This is part four of a four part series on AIIM’s Automating Document-centric Processes – Is SharePoint Enough?” Seminar. In each case I will start with the title and quote the session description before going into my notes. Here is the session description

“SharePoint’s immense collaboration benefits driven rapid proliferation, but many companies are losing control of the very content they had hoped to better manage. While the benefits far outweigh the risks, SharePoint does not offer the requisite technology necessary to meet legal eDiscovery needs or to comply with regulatory demands.”

Autonomy led this session and the speaker noted that while Sharepoint offers many collaboration and content management benefits, it provides lightweight records management. Sharepoint is designed as a collaboration product and is not designed for heavy duty records management. Automony Information Governance Architecture integrates with Sharepoint to help with this issue, see their site on Record Management, Information Governance and Disposition.  This is consistent with Microsoft’s strategy of integration with best of breed players.

The Autonomy Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL) connects with Sharepoint and 400 other content management systems. You can auto categorize content. It integrates through web parts and users do not know they are using another tool besides Sharepoint. Autonomy can get inside MOSS and replace the lightweight MOSS records management with the Automony heavy weight records management. With this system, you can put in expiration dates and other record management features. IDOL offers more than 500 advanced functions as SharePoint Web Parts.

Autonomy allows for the placement of content in the most appropriate and least expensive place. It also provides for context-based search across all file types through Autonomy Federated Search for SharePoint, enabling customers to index and search all content inside and outside the SharePoint environment. Sharepoint supports 16 file types. Autonomy supports over 1000 file types  (e.g., old Word Prefect files, PDF and Blob support, audio and video, as well as structured formats). The interface works within the Sharepoint environment. The application automates record classification and management.  You can move content in their content management system but leave a context link so users do not know this.  Records are captured without having users enter the metadata.

Statoil was offered as an example. It is a Norwegian oil and gas company with 30,000 plus employees. Statoil partnered with Microsoft for a Sharepoint and Autonomy combined solution. Sharepoint is used for collaboration with Autonomy used for centralized records management for compliance. In addition, the UK Ministry of Defense has carried out the world’s largest Sharepoint implementation coupled with Autonomy with 400,000 users and over a million documents in a distributed environment.  

Their Autonomy site provides a number of recent white papers on the topic: Autonomy’s Information Governance eDiscovery Solutions for SharePoint. Autonomy’s Rich Media Solutions for SharePoint, and Autonomy’s Advanced Search and Scalability Solutions for SharePoint.