Summary

Driven by a strong desire to innovate and assist their employees, our client wanted to centralise all their site and asset content into a single search powered experience with Microsoft 365.

To support this, Intelogy developed the Digital Filing Cabinet: a collection of thousands of customised SharePoint sites to support the lifespan of trusted and accurate asset content. In addition, a custom application was developed to manage file naming according to ISO19650 standards, oversee the document lifecycle, and facilitate the uploading of files to the correct SharePoint sites.

This client manages hundreds of physical asset sites and each asset generates documentation (e.g., operational manuals and technical drawings). Previously, these documents were scattered across various file shares and SharePoint systems, making it difficult to find a single source of truth.

They needed a scalable and intelligent system to address the fragmented asset documentation.

Specific requirements included:

After developing an initial Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Intelogy clarified the requirements and refined the structure and search functionality based on feedback obtained. We also addressed and clarified the complexities related to file naming under the ISO19650 convention, recognising that filenames may change between document versions and that a single version of a file may exist in multiple formats simultaneously, such as PDF and DWG.

This approach relies on metadata obtained from the filename. After extracting the site value from the filename, the file is uploaded to the corresponding site with specific metadata applied. Consequently, search uses files and metadata so everyone at the organisation, from engineers using tablets in the field to office staff accessing product documents, can find what they need.

This custom developed app is the orchestrator of the Digital Filing Cabinet and deals with the document lifecycle, from generating filenames, uploading files, checking out files, to audit logging, reporting and other administrative tasks. This is the only place where approved users can upload files through a defined process – as all the SharePoint sites are read-only to everyone. This is critical to the solution as it guarantees that any information stored in the Digital Filing Cabinet must go through this upload process and prevents users from circumventing the controls in place.

The app is hosted in Microsoft Azure and utilises Microsoft Entra ID for authentication providing a consistent sign-in process for users, both internal and external.

The Naming/Upload tool allows users to generate filenames using the ISO19650 naming convention – an international standard for managing information of a built asset using Building Information Modelling (BIM). Users can then upload a file using the generated filename or reserve the filename to upload the file at a later date.

Users can either upload files individually or in bulk through the upload tool. Filenames are validated before the files get uploaded to the correct location, with appropriate tags.

Documents are tagged using fields such as Project Reference, Originator, Process/Subprocess, Site Form, Discipline, Number and Free-text title. All tagging terms are centrally managed through the Naming/Upload Tool and utilise the SharePoint Term Store which ensures consistent classification across the estate.

The solution makes substantial use of PnP Modern Search (an open-source solution that enhances the standard SharePoint Search experience), with additional custom features to support the user experience. It allows users to search either across the entire Digital Filing Cabinet or within a specific asset site. The search results display relevant metadata about files, such as version number, previous versions, available file formats, and whether a file is checked out and currently being edited. Additionally, as the solution is built on SharePoint and Search then user permissions are upheld automatically.

A dynamically populated Site Directory enables employees to search for asset site information, such as name, alternate name, address, type, and grid reference. Users can click to access the site or view its location on mapping websites.

A customised SharePoint site is created per asset that stores the files and links to files hosted outside of SharePoint. Each site has a dynamically updated homepage showing information about the asset site such as address, latitude, longitude, recently modified files. There is also a customised search experience on each site allowing users to search on only files in that site.

Files stored in the Digital Filing Cabinet may reside outside of their Microsoft 365 tenant. Additionally, larger files may be stored in alternative locations, such as Azure file storage, where storage costs are more economical. These files however needed to remain visible in the Digital Filing Cabinet to ensure users are informed of their existence and can access the relevant information. External links are identified in Search, and they appear as files using ISO19650 metadata. When opening a link, information about access requirements is provided.

Files are intended for various audiences and, as such, may be published in multiple formats, such as PDF and DWG (AutoCAD). Some users may not have AutoCAD installed and therefore prefer to view the PDF, whereas an office-based engineer might require access to the DWG file for a more detailed examination of the drawing. The solution enables the upload of alternative file formats and search will indicate if there is an alternate file format available for a file.

A Document Viewer is used to provide users with the ability to view files on a SharePoint page alongside the metadata of the file, saving users from opening the files in the native applications.

The delivered asset documentation system & administrative application provides our client with a scalable, governed platform for managing operational documents across thousands of sites. Key benefits include: