An analysis of the issues and benefits in EDRMS Implementation - A case study in a NZ public sector organisation

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the issues occurred and benefits gained during this recent Electronic Document and Records Management System (EDRMS) implementation within the resolution team, legal team and ministerial services team of a New Zealand public organisation so that it can benefit future organisation-wide implementation.

Design/Methodology/approach – Interview questions were developed based on literature review and semi-structured interview was used to collect data from key users of affected business units as well as EDRMS administrators. Interview results were then compared with pre-defined critical successful factors (CSFs) which include: top management support, mature recordkeeping practices, business classification schemes and effective user cooperation, on-going training and support, Well-planned change strategy and communication to find if there is any potential gap within this implementation.

Findings – Issue such as: Lack of early user buy-in or Lack of senior management support arising during the implementations was direct result of violating EDRMS CSFs. Thus, for future deployment, project team needs to correct the issue based on CSFs. However, there are also benefits gained during this implementation which include: Improves overall information quality and efficiency and Enhancing the retention of knowledge base, etc.

Practical implications – Before creating a new file in the EDRMS system, users need to do a search first to check if there is any existing file to avoid duplication. Moreover, business rules around naming convention should be in place before the implementation to guide the users to properly name EDRMS files or folders to avoid duplication.

Originality/value – This paper will assist the case organisation or any other NZ public organisations for any future EDRMS deployment.