How to conduct a pre-project survey before introducing sed. Pre-project survey: example of implementation, report Questionnaire for IT survey

1. Is such an examination necessary at all? What will it give to the customer and the IT company itself?
2. What are the objectives of the pre-project survey?
3. What should be its result?
4. Should I do a pre-project survey for free or charge money for it?
5. How to justify the effectiveness of such an examination to the customer, will it be able to pay off?

Here, each company makes a decision in its own way: someone generally considers such an examination inappropriate (“we’ll get involved in a fight, and then we’ll see...”); others, conducting it during implementation, do not highlight this work in a separate article; still others conduct it as an independent stage of work, but do not charge money for it; Still others rightly consider pre-project inspection to be a separate commercial product. My experience as a manager and consultant shows that pre-project examination is a necessary component of the work of almost any IT company related to the implementation of automation systems. And the success of the entire project sometimes depends on the correct organization and implementation of this stage.

In this article, I will try to answer the questions posed above, based both on my own practice and on the experience of clients with whom I had to communicate, introducing the technology of conducting pre-project surveys from scratch.

The need for pre-project survey

An inventor comes to the commission and offers a new apparatus for shaving on the street.
“How does your device work?” - members of the commission ask him.
“Very simple,” the inventor answers. “You throw a coin into the slot, put your head into the machine, and two blades begin to shave you.”
“Sorry, colleague, but people have different face shapes!” - members of the commission reprimand him.
“Yes,” says the inventor, “but that’s only before the first shave...”

The main task of any automation is to maintain the unique competitive advantages of the automated company. We cannot allow, as in this joke, that after automation all companies become “the same person.” Therefore, if we want to maintain the unique competitive advantages of the customer’s business, then with any modernization of business processes it is necessary to conduct a pre-project survey.

Of course, it is possible to make an in-depth analysis of the reasons that determine this need. These could be the high expected cost of the project, the need to change existing business processes due to automation, the inclusion in the project of work the scope of which cannot be determined in advance, etc. However, remember how in one very instructive story, the commander interrupted the general’s report on the cause of the defeat :

“Our defeat was caused by a number of reasons,” the general began. - Firstly, the gunpowder was damp...
“That’s enough,” the commander stopped him.

The situation is similar here, since to conduct a pre-project survey it is enough that the customer has unique business features (and every company should have them, otherwise it would simply not survive in the market and give way to competitors).

So, globally, the question of the need for this kind of work is resolved quite easily - they must be carried out if the company being automated is in a competitive market.

What does a pre-project survey give to the customer and the IT company itself?

During the pre-design survey, the customer can:

• get a detailed description of the business processes existing in the company and compare the real business with your idea of ​​it;
• optimize existing business processes by using the practical experience that consultants from an IT company gained during previous implementations in similar companies;
• assess the degree of compliance of the functionality of the proposed system with the customer’s real business processes;
• timely highlight your unique advantages and take them into account at the stage of system implementation, and not after its commissioning;
• clarify the budget and timing of the automation project, taking into account possible modifications of the system to suit the unique features of your business processes;
• assess the resources (both technical and human) that will be needed at the stage of system implementation. Timely plan the allocation of these resources to complete the project within the optimal time frame and without exceeding the budget;
• assess possible risks that may affect the quality of work;
• optimize the costs of system deployment by possibly performing some of the work on your own;
• obtain a more accurate assessment of the economic effect and return on investment.

Benefits of pre-project survey for an IT company:

• increasing the level of customer satisfaction by matching his expectations formed at the pre-sales stage (when sellers offer a “dream”) with the real capabilities of the system to support specific business processes;
• clarification of the timing of system implementation and the resources required for this, allowing for advance planning of their allocation;
• timely identification of the customer’s unique advantages in order to take them into account when configuring or modifying the automation system;
• reducing implementation time and reducing the risk of performing free work. Necessary modifications to the system will be carried out before the start of its deployment or in parallel with it, and not after the end of the trial operation stage, at which shortcomings are usually identified. A situation where a discrepancy in functionality is discovered at the project completion stage automatically entails additional unplanned work. At the same time, the customer usually has difficulty financing such work, and in order to successfully complete the project, it often has to be done for free;
• identification of probable risks that may affect the quality and timing of implementation. Timely provision of measures necessary to minimize the impact of these risks on the success of the project;
• obtaining data to justify the number of licenses and project structure;
• recording the current state of affairs in automated units and the main parameters of their work will make it possible to substantiate the effectiveness of using the proposed system;
• establishing personal contacts between consultants and the customer’s main project performers will simplify their collaboration in the future;
• expansion of the knowledge base (if any) on the main business processes of customers in this industry.

Of course, not all the arguments in favor of a pre-design survey are listed here, however, as practice shows, this is quite enough to convince the customer of its necessity.

Main tasks of pre-project survey

Obviously, the next most important task of the pre-project survey is to identify the customer’s unique competitive advantages. As practice shows, about 75% of the business processes used by the customer coincide with the processes in similar companies in the same industry, 10% realize its unique competitive advantages, and the remaining 15% are the result of the second law of thermodynamics:) (a consequence of the “natural growth of chaos ") and must be resolved during the course of the project. But those competitive 10%, which are so important for business, simply need to be preserved with any automation (naturally, provided that these advantages can be formalized). Most often, this issue is resolved by configuring the system for the customer, but sometimes the services of programmers are required to take into account the unique features of the business. Let me note that here we are not talking about custom development, but about the implementation of production automation systems.

Understanding how the customer's competitive advantages will be supported, the IT company will be able to assess the need and cost of product improvements, as well as understand what additional resources may be required for this.

