Learn to Maintain ECM Software the Easy Way

I recently returned from a system maintenance contract. The maintenance was done on behalf of a company that had been running Oracle I/PM for two years with no service packs or upgrades, and with plenty of issues as one might expect. It was the product issues that finally prompted the company to contact us at ImageSource to see what could be done.

First we performed a remote systems analysis that helped uncover some of the infrastructure shortcomings, lack of maintenance and patches, and other problems. In the end, the company did not have trained staff that could manage the amount of work that needed to be done, so they asked ImageSource to send someone to them.

After I arrived, I could see that the first order of business was to apply all service packs and patches to the I/PM product. Oracle I/PM is a complicated product that requires continuous maintenance, but that performs extremely well if configured correctly.

The company assigned one of their technical staff to shadow what I was doing but it would have been better to assign at least three technical staff. Unfortunately, not all companies have the staff depth to be able to do that. Watching how patches are applied, and how the system is tuned is like bonus training that is in addition to the work being performed. Classroom instruction does not usually provide the finer points of system tuning and patch management, and certainly does not provide those things against a customer’s own production system.

While ImageSource provides classroom instruction for many ECM products, if your company hires us to be on site for a service contract, be sure to maximize the service dollars you are spending by gathering as many staff as you can to watch how the system is being tuned and patched. An ECM system does not consist of just software; it also relies on knowledge workers who understand the nuances of the system. The best way to get that knowledge in-house is by watching someone who specializes in your ECM software work with it on site.

Clint Lewis
Senior Systems Engineer
ImageSource, Inc.