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REF / DELIVERY

EDMS implementation in eight phases, each with a gate you sign

EDMS projects that fail rarely fail on features. They fail because the file plan was designed by the vendor, the digitisation was priced on a guess, or the thing went live and the registry carried on running on paper. The phases below are arranged to make each of those harder.

REF / METHOD

The delivery method

Phases run in sequence because each depends on the one before it. Digitisation is the exception — it runs alongside the build so it never becomes the critical path.

  1. 01

    Discovery and records survey

    1–3 weeks

    We walk the registry. What you hold, in what volume and condition, who touches it, and which processes it moves through. For digitisation we take a representative sample and measure it, because a backfile priced without a survey is a backfile priced twice.

    Gate You sign off the file plan before anything is built.

    Deliverables

    • Records survey report with volumes and condition
    • Process maps for the workflows in scope
    • Draft functional file plan and classification scheme
    • Retention schedule aligned to your obligations

  2. 02

    Solution design

    1–2 weeks

    The design document sets out the architecture, deployment model, metadata schema, content types, permission model, workflow definitions, integration points, sizing basis and recovery objectives. It is written to be reviewed properly by your ICT and audit functions.

    Gate Signed design. Configuration does not start until it is agreed.

    Deliverables

    • Solution design document
    • Architecture and integration diagrams
    • Permission and security model
    • Sizing, high availability and DR design

  3. 03

    Configuration and build

    2–10 weeks

    Libraries, content types, metadata, permissions, workflows, retention labels, templates, dashboards and integrations, built in your own tenant or data centre. Progress is demonstrated at fortnightly checkpoints against the design rather than at the end.

    Gate Internal quality assurance before your team sees it.

    Deliverables

    • Configured environment in your tenant
    • Workflows and approval routing
    • Retention labels and disposition policy
    • Integrations to named line-of-business systems

  4. 04

    Digitisation and migration

    Runs in parallel

    Backfile conversion covers preparation, scanning, quality assurance, OCR, indexing against the file plan, and re-boxing or witnessed disposal of physical originals. Migration from existing drives and systems runs alongside, with content classified on the way in rather than dumped and sorted later.

    Gate Sample verification at agreed quality thresholds.

    Deliverables

    • Digitised records indexed to the file plan
    • Searchable PDF/A with OCR text layer
    • Migrated content from shared drives and legacy systems
    • Reconciliation report against the survey count

  5. 05

    Testing and acceptance

    1–3 weeks

    Functional testing against the design, user acceptance testing with the people who will actually operate the system, performance testing against the stated throughput, and a security review. Defects are logged, fixed and retested before sign-off.

    Gate Your acceptance, in writing, against the criteria set at design.

    Deliverables

    • Test plan and executed test results
    • UAT sign-off by named business owners
    • Performance test against stated targets
    • Defect log closed to agreed severity thresholds

  6. 06

    Training and change management

    1–3 weeks

    Separate curricula for end users, records officers, departmental administrators and system administrators. On larger deployments we certify your own champions to run onboarding afterwards, so the knowledge stays in the building once we have left it.

    Gate Users who can work unaided, checked before the session is signed off.

    Deliverables

    • Role-based training delivered on site or online
    • Train-the-trainer certification for your champions
    • User guides and standard operating procedures
    • Communications plan for the rollout

  7. 07

    Go-live and hypercare

    2–4 weeks

    Cutover on an agreed date with a rollback position defined in advance. Floor-walking support through the first weeks, when the questions are frequent and small, and daily issue triage until volumes settle.

    Gate Warranty period begins. Documentation is handed over as your property.

    Deliverables

    • Cutover plan with rollback position
    • On-site support through the first weeks
    • As-built documentation and configuration workbook
    • Handover to support with a named contact

  8. 08

    Support and continuous improvement

    Ongoing

    Tiered support against defined response and resolution targets, a named account contact, and a quarterly service review that looks at adoption by department rather than only at tickets closed.

    Gate Reviewed quarterly against adoption, not just availability.

    Deliverables

    • Support with severity-based SLA targets
    • Quarterly service and adoption review
    • Enhancement hours for changes as processes evolve
    • Platform administration where you take the managed service

REF / RISK

What we design against

The four things that actually sink EDMS projects, and what sits in scope to counter each one.

Adoption is the usual failure

The most common outcome we are called in to fix is a working system nobody uses. Three things sit in scope against it: filing from inside Outlook, floor-walking through cutover, and adoption reported per department so the rollout can be steered.

Digitisation sized on a guess

Backfile conversion is usually the largest line and the one most often wrong. We survey a sample and price against measurement, and the reconciliation report at the end is checked against that count.

A file plan designed by the vendor

A classification scheme your records officers did not shape will be worked around within a month. The file plan is designed with them and signed off before configuration starts.

Scope that grows without a decision

Each phase has stated deliverables and a gate. Changes are quoted and agreed at the time rather than absorbed until the timeline slips.

REF / SERVICE LEVELS

Support targets, stated as numbers

Standard support targets during business hours. Premium support extends the hours and shortens the targets. Both are set out in the support schedule before contract.

Severity Definition Response Resolution target
Severity 1 System unavailable, or records inaccessible to all users. 1 hour 4 hours
Severity 2 Major function unavailable — workflow, search or capture — with no workaround. 4 hours 1 business day
Severity 3 Function impaired or degraded, with a workaround available. 1 business day 5 business days
Severity 4 Question, minor issue or change request. 2 business days Scheduled

Business hours are 08:00–17:00 EAT, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

REF / QUESTIONS

Asked most often about delivery

How long does implementation take?

A Basic Deployment typically goes live in four to six weeks. A Standard Deployment with workflow automation typically runs eight to fourteen weeks. A Premium Deployment with AI processing, records management and integrations typically runs three to six months. The largest variable by far is digitisation of existing paper records, which runs in parallel and is sized from a sample survey rather than estimated.

Can you digitise our existing paper records?

Yes. Backfile conversion covers preparation, scanning, quality assurance, OCR, indexing against your file plan and re-boxing or secure disposal of the physical originals. We survey a representative sample first so the volume, condition and indexing effort are known before a price is quoted. Digitisation is priced per volume and runs alongside the system deployment rather than delaying it.

What training and support is included?

Every package includes role-based training for end users, records officers and administrators, delivered on site or online, plus the configuration workbook, standard operating procedures and user guides as your own documentation. Premium Deployment adds a train-the-trainer programme so your champions can onboard staff after go-live, and a change management workstream through the first quarter. Support after warranty is tiered, with defined response and resolution targets and a named account contact.

What happens to our documents if we stop working with Sibasi?

They stay exactly where they are. The repository sits in your own Microsoft tenant or your own data centre, under your own licences, and the documents, metadata and version history remain yours and remain accessible. The configuration, file plan and documentation are handed over to you as property, not licensed to you. There is no proprietary repository to extract data from and no export project to fund.

REF / NEXT STEP

Start with the records survey

Before anything is quoted properly, somebody has to walk the registry and count what is there. That is where every deployment starts, and it is where we would start with you.

Arrange a records survey See pricing