An important goal of the pre-project survey is to diagnose the state of the customer’s IT environment, that is, to assess the computer equipment, software, communications, qualification level of IT specialists, etc., used by him. At this stage, it is necessary to understand whether the customer has enough resources for successful implementation of the system automation. Here we come to another task of the pre-project survey - analyzing the potential risks of the project and describing their likely consequences. At the same time, consultants must not only document all possible risks, but also offer the customer ways to reduce each of them.

Any CIS involves the accumulation of information about the operational activities of departments, so the next topic of the pre-project survey should be the collection of requirements for the document flow of automated departments.

The information accumulated in the system will remain dead weight if there is no opportunity to analyze it, so it is very important during the pre-project survey to find out what types and forms of reporting the customer needs. Typically, automation tools already include a standard set of reports, but each customer rightly considers his business unique, and therefore requires a unique system of this kind, implemented, as a rule, using a special report generator.

The urgent task of the pre-project survey is to clarify the final budget of the project and the timing of its implementation, taking into account all the data received. These deadlines can be influenced by a variety of factors, such as the readiness of the client’s management staff to participate in the project, the motivation of representatives of the customer and the contractor, the likelihood of sabotage on the part of employees of automated units, the possible dismissal (or, conversely, hiring) of a key manager after some time. time after the start of the project, insufficiency of the existing computer fleet and technological base to achieve all automation goals, lack of budget for the purchase of necessary equipment and much more. Therefore, the consultant must find out in detail all these circumstances and reflect them in the report, including for internal use. Drawing up a second - internal - report will allow you to reflect in detail all the nuances of the relationship and recommendations for specialists in the implementation and integration department.

Another important issue that needs to be resolved at the pre-project survey stage is the development of recommendations on the choice of methods for project implementation. Here it is important to clearly record which of the problems previously formulated by the customer cannot be solved using the proposed automation system, and to propose organizational or other ways out of this situation.

Each company can easily add a dozen more tasks that it would like to solve at the survey stage, but, as real practice shows, obtaining answers to the questions listed above already makes the pre-project survey quite effective.

What is usually the result of a pre-project survey?

• description of the customer’s existing business processes;
• a list of the main tasks that need to be solved using the automation system;
• assessment of the customer’s business processes and recommendations for changing or optimizing the work of departments, taking into account the advantages provided by the information system;
• unique competitive advantages of the customer, which must be taken into account when implementing the system;
• analysis of the existing IT environment for compliance with the requirements of the corporate governance system, recommendations for changing it;
• assessment of work on integrating CIS into the customer’s existing IT infrastructure;
• description of document flow in automated departments and requirements for analytics;
• assessment of possible risks during project implementation and identification of measures necessary to minimize their impact;
• a description of the customer’s wishes that cannot be implemented in the proposed control system and will require modification, an estimate of the time and cost of such modification;
• proposal for the implementation of the project with justification for the proposed option, specifying the number of automated workstations required for the customer and clarifying the project budget.

A separate document of the pre-project survey should be a preliminary work schedule, which includes, among other things, an agreed list of responsible persons (both from the customer and the contractor), their areas of responsibility and basic regulations for the interaction between them. For effective implementation of the system, it is recommended to draw up regulations for information exchange between the customer’s employees and specialists of the IT company conducting the survey, and also, importantly, stipulate the timing and procedure for monitoring the completion of work.

Some companies (most often those engaged in custom development) provide the customer with a draft technical specification upon completion of the pre-project examination.

Do a pre-project survey for free or charge money for it?

If the purpose of the survey corresponds to the tasks described above, then it will require the diversion of significant company resources and must necessarily be paid. This pre-project survey is a full-fledged consulting service that allows not only to assess the need, timing and budget for automation, but also to optimize the customer’s existing business processes.

As practice has shown, pre-project survey services are not difficult to sell if the company has implemented the appropriate technology and the sellers clearly know (and can clearly explain to the client) the purpose of the survey and what benefits the customer will receive from it.

How to justify to the customer the effectiveness of pre-project inspection

Let's consider potential savings channels, taking into account which can help justify the need for a pre-project survey.

1. Saving human resources and time:
   • when modifying the system to suit the customer’s unique competitive advantages at the initial stage of implementation, and not after putting it into commercial operation;
   • at the stage of integrating the system into the customer’s IT infrastructure due to the fact that all information about the state of the enterprise’s IT environment and the nuances of integration is clarified before the start, and not during implementation;
   • thanks to the timely allocation of material and human resources from both the contractor and the customer;
   • through early assessment of possible risks that could affect the process of system implementation, and the development of measures necessary to minimize their negative consequences.
     Any delay in the progress of the project results in serious additional costs for the customer, which can be quite easily calculated in each specific case.
2. Possible reduction in implementation costs:
   • by identifying services and work that the customer can perform on its own;
   • by adjusting the deadlines for completing some work after clarifying their real labor intensity.
3. Increasing the efficiency of corporate information systems and employee productivity by optimizing business processes taking into account the unique characteristics of the customer.
4. Refusal to use an automated system if at the stage of pre-design inspection it turns out that it will not solve the customer’s problems or its modification will be too expensive.
   In my practice, there was a case when a client with very specific business processes, based on the results of a pre-project survey, was recommended not to deploy a CIS, but to make organizational changes and optimize the technology for working with their customers, since the effect of implementing the system (there was an expensive modification required) did not pay off would be costs. As a result, the client saved tens of thousands of dollars, and the pre-project survey paid off only by increasing the efficiency of the department, which, on the recommendation of the consultants, changed the employee’s work technology.

