Integrator Lands A Military Records Management Sale
A vendor referral leads this integrator to a records management project for the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI).
If you think that installing a records management (RM) system is a low-tech project, think again. Virginia-based Momentum Systems recently performed the integration of multiple technologies into a single application to provide RM capabilities for the AFOSI. The AFOSI provides professional investigative services to commanders of all Air Force activities. The AFOSI identifies, investigates, and neutralizes criminal, terrorist, and espionage threats to Air Force and DoD personnel and resources.
To support its investigations, the AFOSI must capture, manage, and dispose of case file documentation following mandated federal government and Air Force RM standards. With the old system, incoming documents were bar coded and entered into an RM system from vendor Open Text called iRIMS. As documents were processed and physically moved, the documents and location bar codes were scanned, and the updated information was downloaded to iRIMS. When the documents were ready for long-term storage, they were loaded into groups of 50 boxes and assigned an accessional number. The boxed documents were shipped to the National Records Management Center for archive until Air Force Records Disposition Schedule retention requirements were met.
The old system had many problems. It had an awkward interface with inadequate data entry error detection. Significant manual scanning was required for batch record updates. Case files were stored in multiple systems and separate databases. Multiple manual searches were required to find related information. There was no validation or tracking of personnel who scanned documents and updated information. There was no audit history of document movement, and the software interface was delivered through client software, not a browser interface.
Identify Business Process Improvements Before Implementing RM
In an effort to fix those problems, Momentum teamed with vendor Open Text to deploy an RM solution to support the AFOSI's closed case records repository. Momentum applied its life cycle methodology to develop a complete business process overhaul for the AFOSI. Momentum tracked the project and provided oversight in the areas of risk identification, mitigation planning, success criteria identification, and project plan development. Momentum conducted a number of joint application development sessions with AFOSI subject matter experts. The integrator also conducted peer reviews, periodic quality reviews, management status reviews, and software product testing prior to implementing the solution.
After the management framework was in place, Momentum partnered with Open Text Professional Services to migrate 300,500 closed case files from iRIMS to the new LiveLink ECM RM module. LiveLink ECM RM provides life cycle management for corporate records and information holdings in paper or electronic format. To track records from the old system to LiveLink ECM RM, Momentum built a link between the previously scanned images of case files and the new online records in LiveLink ECM RM.
The AFOSI named the new system CaseLink, which now provides a 100% Web-based solution for collaboration, document management, RM, and improved business processes. How much improvement? Todd Neven, CEO of Momentum, says, "With CaseLink, the AFOSI has recognized 20% savings in data entry time, 50% reduction in the time needed to retrieve data, and 50% reduction in efforts to box records. The data integrity of new files processed since the system implementation improved 100% because of data validation within LiveLink ECM RM." In addition to the efficiencies gained, there were process improvements such as a participant search that is used to locate all participants in a case. Prior to CaseLink, the AFOSI personnel had to access several applications to find this information. A movement history report is used to pinpoint the last location of a file and the user who handled the file. Prior to CaseLink, there was no single report for the movement history. The new system will handle nearly 7,500 new case records that will be entered per year.
Will this project lead to other RM projects within the government for Momentum? It already has. In addition, there will be ongoing upgrades and improvements for the AFOSI that will lead to additional sales opportunities for Momentum.