The document conversion itself was simple, but the whole process was complex. Every document went through the eyes of at least eight different actors including a project manager in charge of everything. And that’s not counting managers above project managers. The new system should help facilitate the complex workflow and make the process as user-friendly as possible.

We used an Alfresco system for document management, a Liferay system for portal, and a JBPM based system to manage and enforce the whole business process. We implemented a multi-tenant architecture therefore the same solution can be used to cater services to all the customers. However we implemented strict authentication and content access protocols because of which no customer had access to another customer’s data. We created different dashboards for different actors and created features like custom dashboard that can help entry of any new role in the workflow. Each actor’s dashboard was customizable and by default included features that help them in their respective tasks. Role management was strictly enforced and we provided a system that allows each actor to be in constant communication with project manager, end client, and other actors, with role specific restriction of course. The whole workflow process including the steps of document submission with customer, passing on the document to verifier, converter, and QA specialist by PM, and final delivery of document to customer, was enforced using jBPM Workflow Engine.

The overall business of XBRL conversion was immense. Each end-client had millions of document to be converted manually. At the same time each document had to be properly stored and versioned. The client needed a system to save all the document in a user-friendly solution which is also secure and only provide role specific access to documents.

We developed an Alfresco based solution to manage documents. To make sure that the user don’t have to access two systems every time, we provided features in our Liferay portal itself that allowed used to view and edit documents in the web based portal. The integration was so seamless that except the first folder creation process involved in client initiation, and some regular checks, no-one ever needed to open the Alfresco backend. To store the versions and status history of each document we developed a complex system of document meta-data. The meta-data assigned with each document reflected all information related to the document including its health, its Service Level Agreement (SLA), its status, and even its history. Each document is also associated with active comments features that can help the various actors involved in communicating with other and give or receive any specific directions for the document.

Analysis was an important part of the project. The client and end-client both needed features to help them keep track of the whole conversion project with specific features to track document life cycles, document health, performance of each actor, and overall performance of the team in a given time set.

We used Jasper Reports to generate automated and user-triggered performance reports. Project managers and end-clients can use the reporting tool to view reports and receive automate performance reports. In addition we used Google Charts to create in-portal visual graphs and pie-charts to visually represent data. Project managers can analyze performance of every actor, all documents, and every sub-process in the whole conversion process.