The absence of a pre-project survey stage in most cases leads to a significant delay in the implementation of projects and an increase in their cost due to both organizational and technical problems that arise during implementation. Often such projects end in complete failure. According to a Standish Group study, almost a third of the 2.5 thousand IT projects they analyzed were not only unsuccessful, but were not completed at all. In Russia, such data is much more difficult to obtain, but I am sure that the share of unsuccessful implementations will be no less.

Therefore, if a consulting company does not want to have unrealized projects on its track record, then it simply needs to conduct a pre-project survey of the customers’ business. It is better to refuse the contract at the initial stage than to get bogged down in work and end up with a stain on your reputation.

Information survey is an important stage in the optimization of preschool educational institutions and the implementation of EDS. After all, the quality of decisions made to optimize processes and develop requirements for the functionality of the EDMS directly depends on the information received and the quality of its presentation.

In this regard, it is necessary to adhere to the main principle of the survey - to obtain complete, reliable and up-to-date information about the processes that are planned to be automated.

Pre-project survey

From the point of view of a consulting company offering its services on the market for consulting and implementation of EDMS, i.e. implementation of an EDMS for an analyst is external project, pre-project survey is considered as part of the sales methodology (as one of the “pre-sales” phases). However, most of the work at this stage is performed by the analyst, as well as at the analysis stage provided for by the implementation methodology. For this reason, the pre-project survey is also considered as part of the implementation methodology.

Conducting a pre-project survey can also be useful for analysts performing work on the implementation of EDMS as internal enterprise (organization) project, i.e. the analyst is an employee of the company where the EDMS is being implemented.

Scheme of the results of the pre-project survey

Goals pre-project survey are:

• obtaining general information about the object of EDMS implementation;
• defining implementation goals;
• identification of general key requirements for the EDMS and project boundaries;
• determination of the general state of the organization of document flow and office work;
• identification of main users (clerks, managers, etc.);
• determining the overall level of complexity of a potential project;
• assessing the needs for data migration and integration with other software;
• collection of information necessary to prepare an effective and winning Commercial Proposal [if the work is carried out by a company external to the implementation object].

In order to obtain the necessary information about the project, surveys and interviews of the main users (Customer, project manager, heads of departments, main users) are carried out.

Sample Questionnaire questions, the answers to which will allow you to obtain primary information from the Customer and future users of the EDMS, are presented in the “Questions for Questionnaires and Interviews” section.

As a result Pre-project inspection is carried out:

• assessment of the amount of work required to implement the EDMS;
• preparation of a report on the pre-project survey;
• preparation and demonstration of a solution prototype (if necessary);
• preparation of a commercial proposal.

1. Goals and objectives of implementing EDMS;
2. Boundaries of the project for the implementation of EDMS;
3. Other information received.

After conducting a pre-project survey, it becomes possible to estimate the amount of analytical and technical work that will need to be carried out, as well as what results should be achieved.

As a result, a document is developed containing a description of the basic requirements for the EDMS, project boundaries and other identified information. If the information survey is carried out by an organization external to the Customer, a prototype solution is also prepared for demonstration to the Customer (if necessary) and a commercial proposal.

At this stage, based on the received primary information, the Project Manager (PM) draws up a basic work plan, a hierarchical work structure (WBS), and a Project Charter. At this stage, the selection of the platform on which the EDMS will be developed may also take place.

Information survey and analysis

Using the results of the Pre-Project Survey as a starting point, the Information Survey clarifies previously obtained information, examines and describes existing business processes (“as is”), and proposes future, optimized business processes (“to be”). “as it should be”), and also describes all the necessary modifications in the system to support these business processes and EDMS interfaces.

Scheme of the results of the information survey

Goals information survey are:

• study and precise description of business processes to be automated;
• definition and description of system modifications, interfaces, incl. interfaces with external systems and means of transferring data from existing programs that must be developed and implemented during the project;
• development of technical specifications (TOR);
• development of recommendations for reengineering (optimization) of document flows and organization of document flow and office work.

The purpose of this stage is to identify the Customer’s requirements for implementation results, therefore close collaboration between the Customer, the main users and the Analyst is necessary throughout the entire phase of information survey and analysis. Typically, the Information Survey is the next step after the Pre-Project Survey, and involves a detailed examination of all areas of the business that will be affected during the project, rather than simply identifying the main functional areas and "killer applications", as is done during the Pre-Project Survey. .

In order to obtain the necessary information, surveys and interviews of the main users (Customer, project manager, heads of departments, main users) are carried out similar to the pre-project survey, but at a more detailed level. Sample Questionnaire questions, the answers to which will allow you to obtain information from the Customer and future EDMS users, are presented in the “Questions for Questionnaires and Interviews” section.

results the work is reflected in the document "Functional Requirements" (FR) or Report, or terms of reference (depending on the complexity of the project).

The final document must contain:

1. Functional requirements for EDMS;
2. Description of EDMS interfaces;
3. Description of business processes;
4. Recommendations for reengineering (optimization) of document flow;
5. Other information obtained during the survey and analysis.

As a result of the work carried out to organize effective office work and document flow and the decision made to implement an electronic document management system, the project team formulates requirements for the automated system, draws up a list of processes to be automated, determines the priorities and sequence of their automation.

After determining the goals, objectives, and boundaries of the project for the implementation of EDMS, work begins on the development and implementation of an automated electronic document management system.

