuPhase.
•If you choose to update documents outside of DocuPhase without employing its Revision Control features, how will you provide appropriate management of documents and revisions?
§ If revised documents are simply captured in DocuPhase, how will they be consistently differentiated using index fields so the latest version can be found and distinguished from the other document versions in DocuPhase?
§ Perhaps, previous versions are to be deleted as they are replaced by the latest updated version of the document – How will this be consistently done?
§ If these original documents are presently being processed by Progression Workflow, it would be unwise to delete them if you could.
Note: Deletion of Progression workflow process items are especially risky when the key value in the Progression process’s design is dependent on the object id that could now be deleted.
The DocuPhase Revision Control features are designed to manage documents that require content updates at both the Document Management and Progression automated workflow levels – When content updates are required, Revision Control typically results in best overall design approach.