The systems we use to manage information
The systems we use to manage information
eDOCS is used across the Council to hold documents and other files. This is changing.
This guide is in beta. This means that we are still working to improve it, so your feedback will help us make sure that they are easy to understand and useful. Please let us know your suggestions.
eDOCS has been Hackney’s main system for managing documents and records for many years. It contains millions of files. These include some of the Council's most important information. But these also include a very large number of files which are no longer needed.
We are now working to move away from using eDOCS. Our goal is to provide modern technology that makes it simpler to get your work done and helps you to collaborate with colleagues and partners.
We are not simply ‘lifting and shifting’ from eDOCS to another system. You’ve told us that the way information is organised in eDOCS often no longer meets your needs. We know that many of the documents in eDOCS are no longer needed and we can see that nobody has used them for a long time.
Some files might be best moved to Google Drive, which is a powerful new tool for working with your files. In other cases services will prefer to store files in their main business system. For example, case records in Mosaic (the social care system) and HR records in iTrent.
Storing files in your main business system might make it easier for you to find the information you need. For example, Mosaic is the Council’s social care records system but social care files are currently stored in eDOCS and linked to Mosaic case records. We are exploring how we might hold these case records in Mosaic using the system’s ‘out of the box’ functionality. We think this might be better than moving the files to Google Drive.
There are many systems used across the Council which contain information that is critical for service delivery. 16 of these systems integrate with eDOCS, although some of these integrations are no longer in use. Our initial focus is on Mosaic and iTrent. Mosaic involves a complex integration, and contains very sensitive information. Our HR records are also very sensitive and are used by staff across the whole Council. We can learn a lot about how to approach other systems by understanding the best ways to work with them. Other systems will follow and we will work with services once we are ready to review the requirements for their systems. Until then, you should continue to use eDOCS for this type of file.
Some services have set up eDOCS in ways that they find work well for their work. These services might like to keep their current structures when their files move to a new system. Other services will want to take the opportunity to refresh the way that they work.
If your team is happy with the way you work in eDOCS and you want to do the same in Google Drive, you can. To get started with managing your information in G Suite read about the features of My Drive and Shared Drives. You can also find out about what to consider when sharing files and managing permissions.
Do not move all of your files from eDOCS yourself. We are preparing to test tools for migrating the files you need to move from eDOCS to their new home in Google Drive. If you want to start using Google Drive now, we recommend that you only copy over files you need to work on to Drive, not your historic archive. For example, to use G Suite’s collaborative features to edit a file at the same time as your colleagues. For more information read Moving files from eDOCS to Drive.
If you would like advice on where to store your information, contact the Information Management Team. You can discuss whether it would be useful to review the files you hold, and how to organise them before moving them to Google Drive.
You might already know that you need to reorganise your information, or change how you work. If you are confident to begin that yourself, you can get started using G Suite now! Many service areas have already started to use Google Drive. Requesting a Shared Drive is a good opportunity to try out a new way of working within your team. Always speak to your manager and colleagues before changing where you save information.
If you currently have files on your desktop or a shared network drive, you will need to move these yourself. Read Working with G Suite and other systems for advice on how to do this.
If you feel that your service would benefit from reviewing the way you work in eDOCS we can help you explore this. We are working with services to help them make the best use of technology and data. If you would like to consider this please make contact with your ICT Relationship Manager who will follow up with you.
While we are moving away from eDOCS, it will stay accessible through the myoffice desktop. We know that some teams will still need to refer to the historic data stored here for the time being.
Our current plans are to keep access to eDOCS until 2021. This is so that teams can access their legacy files when needed while they move over to using more modern tools. We will review this in 2020 to assess where extra support might be needed for certain teams.
Let us know - your feedback will help us improve it.