In order to effectively automate work with documents, it is recommended:

1. Make a list of existing types of documents In the organisation
2. Do examination of each type document (see below)*
3. Compose list of employees responsible for creating documents (who creates what types of documents)
4. Compose list of employees vising, signing, approving documents (who, what types of documents; conditions under which a visa is required, signature)
5. Based on these lists create a general route passage of documents with conditions for passage - algorithm (Operogram or Graphic Document Flow Scheme)
6. Determine the necessary accounting documents(reports): conditions for creating reports and their forms
7. Determine what types of documents need to be placed under control (determine deadlines, forms of notification, form of control card, conditions for removal from control)
8. Based on surveys draw up instructions for preschool education if necessary
9. Create a list of cases(indicating storage periods and principles for forming cases) if necessary
10. Make a list that reflects the mechanism for accessing various types of documents (depending on the position)

Examination of each type of document:

• describe the documentation (compilation) technology: a set of details, their location, methods of filling out (if necessary);
• describe the forms of registration and control cards (RCC): the set and arrangement of fields in the card;
• show the conditions for the movement of documents (availability of signatures, visas, checks, etc.);
• show a document flow diagram (route) or a list of the main endorsers, signers, etc.;
• describe the registration method, codes that are assigned to various types of documents

Questions for questionnaires and interviews

Listed here are questions that can be used in questionnaires or when interviewing users when conducting a survey of the object of EDMS implementation. The questions are advisory. There are no clear requirements for conducting a survey, so the Analyst must be creative in obtaining the necessary information, structuring it and displaying it.

Needs to automate the document management process:

1. What are the long-term and short-term goals of implementing the system?
2. What are the main criteria for the success of a document management system implementation project?
3. In what timeframe is it desirable to implement the system? What are the reasons for these deadlines?
4. Who is the main initiator of the project: in the interests of which department or manager (managers) is it planned to implement the system?
5. Who are the main customers of the EDMS (which divisions) and the main participants of the EDMS?
6. When implementing the system, are you planning a full or partial transition to paperless technology for office work and document flow? Describe how you see it.
7. Are there plans to use cryptographic information protection and electronic digital signature systems (CIPF and EDS)? If YES, please indicate the name or type of priority systems.
8. Processing, what types of documents, formats and types are planned to be automated by the system?
8.1. Briefly describe the main parameters of each of them, indicate the differences.
8.2. Set your priorities
9. How many workstations are planned to be installed at once?
10. How many workplaces are planned to be connected to the system eventually (in total)?
11. In which departments is it planned to implement the EDMS?
12. Describe the main functional responsibilities of the departments - the main participants of the EDMS.

Organizational matters:

13. Are there technical specialists who will lead the project on behalf of the Customer?
14. Are there specialists in preschool educational institutions who will lead the project on behalf of the Customer?

Questions about preschool education:

15. Are there approved provisions, instructions, regulations or other normative documents regulating the work with documents (descriptions of the rules of office work and document flow)?
15.1. How mature and relevant are they?
15.2. Are there any plans to change them?
15.3. If such documents exist, please provide them for analysis.
16. If there are no such rules (regulations, instructions, methods) or they are not relevant, is it necessary to conduct a survey, description and optimization of existing processes?
16.1. Is there an understanding of the necessity and timeliness of such actions?
16.2. Or are there plans to automate processes “as is”?
16.3. If survey and optimization will be carried out, then define the survey areas, goals and optimization criteria.
17. How is paperwork carried out?
17.1. Centralized;
17.2. Decentralized;
17.3. Mixed.
18. Which department or employee is responsible for working with documents?
19. Who in the company organizes the work with documents (which department)?
20. What functions (processes, work) need to be automated for these types of documents? Describe them (briefly)
21. What is the approximate volume of document flow per year/month for each specified type of document?
22. List the types of documents for which forms and templates are used, the work with which is planned to be automated?
23. What forms of accounting and registration are used for each type of document? Describe their structure, filling rules, rules for generating registration numbers.
24. What documents require additional control? Describe their characteristics and control requirements.
25. What types and types of reporting need to be implemented for each type of document?
26. Types of work performed on each type of document. Changes that occur to a document during a business process.
27. Describe the job responsibilities for processing documents of employees who are participants in the document flow.
28. Describe the existing technology for working with documents in an organization or department:
28.1. the procedure for forwarding processing and registration of incoming documents;
28.2. the procedure for management to review incoming documents and issue resolutions;
28.3. structure of the resolution;
28.4. the procedure for submitting documents for control;
28.5. types of control;
28.6. deadlines;
28.7. list of documents, the execution of which is subject to control;
28.8. document execution control technology;
28.9. the procedure for recording documents received for execution in structural divisions;
28.10. procedure for removing documents from control;
28.11. the procedure for reviewing draft documents by management, their approval by various departments and approval;
28.12. procedure for registration and forwarding processing of outgoing documents;
28.13. procedure for developing internal documents;
28.14. organization of document storage in structural divisions and in the central archive of the organization.
29. What needs to be changed in working with documents?
30. What forms of accounting and registration are used for each type of document?
30.1. Describe their structure and filling rules (if any).
30.2. Rules for generating a registration number
31. What types and types of reporting need to be implemented for each type of document?
31.1. current office reports;
31.2. final office reports;
31.3. statistical office reports;
32. Ability to establish and track connections between documents

Questions about archival storage:

33. Is there an archive as a structural unit?
34. Who is responsible for prompt storage of documents?
35. Are there instructions for storing documents? If you have regulatory documents, please provide them.
36. Is the Nomenclature of Cases developed (every year)?
37. Which unit (official) is responsible for drawing up and approving the consolidated Nomenclature of Cases.
38. Is there an examination of the value of documents and destruction of documents?
39. Is there a scientific reference apparatus? Who is leading it? Describe its structure.
40. Has a policy been developed for access to documents, especially confidential ones?
41. Are there plans to transfer the archive of “paper” documents to the system?
41.1. Please indicate the approximate quantity, format and types of documents.
41.2. Is the document archive geographically distributed? If YES, where are the document storage locations located?
41.3. Specify the required time frame for transferring information to the system.
42. What rules apply for writing off documents into files, transferring them to the archive, what are the storage standards?
43. Rules for working with the division’s Nomenclature of Cases, its structure and organization of document storage in the division, work with which is subject to automation.

