Documentum and Everteam Integration – A Better Records Management Experience

TSG has recently partnered with Everteam to build a connector that will allow easy management of records in Documentum using Everteam’s Archiving and Records Management solution everteam.records. In our de-risking Documentum RPS blog we highlight several of the complexities in using Documentum RPS and how we suggest simplifying them. While RPS is a full-featured solution, its aging admin interface, rigid configuration rules, and the audit trail bloat has proved challenging for our clients. Combine concerns about Documentum RPS with the uncertainty surrounding Documentum at OpenText and OpenText having a competitive Records Management product, many clients are looking for a third party as a more reliable alternative.  With the new integration, Everteam’s modern architecture and user interface eases the deployment of an end-to-end records management solution into a Documentum repository.

Limitations of Documentum RPS – In-Place and Individual Documents

Currently, Documentum’s RPS functionality for dynamic in-place records declaration does not exist. Retention policies are applied either to a folder or to individual records within a folder. RPS cannot be configured to evaluate individual document metadata and apply retention policies. The Everteam connector solves the individual document and in-place problems. Everteam evaluates the metadata on each individual document and matches it to a record type specified in everteam.records. Once matched, a record is created in Everteam and the record-id assigned as a property to the document in Documentum.

From Everteam’s website, “Everteam.records can capture, manage, and provide access to all the records in your organization. The result is one repository with a single point of entry to search all your records, whether they are in a database, files on a shared drive, documents in your content management system, messages in your mail system, or even paper files in boxes.”

Everteam.records provides the functionality to replace Documentum RPS as well as add additional capabilities to be a records hub for additional systems and databases. Record metadata can be exposed and analyzed performing full analytics using everteam.analytics.

Everteam Records Management Background

Similar to the three Documentum Records Management modules, RPS (retention policy services), RM (records manager), and PRM (physical records management), Everteam.records manages electronic and physical records. Everteam’s physical records management features are extensive including storage management, arranging transfers and reserving space, as well as records requests and outsourcing their management.  Everteam’s electronic records management capabilities are even more extensive. A record can not only be a document but also a collection of data in a database. Everteam has configurable connectors for importing data from multiple source locations allowing Everteam to consistently manage record retention, disposition, and transfers across multiple systems. The Everteam connector feature is ideal for importing records from legacy systems scheduled for retirement.  For example, if a Documentum system is slated for retirement, the records can be fully ingested into Everteam for archiving.

In Everteam, the Records Manager has full control of configuration.  As an administrator of the system, the Records Manager defines record types, relates them to departments, and then associates the users with roles and to departments so they can access their records. Additional tasks include defining authorizations, specifying storage locations, configuring the file plan, and reporting statistics.

Using Everteam to manage records in-place in Documentum allows users to continue using the system they are accustomed to for daily document management. It also allows Records Managers to automate the record life cycle and have the users hands-off in declaring records. If records require periodic review or review and approval prior to disposition or transfer, Everteam’s workflow is used to notify users and perform the required tasks. Users can view a collection of records and update records for review or approve disposal lists. It is also possible to disposition or transfer records without any user approval.

Documentum Records Management Example

In the video below we’ve connected to a Documentum repository using Webtop where we’ll navigate to records in the repository that require archiving. The Everteam Documentum Connector is configured to identify records by querying for documents with a status set to Pending Archival. When it runs it will create a record in Everteam that is associated with the document in Documentum. In Documentum, the Connector will update the document status and set the Everteam record id as a metadata value. The document is now a managed record.

When a record is linked from Documentum to Everteam, the Everteam Documentum Connector automatically assigns it to a specific record type with a retention schedule. This allows for Everteam to manage the record and apply the a specific disposition schedule to it. Finally, when the record is eligible for disposition at the end of its retention period, the Everteam Documentum Connector will delete it from the Documentum repository.

Please share your thoughts on managing records in the comments below.