June 15, 2006

1. Case Study onthe U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) THE GILBANE CONFERENCE ON CONTENT MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR GOVERNMENT IN COOPERATION WITH CMS WATCH Carol Brock, Director- Information Assets/Knowledge Services U.S. Government Accountability Office June 15, 2006

2. Background • GAO pioneered implementation of document management in the Federal government – 15 years ago • New automated business processes need an ERMS to capture e-records • Vision for ERMS • Records captured at creation/receipt • Retention embedded into e-processes • All documentation & links stored in DM • Minimal end-user responsibilities • RM staff make critical records decisions • RM tasks invisible to the ERMS users GAO’s ERMS Initiative

3. System Overview • ERMS is integrated with the Document Management (DM) System • System user’s save a document and a profile automatically pops up • Choose a profile and the user is saving to ERMS • 3 profiles – 3 retentions • Files closed at end of fiscal year or at the occurrence of an event • After files are closed, users have 30 days to remove non-record materials prior to files being locked as “records” GAO’s ERMS Initiative

4. Summary of 3 Bucket Approach GAO’s ERMS Initiative

5. Summary of 3 Bucket Approach, cont. GAO’s ERMS Initiative

6. GAO’s ERMS Initiative

7. File Plans • Keep file plans very simple • Engagements – e-file by engagement job number • Policy & Special Collections – e-file by collection title • Administrative – e-file by operations or project; then fiscal year. • Retention captured at the profile level (ERMS) • Users set up as many files and sub-files as they want (DM level). GAO’s ERMS Initiative

8. Sample File Plan GAO’s ERMS Initiative

9. How the System Works GAO’s ERMS Initiative

10. How the System Works GAO’s ERMS Initiative

11. Status Report • Pilot users asked to continue with the system • Pilots continue during implementation if a Unit requests • ERMS is being rolled out to a new unit each week (through October 2006) • 26 successful pilots (Engagement and Administrative) • 104 users (HQ & Field Offices) • User surveys show no impact on work • System has been successfully implemented in Knowledge Services and Information Services and Technology Systems (about 350 users) GAO’s ERMS Initiative

12. ERMS Pilots Objectives: • Assess user acceptability & identify potential burdens to staff • Identify best practices for conducting GAO business using electronic DM/RM tools • Measure processes and evaluate perceptions Status: • Audited completed pilots • Focus on document management software training GAO’s ERMS Initiative

13. Lessons Learned • 15 years with DM – good and bad • Users tend to want to automate their paper processes • Users want to complicate their file plans – big buckets take getting used to • On-site vendor support during pilots helped smooth the process • Users continue to drive the process as ERMS is refined • Combined electronic initiatives (workpapers, case files, indexing and referencing, publication and distribution) must be managed in concert GAO’s ERMS Initiative

14. Next Steps • Knowledge Management • Portals (Hurricane & Pandemic Flue) • Workflow, Collaboration, E-Signatures GAO’s ERMS Initiative

15. Questions For more information, please contact: Carol Brock, CRM Director of Information Assets, KS/GAO 441 G St., NW Washington, DC 20548 202/512-3435 Brockc@gao.gov GAO’s ERMS Initiative