In a strategic move towards modernization, the Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development (LaDOTD) aligned with the Office of Technology Services’ (OTS) vision to unify and enhance statewide technology access, infrastructure, and governance. This alignment marked a significant shift, positioning IBM FileNet as the state’s chosen platform for electronic document management.
Recognizing the limitations of their existing system and the need for advanced records management capabilities, LaDOTD seized the opportunity to integrate with OTS’s forward-thinking initiative. With the expertise of their trusted partner, Access Sciences, a seamless transition to IBM FileNet was achieved, setting a benchmark for other state agencies.
LaDOTD’s existing content management system was outdated, lacking the essential features required to uphold modern records management best practices.
In collaboration with OTS, we implemented IBM FileNet for LaDOTD, marking it as the pioneer agency to align with the state’s IT standardization vision. This included 4,760 LaDOTD users being granted access to FileNet, and over 4 million documents migrated from IBM Content Manager.
LaDOTD now operates with:
Beyond the technology, the transition empowered LaDOTD with:
To begin developing a road map for the IBM FileNet implementation and migration, the project team conducted interviews with different LaDOTD groups, gathering requirements and suggestions directly from end users.
Based on those initial conversations, it was clear that the new system needed better document scanning/import management, improved classification scheme management, an advanced search and retrieval process, and more. The project team also sourced the information needed to start building out each group’s taxonomy, metadata, and search templates.
After a few roadblocks (like a global pandemic and a major hurricane), the Access Sciences team developed a custom migration tool to make the content migration more efficient. And since the original tool required additional licensing and custom fixes, the custom tool saved the agency both time and money.
Once the project team finished migrating content to its new IBM FileNet repository, they decommissioned the old system and started to construct the user interface with IBM Content Navigator. The new site provided a modern, user-friendly experience with single sign-on and customizable desktop capabilities.
End-user engagement ramped up during testing as the project team set up two ways to test out the new system. LaDOTD employees could assess the new system at their personal workstations at their own pace for a week, or they could visit a hands-on test location to try it out.
Training was also tailored to different employees’ preferences. Some sessions were done virtually, some were in small groups, and some accommodated larger groups. Regardless of the method, all training sessions were tailored to the attendees with search examples they would use regularly in their own operations.
Overall, LaDOTD’s new enterprise content management system was well-received by end users. The project team hosted an IBM FileNet Go-Live Kickoff Event, and more than 160 employees attended in person. Other major successes from the project include:
The agency not only gained a new, modernized system, but it also achieved alignment with OTS initiatives. Now, the project team’s road map and lessons learned can provide insight for all future Louisiana agencies looking to onboard and migrate to their own new enterprise document management system.
“The success of this project is truly a testament to the hard work of many teams and people, and I thank them all. I look forward to evaluating and implementing impactful enhancements to DOTD’s FileNet solution and continuing to provide DOTD with a state-of-the-art electronic content and records management system for years to come.”
— Brad Doucet, Director, Enterprise Support Services, LaDOTD
