If naming conventions for documents have already been defined in your company, the second step of your documentation project is quickly dealt with. Use these naming conventions and map them to your own concept. For those who have no such definition, some preparation work for proper document management is required.
Document numbers for easier linking
Documents should not only be given a meaningful name, but also a unique number. Always put this number first in the file name and add it to the file meta data as well. This makes it easier to search for the documents or to create links to them. Choose a clear and simple naming system and always keep in mind that your users will have to cope with it. If the file names are too cryptic, such a system will not be accepted by your users. Do not forget to document the naming conventions you defined, as they will become part of your IT manual later.
File storage depending on the available options
Is a document management system (DMS) in use at your company? If yes, capitalise on it! It will greatly simplify the creation of links to documents. If you do not use a DMS, you can of course do without, there is no need to introduce one now. After all, the introduction of such a management system is not a piece of cake, and the budget would be stressed even more. So, set up a central filing structure on one of your servers. Create a corresponding folder on the file server and share it in the network. When doing so, make sure to observe the guidelines for network folder shares (hopefully there are any!). It is important to use a clear structure for filing the data. This way, you have all options for the future. Introducing a DMS for these documents only would hardly justify the additional effort.
Storing data on file servers has some intrinsic drawbacks, but of course we cannot do without this. For the Docusnap documentation tool, a normal folder share is required, too. It can be created very quickly, and there are hardly any actual costs for these shares, as the file server exists anyway. Team and configuration folders, access to the license file and to the encryption file for the password container may not be located within a document management system (DMS). Accessing them from within the application would not be possible.
Do not assign access permissions in an arbitrary or untargeted way
It only takes users a second to delete or rename a file. As a result, links will no longer point to a file or even data gets lost. These are situations you cannot afford in your IT documentation. For this reason, make sure that you do not assign Write and Change permissions to folders too generously. And make sure that the files stored on your file server(s) will be backed up properly. You will appreciate your caution some day. Further details on this topic will be covered by a separate blog post that is due for publishing by mid-June. Its planned title is “Data Backup for Your IT Documentation”. When assigning access permissions to your IT documentation, always rely on the “need-to-know” principle. This will help you minimise the probability that unpleasant effects will occur.
