Establishing Enterprise Records & Information Governance for Document Management

Synopsis

The client engaged Voyage Advisory to design an enterprise-wide records and information governance framework following the implementation of its new document management system, M-Files. The objective was to establish clear standards for classification, metadata, retention, and system usage to enable consistent, scalable management of records across the organization.

Operating across multiple disconnected repositories and systems with limited governance, the client faced challenges in usability, data quality, and adoption. Voyage conducted a structured discovery, developed a comprehensive records inventory, and designed a streamlined governance framework aligned to business needs.

Results included: an inventory of 220+ records, a simplified classification and metadata framework, a defined system-of-record architecture, and a user-friendly document routing framework.

Client & Challenge

The client manages a diverse portfolio of land and financial assets for the State of Utah, supporting functions ranging from leasing and land transactions to legal, financial, and operational activities. These operations generate a wide range of records, contracts, geospatial data, financial documents, legal files, and internal communications, across multiple systems and repositories.

Prior to the engagement, document management was highly fragmented across platforms including the legacy document management system, network drives, Google Workspace, email, M-Files, and others with no clear governance model. Users struggled to locate information, metadata and classification structures were overly complex and inconsistent, and there was limited clarity around where records should reside or which system served as the authoritative source, with majority of the organization looking for guidance from the IT and data teams.

Analysis revealed that classification frameworks had grown organically, resulting in ~80+ fragmented document classes, overlapping metadata fields, and inconsistent usage across teams. This complexity reduced usability, hindered searchability, and limited adoption of M-Files as an enterprise solution. At the same time, retention rules, ownership, and governance processes were not consistently defined or communicated, increasing compliance risk and operational inefficiency.

These challenges prevented the client from realizing the full value of its M-Files investment and limited its ability to scale document management practices across the organization. The client required a clear, simplified, and standardized governance framework that could be easily understood and adopted by staff while meeting regulatory and operational requirements.

Solution Approach

Voyage partnered with the client to design a comprehensive records inventory and governance strategy grounded in operational reality and user experience. The engagement was led by one SME subcontractor and two Senior Consultants, working closely with client stakeholders across business units, records management, legal, and IT. The work was executed over six weeks with regular working sessions and validation checkpoints to ensure alignment, accuracy, and usability of outputs.

The engagement began with a focused assessment phase, where Voyage conducted stakeholder interviews and discovery sessions to understand current practices, pain points, and system usage across the organization. This was complemented by a detailed records inventory effort, capturing over 220+ record types along with associated metadata, ownership, retention requirements, and system-of-record designations. Together, this analysis established a clear baseline of how records were created, managed, and stored, highlighting inconsistencies, duplication, and gaps in governance.

Building on this foundation, the engagement moved from discovery to design. Initial efforts focused on aligning stakeholders and confirming scope, followed by iterative development and validation of key components, including classification, metadata, and repository structure. Later phases emphasized refinement, usability, and preparation for implementation, ensuring the framework could be adopted in practice rather than remaining theoretical.

Voyage’s delivery was organized across core focuses:

• Records Inventory and Current State Assessment: Documenting record types, metadata, ownership, and system usage to establish a baseline
• Classification and Metadata Framework Design: Developing a streamlined, scalable structure to organize records consistently across the organization
• Repository Architecture and System Alignment: Clarifying system-of-record responsibilities and defining where records reside currently and where they should reside in the future-state across the system landscape

Throughout the engagement, several key dependencies and success factors were critical. These included consistent access to knowledgeable stakeholders, timely feedback on draft outputs, and alignment across business, legal, and IT teams. The client’s participation in working and validation sessions ensured that the framework reflected real operational needs and constraints. Additionally, the availability of existing documentation supported the inventory effort, while coordination across teams was necessary to resolve differences in how records were managed.

The engagement concluded with a Phase 2 approach outlining validation requirements, governance structures, and next steps to operationalize the framework and embed it across the organization. This provided the client with a clear, actionable path forward to improve consistency, compliance, and usability in records and information management.

Results & Impact

Voyage delivered immediate value by establishing clarity and alignment across the client’s document management environment. Early in the engagement, discovery and working sessions surfaced key pain points and created a shared understanding of challenges, including fragmented repositories, inconsistent metadata, and unclear governance. This enabled rapid alignment on priorities and set the foundation for structured design.