Description of the organization structure:

To carry out an initial assessment of requirements, information about the organizational structure of the company is required. The description of the organizational structure must be a diagram (in Visio, ARIS or other similar format). A text description is also possible. The diagram (or text description) of the organizational structure should reflect:

44. List of top-level organizations (management company, list of complexes, branches, individual legal entities (for example, company offices), etc.), including:
44.1. names of organizations;
44.2. geographical location of organizations;
44.3. relationships between organizations (hierarchy);
44.4. spheres of activity of organizations.
45. Organizational structures of top-level organizations, which should contain:
45.1. structure of divisions;
45.2. interrelationships between departments;
45.3. functions of departments;
45.4. areas of responsibility of departments.

First of all, we are interested in information about the structural units that will be involved in the implementation of the electronic document management system.

IT infrastructure of the organization:

46. ​​What technical support is available: server characteristics, client sites?
47. Is information system(s) currently used to automate current tasks?
47.1. If YES, what features does it include?
47.2. What are you unhappy with/current problems?
47.3. Are there plans to replace it completely or partially?
47.4. Data migration: how is it planned to transfer accumulated information:
- cannot be tolerated
- carry by hand,
- transfer automatically.
47.5. If you plan to automatically transfer “old” data to a new system, it is necessary to provide information about the structure and storage formats, and formulate requirements for data conversion.
48. Is integration with other systems required?
49. What is the typical configuration of client workstations (processor, RAM, operating system, etc.)?
50. Is there a list of standard software installed on office PCs? If YES, please provide this list.
51. What are the characteristics of basic server hardware?
52. Do company employees use corporate e-mail in their daily work? What mail server and client are you using?
53. Specify the version and developer of the corporate email server software.
54. What is your network topology:
1.1. Is the local network based on a Windows NT domain?
1.2. How many workstations are on your local network?
1.3. Is there a territorial distribution of the network? If there is:
1.3.1. What is the distribution of workstations among branches (offices)?
1.3.2. What is the capacity of communication channels between network segments?
55. Is there a dedicated file server designed for storing documents? What is the estimated volume of documents stored on this server?
56. Is there a strategy for storing unstructured information (PCs, dedicated file servers, storage subsystems, etc.)
57. What is the average volume of documents stored on client workstations?
58. What corporate information systems (CIS) are used at the enterprise?
59. Are there licensed DBMSs and how are they used? Indicate the developers and versions of the DBMS used in the enterprise.
60. Are directory services used to identify users? If YES, please indicate which ones.
61. Is there a technical support service for users (helpdesk)? Are there any regulations for this service?
62. How many employees does the information technology department (department, department) have? What are the main tasks this unit solves?
63. Indicate the systems with which the document management system should be integrated.
64. Indicate the approximate ratio of employees who have access to documents for review only to the number of employees who have the right to modify and perform certain actions.

Requirements for EDMS:

65. List and describe what functional requirements for the new system you consider the most important.
66. The composition of the attributes of each document card:
- Name
- Description
- Label on the form (name on the form)
- Data type
- Method of filling (manually, from a directory, ...)
67. Search for documents by attributes of registration cards List of search card details
68. The need to create a history of working with documents, tracking the progress of execution and the approval process, etc.
69. Necessary filters in the system
70. Information requests that the system must satisfy

We propose to formalize the information obtained as a result of the survey in the form operograms or in the form algorithm. As an example, we suggest considering the life cycle of orders for core activities. The technology for working with this type of document is the most unified and can be used at various enterprises.

Examples of the process of working with a document

We propose to formalize the information obtained as a result of the survey in the form of an operogram or in the form of an algorithm. As an example, we suggest considering the life cycle of orders for core activities. The technology for working with this type of document is the most unified and can be used at various enterprises.

Operagram of the life cycle of an order for the main activity

Click on the image to enlarge it

Algorithm for processing orders for core activities

Development of functional requirements

Based on the information listed above, the Analyst develops functional requirements for the EDMS or terms of reference for the development of the EDMS. In particular, the Analyst must draw up requirements for the format and composition of registration and control cards (set and arrangement of fields in the card, methods of filling in the EDMS, etc.), routes for the movement of documents and other requirements necessary for setting up and developing the EDMS.

Automation of work and, accordingly, setting tasks for software development should be carried out in the presence of regulatory documents regulating work with documents: instructions, regulations, form books, etc.

In the absence of such documents, it is necessary to develop document(s) establishing the basic rules for working with documents, the work with which is planned to be automated.

Documentation

During the examination, the following documentation is prepared:

1. Information survey report (infology model)

Purpose:
Recording information obtained during the survey, interviewing the Customer’s employees in order to develop technical specifications for the creation and configuration of an automated system

Includes:

• Description of the general characteristics of the Customer;
• Description of the organizational structure;
• Description of technical equipment;
• Description of business processes to be automated;
• Description of user requirements;
• Recommendations for improving business processes.

2. Terms of reference for the creation of an automated system (data model)

Purpose:
Development of technical requirements for the functionality of the automated system and its architecture

Includes description:

• AWP;
• system functions;
• card attributes;
• interfaces;
• reference books;
• action buttons;
• notice terms;
• other technical requirements for EDMS.

The documentation sections described above may be added and changed as needed. documentation development is a creative process and also depends on the professionalism of the Analyst developing these documents.

Currently, there is a rapid development and implementation of information technologies not only in government agencies, but also in many Russian enterprises, and the success of the implementation itself depends on what the approach to the implementation of EDMS will be, how well it will be planned.

