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As there are many reasons in the 'information management' category it is best to divide them into several sub-categories. The choice of these sub-categories is arbitrary, and it is likely that there will be some overlap between them. The three sub-categories chosen here are: Basic data control and management Data access Advanced information control and management This categorization is based on user behavior and requirements. The first category of reasons, 'basic data control and management', contains the reasons likely to appeal to the person responsible for the data resource - the 'data controller'. Let's assume for a moment that the activity of this person is mainly a fairly bureaucratic control function - making sure that the data is in its place, that it is secure, that it is archived, that transactions are logged, etc. The major responsibility and interest of this person is to ensure control of the data. The data controller is not expected to be interested in the content and use of the data. The second category of reasons, 'data access', contains the reasons likely to appeal to a user of the data, for example, an engineer. The requirements of the user will differ from those of the data controller. The engineer is not interested in issues such as the archiving of other people's data, or the storage of different types of data by people in other functions. The engineer's prime concerns are to be able to access required data very quickly and to be sure it will be there when next required. In this simplistic categorization, it is assumed that 'basic data control and management' only addresses the basic requirements - allowing data to be stored, retrieved, released, and archived in a secure environment. These requirements are virtually content-independent. Similar requirements exist for storage of data in other functions such as marketing and sales. Other control and management requirements fall into the 'advanced information control and management' category. This category includes reasons such as the need to handle relationships and linkages between data, to standardize data formats, and to ensure the unique definition of data elements. Meeting these requirements demands knowledge of the content of the data, which is why they should be put in a separate category from basic data management and control, which is content-independent. In each of the three categories there are many reasons for doing EDM/PDM. In each category it appears that for some of the reasons the use of EDM/PDM is a way to alleviate a problem that occurs in the engineering environment, whereas for other reasons, EDM/PDM appears to be a way to proactively and positively impact engineering operations. |