A comprehensive records inventory of record types provided the client with its first enterprise-wide view of its information landscape. This included key attributes such as ownership, retention requirements, system of record, and access sensitivity, enabling more informed governance and system design decisions. The inventory also identified gaps in retention schedules and inconsistencies in record classification, addressing previously unknown risks.

Voyage significantly simplified the client’s classification and metadata structure, reducing complexity from ~80 fragmented classes to ~20 streamlined, business-aligned classes. This transformation facilitates improved classification approach, reduced duplication, and enhanced searchability, enabling users to more easily find and manage documents. Standardized metadata definitions and governance rules further improved data quality and consistency across systems.

A clear repository architecture and system-of-record model established M-Files as the authoritative platform for document and records management, while defining how other systems integrate within the broader ecosystem. This reduced ambiguity around where records should reside and improved alignment across teams. The introduction of a decision framework covering ~20+ systems provided staff with clear, practical guidance on document storage and movement, reducing confusion and improving adoption.

Operationally, these improvements are expected to drive meaningful efficiency gains by reducing time spent searching for documents, minimizing duplication, and improving consistency in document handling. Standardization also strengthens compliance by aligning retention, disposition, and access controls with regulatory requirements, reducing risk associated with inconsistent practices.

Beyond immediate improvements, the engagement established a sustainable foundation for long-term success. The client now has a repeatable framework for classification, metadata management, and governance, along with a clear roadmap for implementation. These capabilities position the organization to scale its document management practices, improve user adoption, and fully realize the value of its M-Files investment.

Key Lessons & Next Steps

The success of the engagement was driven by several key factors. Strong leadership support and stakeholder engagement ensured alignment across business units and reinforced the importance of the effort. Consistent access to stakeholders and visibility into records, systems, and data enabled an accurate and comprehensive inventory. Finally, an iterative, working-session-based approach, effectively acting as hands-on coaching and validation, helped teams understand the framework and build ownership, improving usability and long-term adoption.

Several lessons emerged throughout the engagement. Balancing governance rigor with user experience proved critical, as overly complex frameworks can hinder adoption and reduce effectiveness. Establishing a clear system-of-record model and decision framework was essential to reducing ambiguity and improving consistency.

Looking ahead, the client is positioned to move from design to implementation through a phased approach. In the immediate term (0-3 months), priorities include finalizing governance policies, refining metadata configurations through testing and validation, and preparing for system updates. In the near term (3-9 months), the client will begin implementing the framework within M-Files, training users, and refining processes based on real-world feedback. Over the long term (9-18+ months), the organization will scale governance practices, expand adoption across business units, and continuously improve its information management capabilities to support sustained performance and compliance.

Conclusion

The client moved from a fragmented, inconsistent document management environment, defined by unclear governance, duplicated effort, and low adoption, to a streamlined, enterprise-wide framework with simplified structures, defined standards, and clear system-of-record alignment. By reducing classification complexity from and establishing governance across records keeping, the organization shifted from manual, inconsistent practices to a scalable model aligned with leading industry practices.

These results directly addressed the original challenges of ambiguity, inefficiency, and lack of standardization, and were achieved through close partnership with client stakeholders, whose active participation ensured solutions reflected real workflows and were built for adoption. With a restructured framework and design developed, the client is now ready for validation and will be positioned to fully leverage M-Files, strengthen compliance, and continue expanding its information governance capabilities as part of a broader, long-term transformation effort.

Go-to Market

This offering immediately targets public-sector agencies and regulated organizations managing complex, high-volume records across multiple systems. It provides a phased entry point, beginning with governance and architecture design and expanding into system configuration, implementation, and change management, creating a clear pathway into broader transformation opportunities.

The value proposition focuses on transforming document management from a fragmented, compliance-driven burden into a scalable, user-friendly capability. The client benefits from improved compliance, reduced risk, and increased efficiency through simplified structures, better searchability, and clearer system-of-record alignment. For Voyage, this represents a strong re-engagement model, as organizations often return to address governance and usability gaps after initial system investments, creating opportunities to re-establish relationships and expand scope.

Voyage offers a clear, contained starting point through a focused assessment with defined outputs and grounded logic, making it easier for clients to engage without committing to large, open-ended programs. This entry point naturally evolves into a structured progression, from assessment to design, implementation, and optimization, creating continuity for the client and enabling sustained, value-driven expansion over time.