Implementing structured document production to support enterprise content management

Abstract

Within enterprise content management (ECM), the major goal is to develop and deploy systematic solutions for managing documents and other content items. ECM implementation concerns the development and deployment of new content management solutions and practices in an organization. Extensible Markup Language (XML) offers a standardized format for documents supporting the management and preservation of documents as structured documents. However, the deployment of XML may require a demanding standardization process, changes in work practices, and new tools for document management. Consequently, this research explores the implementation of structured document production environments. The focus is on documents that end-users author during ongoing business processes. Moreover, the aim of this study is to increase the understanding of structured document production and to provide a framework for XML standardization. The framework enables the analysis and development of a structured document production environment in an organization. This research follows the design science and case study approaches. The standardization of the Finnish Parliamentary documents in the Government of Finland and in the Finnish Parliament is used as the major case environment for analyzing structured document production. This case is compared to two other cases. By analyzing these cases and the previous literature, content production strategies are introduced, and challenges to XML standardization are presented. In addition, models for XML document management are proposed. This study shows that an XML document management environment is a complex combination of varying content items, processes, actors with diverse backgrounds, and evolving systems. Structured document production is a strategic choice requiring management and end-user commitment during the standardization process. The usability of novel tools requires special focus. This research shows that developing custom-designed editors, hiding document structures from users, and automating document and metadata creation increase user acceptance of novel tools and practices.