This client had begun to face a number of challenges related to the management and lifecycle of personnel records across the organisation, including:

• Disconnected systems and roles for management of physical personnel records
• Overhead of creating physical records
• Ongoing management and tracking of the physical records
• Access to the physical records where and when you need them (internally & externally)
• No removal or destruction of personnel records
• Access and authority to release process is ad-hoc
• Duplication between paper files and e-files (work in progress files)

The approach to delivering this SharePoint Online intranet was focused around the initial delivery of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in the first instance, which could then later be improved by a series of enhancements and upgrades.

Velrada’s approach to this engagement was split into 6 main phases:

1. Discovery: the aim of this phase was to confirm the scope, onboard the team and set up the environment. The following key activities were performed:

• Project kickoff meeting, and initial document review.
• Set up on 3 x Environments (Development, UAT and Production) and Azure DevOps.

2. Design: the aim of this phase was to focus on the requirements and design themes. The following key activities were performed:

• Assessing the viability of Microsoft 365 security and compliance against 3rd party record tools to ensure regulatory requirements could be met.
• Information Architecture workshop to better understand the complexities in digitising personnel records – defining libraries, document set structures, content types, and metadata
• Governance workshop to identify stakeholders and permissions required in supporting the ongoing management of the digitised personnel records.
• Record Management workshop to flesh out all retention and disposition regulatory obligations.
• Information Protection & DLP workshop to understand how the client wanted to protect the digitised personnel records.
• Migration planning workshop to identify a suitable migration approach so that physical files can be migrated to a digitised format and securely stored.
• The final output from this phase was a detailed Functional Specification document, capturing all design and decisions made within this phase.

3. Build: the aim of this phase was to implement the solution identified within the Discovery phase. Our approach utilised Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. The following key activities were performed:

• The delivery of the project was performed over a number of sprints, each focusing on a key area of development.
• Velrada began with building the information architecture agreed on within SharePoint Online – the creation of a new site to house all digitised personnel records.
• Velrada then worked on configuring all Microsoft Purview related activities ranging from the creation of a File plan to meet all retention and disposal obligations, to creating sensitivity labels and DLP policies for security and auditing purposes.
• The development of all Power Automate workflows required in assisting stakeholders to automate business processes e.g. sending files as PDF, Timeboxed sharing of files internally, and Payroll checking processes.

4. User Acceptance Testing: the aim of this phase was to complete User Acceptance Testing. The following key activities were performed:

• Demonstration of end-to-end process, focusing on a number of pre-defined scenarios
• Perform User Acceptance Testing
• Log any defects, potential enhancements or questions, and subsequent remediation activities
• Deploy package into Production environment

5. Training: the aim of this phase was to complete User Training. The following key activities were performed:

• “Train the Trainer” training for identified users
• Production of training materials

6. Launch and Project Close Out: the aim of this was phase was to launch the solution, and close out the project. The following key activities were performed:

• Go Live launch.
• Technical handover.
• Lessons Learned workshop and Project Close Out Report

The project delivered a number of successful outcomes for this client including:

• A new single source of truth for all digitised personnel records moving beyond physical files.
• Adoption of Microsoft 365 security and compliance solution (Microsoft Purview) by utilizing E5 capabilities.
• Corporate brand and identity, ensuring a familiar look and feel.
• Improved collaboration on personnel records for stakeholders involved in managing (central repository for records, stub management).
• Reduction in time spent searching and managing physical records.
• Automated sharing and packaging of personnel records for collaboration or audit purposes (timebox sharing or emailing PDF versions).
• Tracking and Auditing capabilities (version management, usage reports etc.).
• Content classified and secured lead to a match of 1,400k~ DLP rules.
• 700+ employee personnel manila folders digitised, OCR scanned and migrated to Office 365.
• Automated retention and disposition of records aligned to regulatory obligations

In addition to the project outcomes, the following successful business outcomes were also delivered:

• Ability to access all personnel records from anywhere at any time.
• Increase in business process by reducing the amount of time spent on managing employee records.
• A single source of truth creating a holistic view of employee information from within a single location.
• A modern and simple solution for managing and sharing information in a compliant way, increasing staff satisfaction.