Into what Claromentis application should we put different types of Intranet Content?

We had a really interesting meeting yesterday with a listed UK company that uses Claromentis to control the information layer, as well as processes, for thousands of users across multiple business units.

The part of the meeting that really interested me was the genuine business concern so simply expressed : ‘Where should I put what kind of information? We are struggling – how do we decide between Quality Manager online information, Content Manager for permissioned pages and menus, and Document Manager for version controlled application files?’

Their point was that they feel they almost have too many tools, too many formats, and risk over distributing information – resulting in user confusion.

I had a lot of sympathy for this discussion. I felt we reached a consensus relevant for this particular company

· Whatever the rules, they need to come from the business. This has nothing to do with technology – we understand you have a choice of information tools- guidance must therefore come from business stakeholders.
· Keep permissioned web pages and menu systems for intuitive browsing. Use Claromentis smart objects to dynamically reference the content of application file folders in document stores. So a relatively static web page about HR might show a dynamic view of some documents, put within context on the web page that are relevant to me using a smart object window.

· Use Quality Manager to manage online information that :
o Is required to comply with legislation
o Has complex interrelationships where one version of the truth is important and audit is critical
o Fits into a users understanding of ‘Manuals, Policies or Procedures’

· Make sure there is true and efficient searching across all the information sets. So if you get it wrong, a user with correct permissions can still find it.

Most important we also acknowledged the legacy issues – that for a large company even if we know that ultimately a particular procedure should reside in Quality Manager, for a few months we should just upload the information as a version controlled PDF in Claromentis Document Management software. Assisting with the change from legacy information is an important part of any substantial project.