As business grows, the volume of paper documentation also increases. And when the number of documents being processed exceeds a threshold value, the processes of working with documents get out of control, cease to be manageable and, as a result, begin to slow down the development of the enterprise, then the importance of implementing an EDMS comes to light. At this point, many businesses are faced with a problem called “where to start.”

The process of implementing EDMS in successful global and domestic practice includes the following stages:

1. Information survey.
   1. Interviewing.
   2. Questioning.
2. Analysis of collected data.
3. Formation of technical and functional requirements for EDMS.
4. Monitoring the EDMS market and holding a tender.
5. Testing the demo version.
6. Conclusion of an agreement.
7. Development of regulations for EDMS.
8. Software installation and configuration.
9. Training of EDMS users.
10. Testing software with users.
11. Elimination of errors identified during system testing.
12. Industrial operation.

Why not do without an information survey?

Why is it so important to conduct an information survey? It is believed that a high-quality pre-project survey guarantees 80% success of EDMS implementation. After all, it allows:

• get a clearer “portrait” of the organization: its mission, areas of activity; Company structure; functions of divisions (and their interaction) laid down in the provisions on structural divisions; main business processes;
• determine the general state of the organization of office work at the enterprise;
• determine information and documentation flows (including types of documents used);
• identify and take into account risks and ways to overcome them when implementing the system;
• determine the purpose of implementation;
• determine the tasks and functions that the EDMS will subsequently have to perform;
• identify EDMS users;
• learn and describe existing business processes (to be automated), etc.

You can get answers to the above questions by independent study of general information about the object of EDMS implementation. This helps prepare for interviewing management and key specialists. And analysis of the interview results will help you develop questionnaire with more detailed questions for a wider range of people. Thus, each stage of the examination allows you to dive deeper into the problem and obtain as a result an increasingly detailed description of the problem.

Only by understanding the real needs of the enterprise can one determine what functions the EDMS should perform. Then its appearance will be able to optimize people’s work and they will not perceive it as the fifth wheel of a cart.

By the time the survey began, our meat processing plant had a group of geographically distributed offices, a complex enterprise structure and a large volume of paper document flow, which led to scattered uncontrolled document flow, violation of approval and execution deadlines, as well as loss of documents.

With the growth of production volumes and the increase in the tasks solved by our enterprise, the amount of management and other documentation developed, received and sent has only grown, and the role of performance discipline has also increased. In connection with the meat processing plant reaching a new level, the management of the enterprise decided to introduce an electronic document management system (EDMS), which allows automating not only work with organizational and administrative documents (orders, correspondence, etc.), but also some business processes accompanied by processing and execution of documents.

For this purpose, a team was formed from specialists from key structural divisions of the enterprise. The deputy director for preschool education, the author of this article, was appointed head of this project.

Interviewing

We decided to implement the EDMS in stages. The first stage of the information survey, “visible” for the team, was to conduct - survey of the first line of managers and key participants in business processes who will work in the EDMS, i.e. will be its users. This survey must necessarily include managers and subject matter experts of interested structural units, who will be able to express their wishes and comments.

Before the start of this stage, the deputy director for preschool education was questions prepared, the answers to which could give an idea of ​​the problems in organizing work with documents.

A list of future respondents was compiled, which included about 30 people (this heads of departments, their deputies and specialists responsible for creating documents, signing, signing and approving them). A separate meeting was agreed upon with each person, during which the purpose of the personal conversation was first outlined, and then there was a dialogue, the “program” of which was a pre-prepared list of theses and questions (see Example 1). For the convenience of conducting and analyzing interviews, you can record the conversation on a voice recorder. But it is better for the survey participant not to know that a recording is taking place, because most people get lost when they see a voice recorder.

Example 1

Preparation for conducting interviews as part of a survey of a meat processing plant for the implementation of EDS

Collapse Show

When meeting with each respondent, the deputy for the preschool educational institution at the beginning of the conversation outlined in detail:

1. Purpose of the survey:

“Inspection of the state of office work and document flow, understanding of existing business processes that should be automated and whose activities are accompanied by the processing and execution of documents.”

2. Why does our company need to implement an EDMS:

“The purpose of the EDMS is to qualitatively improve the process of working with documents for managers and subject matter specialists at all levels, and to reduce the time of routine work with documents.”

3. What advantages does the EDMS provide, for example:

“The system allows you to reduce the time spent searching for the required document, allows you to have access to a common database of documents with differentiation of user rights, you can work in the system remotely, work with one document jointly by several users, approve documents quickly and easily, automate the registration and distribution of documents, organize control execution of orders and documents (management activities become transparent), it is possible to sign documents in the system using an electronic signature, organize work with contracts, integrate the EDMS with other programs used by the organization, and reduce the cost of maintaining the archive.”

1. What problems do you encounter when working with documents?
2. What would you like to improve, improve, change in the organization of work with documents?
3. How quickly and efficiently are documents delivered?
4. Where, in your opinion, are the weak areas that cause problems in working with documents?
5. Are the existing document forms convenient to use?
6. How much time does it take to process one document? This question should be asked in relation to each type of document that is widely present in the organization’s business processes.
7. What is the volume of document flow in your area of ​​work?

The interview process was affected by the busyness of the survey participants, which affected the timing of the survey, and also demonstrated that employees underestimated the importance of the project.

As a result of the analysis of the information collected during the interview, a table was formed, shown in Example 2. It helped to structure the information received and draw the necessary conclusions, which are well reflected in it.

Example 2

Systematization of information obtained during the interview

Collapse Show

Based on the interview results, the following business processes were identified that require automation by EDMS in the first place:

• contract management;
• coordination of invoices for payment;
• coordination of organizational and administrative documents:
• control over the execution of instructions (resolutions).

Interviewing made it possible to prepare the ground for questioning, which requires greater accuracy in providing answers to questions.

Questionnaire

The purpose of the survey was to obtain more detailed (accurate) information about the current state of document flow and office work at the enterprise. The survey participants were heads of structural units and subject matter experts, who would then become users of the EDMS. The survey was conducted in absentia, which meant filling out the questionnaire in the absence of the researcher.

The questionnaire consisted of three parts (see Example 4):

1. The introductory part - its main task was to encourage the respondent to give answers to the questions posed. The purpose and objectives of the study, the significance of the respondent’s role were described; instructions for filling out the questionnaire.
2. The main part contains questions with simple wording, and their completeness and quantity depend on the desired goal (the questions in the sample questionnaire from Example 4 are advisory and may differ from the optimal questions for surveying your enterprise; you can use them as a starting sample for developing your own questionnaire ).
3. The final part - here the respondent was given a guarantee of confidentiality of the opinion he expressed; gratitude was expressed for participation in the study.

At the request of the respondent, the questionnaire was printed and handed to him personally or sent to his e-mail. The form of the questionnaire was designed so that it would be convenient for the respondent to fill it out directly in a word file.

If the questionnaire was sent as a Word file, then in the body of the email the recipient first saw the accompanying text (all contact details in the example are fictitious):

Example 3

Accompanying text and subject of the email when sending the questionnaire as an attached file by email

Collapse Show

Example 4

Questionnaire for conducting a survey of an enterprise before implementing an EDMS

Collapse Show

The collected data was entered into a MS Excel table, which made it possible to automatically generate diagrams of the distribution of opinions on each issue. Those. the results were presented to management in the most visible way possible (see Example 6). The number of selected answer options for each question was reflected on one sheet of the file, and diagrams based on this data were built on another sheet:

In the future, we are going to take into account all the identified risks in order to switch to working in the EDMS as soon as possible:

• the risk of absence or incorrect definition of the tasks and functions of the EDMS;
• the risk of underestimating the necessary resources (monetary, time);
• the risk of delays in the implementation of project stages;
• the risk of insufficient information to employees of the enterprise about the progress of work, as well as the risk of neglect, passivity, resistance of employees, weak involvement of managers in the project;
• risk of poor technological equipment;
• risk of lack of regulatory framework.

In general, the survey showed a positive attitude towards the introduction of electronic document management, but there were also a number of employees who had a negative attitude towards the implementation of EDS, because they perceived this project as just another innovation that would only add more work to them.

Subsequently, based on the analysis of the results of the interviews and questionnaires, the goal was determined and requirements for the EDMS were drawn up, but this is another and no less important stage of the implementation work. Currently, our company is conducting a comparative analysis of the EDMS market.

Footnotes

Collapse Show

Keywords: enterprise survey, interviewing and questioning, register of incoming information, register of internal information, register of outgoing information, report on express survey of the enterprise, reference model, complete business model of the organization, functional model of the subject area.

Tasks and stages of pre-design inspection of an automation facility

Enterprise survey is an important and defining stage of IS design. The duration of the examination is usually 1-2 weeks. During this time, the system analyst should examine no more than 2-3 types of activities (HR, accounting, transportation, marketing, etc.).

Gathering information for construction complete business model of the organization often comes down to the study of documented information flows and functions of departments, and is also carried out through interviews and questionnaires.

Before the start of survey work, the organization usually provides a set of documents, which usually includes:

Summary information about the activities of the enterprise.

Information about the managerial, financial, economic, and production activities of the enterprise.

Information about accounting policies and reporting.

Regular document flow of the enterprise.

Register of incoming information.

Register of internal information.

Register of outgoing information.

Information about the information and computing infrastructure of the enterprise.

Information about responsible persons.

Lists of questions for interviews and questionnaires are compiled for each division being surveyed and approved by the head of the company. This is done for the purpose of:

preventing access to confidential information;

strengthening the target orientation of the survey;

minimizing the distraction of enterprise employees from performing their job duties.

General list of questions(with their subsequent detail) includes the following points:

main tasks of the units;

information collected and recorded;

reporting;

interaction with other departments.

Questionnaires for managers and specialists may contain the following questions:

What (from the perspective of your department) should be the goals of creating an integrated enterprise management system?

Organizational structure of the unit.

Tasks of the unit.

Sequence of actions when performing tasks.

What types of external organizations (bank, customer, supplier, etc.) does the unit interact with and what information is exchanged?

What reference material do you use?

How much time (in minutes) do you spend performing basic operations? What dates are “peak loads”? (frequency per month, quarter, year, etc.) Technical equipment of the department (computers, network, modem, etc.). Used software products to automate business processes.

What reports and how often do you prepare for management? Key department specialists who can answer any questions about the business processes used in the department.

Characteristics of remote control objects.

Document flow in the workplace.

Data collected in this way, as a rule, do not cover all significant aspects of organizational activity and have a high degree of subjectivity. And most importantly, this kind of survey does not identify stable factors associated with the specific characteristics of the organization, which can be influenced exclusively by methods of functional adjustment of the organizational system.

An analysis of surveys of the heads of the surveyed organizations and enterprises shows that their ideas about the structure of the organization, general and local goals of operation, the tasks and functions of departments, as well as the subordination of employees are sometimes contradictory. In addition, these ideas sometimes diverge from officially declared goals and rules or contradict actual activities.

If the structure of information flows can be identified from samples of documents and configurations of computer networks and databases, then the structure of real microprocesses carried out by personnel in information contacts (largely undocumented) remains unknown.

The answers to these questions can be given by structural and functional diagnostics based on methods of continuous (or selective) photography of personnel working time. The purpose of diagnostics is to obtain reliable knowledge about the organization and the organizational relationships of its functional elements.

In this regard, the most important tasks of functional diagnostics of organizational structures include:

classification of subjects of functioning (categories and groups of workers);

classification of elements of the functioning process (actions, procedures);

classification of directions (problems to be solved), goals of functioning;

classification of information flow elements;

conducting a survey of the activities of the organization’s personnel;

study of the distribution (in time and frequency) of organizational characteristics: procedures, personnel contacts, areas of activity, elements of information flows - individually and in combination with each other by categories of employees, types of procedures and their areas (according to the results and logic of the research);

identifying the real structure of functional, informational, hierarchical, temporary, problematic relationships between managers, employees and departments;

establishing a structure for the distribution of working time for managers and staff regarding the functions, problems and goals of the organization;

identification of the main technologies for the functioning of the organization (information processes, including undocumented ones), their goal setting in comparison with the declared goals of the organization;

identifying groups of workers that are homogeneous in their specific activities, target orientation and real subordination, forming a real model of the organizational structure and comparing it with the declared one;

determining the reasons for the discrepancy between the declared and real structure of organizational relations.

Continuous “photography” of working time is the continuous observation and recording of the characteristics of workers in the process of functioning throughout the entire working day. In this case, the displayed parameters are sequentially entered into a pre-prepared work table. Below is the form of a systems analyst worksheet:

Immediately after the completion of the examination procedure, the table is replenished with additional characteristics: technological branch, system function, subject, aspect, emotional background, etc.

Some of the indicators, those marked with an asterisk, are filled in during the survey, the rest - after. The contents of the entries are as follows:

number (in order);

agent (position of the employee being surveyed);

the time during which the procedure was performed;

procedure (the name of the content of a set of elementary actions united by the commonality of the particular problem being solved);

information (direction of information flow between the agent and the counterparty);

initiative (the initiator of the start of this procedure);

counterparty (position of an employee who is in contact with the subject);

relationship (reflecting the subordination of the agent and the counterparty, the form of interaction in this procedure);

problem (verbal description of the problem being solved).

The result of the pre-project survey must appear " Report on express inspection of the enterprise", the structure of which is given below.

Brief schematic description of business processes, for example:

purchasing and inventory management;

Production Management;

sales management;

financial resource management.

Basic requirements and priorities of automation.

Assessment of the customer's resources necessary to support the project.

In this work, the company “Zaman-Bank” was chosen as the enterprise under study. It was founded in 1989 and operates in the banking sector market, providing services to legal entities and individuals. The strategic features of the bank are speed of service, a wide range of lending offers, a high level of adaptation to the external environment - cultural, economic, legal, technological and political. The bank is located in Kazakhstan with its main office in Astana.

One of the bank's priority development areas is improving existing IT processes. To do this, management decided to resort to the help of third-party integrator companies. It is planned to modernize the IT department in accordance with the service approach and best global practices, while among the top priorities in the bank are the refinement of the service catalog and the full implementation of the incident and IT asset management process.

Methodology for examining the bank’s IT department

To select a survey methodology for the bank’s IT department, the following methods were analyzed:

• 1. Analysis of existing documentation for the process and / or automation system. To do this, a complete package of documents is requested, a stand is deployed for existing automation systems and an independent study of the received materials occurs.
• 2. Interviewing the customer’s employees. The integrator company goes to the site of the survey and conducts interviews on all key elements of the IT department’s work.
• 3. Observation. The integrator company conducts a survey at the customer’s workplace, while observing the participants in the process, how they perform their functions in the process and work in the system.
• 4. Request for information - questionnaire. Questionnaires are sent to the customer, after which employees from the customer’s side fill them out. Next, the questionnaires are analyzed by the project team from the integrator company.
• 5. Combination of the above methods.

Traveling to the customer’s workplace is complicated by the fact that the customer’s head office is located in another country, moreover, the workplaces are distributed over several cities. The observational method was rejected due to the high time and human costs required to apply this method. Studying documents and regulations is a long process in a company that requires a large number of human resources. Its use was considered necessary for the implementation of the project, but at the next stages it was included in the project plan. The survey method was chosen as the most effective in terms of labor costs, time costs and results obtained.

The survey of the bank's IT department was carried out using a survey of users of information systems that automate IT processes. Data was collected on the current organization of the IT process being surveyed in two stages.

The first stage was carried out through remote communication with system users: information was collected through questionnaires and telephone conversations. The requested information was divided into two categories:

• · Collection of information about the organizational structure of the company’s IT service:
  • o number of IT employees;
  • o operating hours of the support service;
  • o current IT process automation systems;
• · Collection and analysis of process documentation
• o description of workflow processes;
• o scheme of role instructions;
• o reports on process efficiency.

During the second stage, the method of interviewing and observation was used. In this case, the main emphasis was placed on such areas as:

• · Collection of information about the actual order of the process - interviewing process participants (IT service employees). For this purpose, questionnaires were created (see Appendix 1), which were sent to employees of the bank’s IT department by mail. Telephone conversations also took place in the format of interviews using the received completed questionnaires, which contained questions on each of the components of the organization of processes;
• · Identifying needs for IT processes and their automation systems. These include the management of the bank’s IT department and other project stakeholders.
• · Familiarization with the automation systems used. This activity was carried out by engineers of the contractor's company. At the same time, related systems with which it is necessary to establish integration during the project were investigated, and requirements for integration were collected.

The results of the survey were recorded in the report given in the next two sections of this work, and were agreed upon with the project team from the company.