Open Forum - Ask your eRoom question
Many users have wanted to post various questions on this blog, so you can use this thread to ask them. If you see a previous posting with a topic that already relates to your question, post it there. If not, go ahead and use this topic. –Bill G.
eRoom 7.4 demo at eRoom User Group Meeting
At our eRoom User Group meeting on 4/17/2008, we had a presentation of eRoom 7.4 by Eric Knutson of EMC. In case you missed, Eric did a similar presentation recently which was recorded with essentially the same information. eRoom 7.4 has as it’s main feature the addition of Information Rights Management (IRM), which essentially gives you control of documents once they leave the eRoom.
For example, you use an eRoom to manage an RFP process and invite vendors in eRoom to retrieve the RFP document and submit proposals. The RFP document has proprietary specs that are confidential. When the vendor retrieves the document from eRoom, you can set it up so that it cannot be copied or printed, and force it to expire after the submission deadline. There are many uses for this technology for those who need security on a document AFTER it leaves the eRoom. Other resources on this topic:
We also briefly reviewed the “next release” of EMC’s collaboration tools, code named Magellan, but the majority of time was spent on 7.4. At the end of the meeting we reviewed the survey results from the Jan-2008 meeting.
Creating “RED” Configurations for distributing data
There are times when eRoom Designers need to “push” information out to users in eRooms. Perhaps the best example is for support resources. A Database is a great tool for listing resources for end users, like Educational guides, Quick Reference sheets, Support links, Online training, etc. A good practice is to make all these resources available in each eRoom. One way to set this up is to create the primary listing in a “Public” eRoom and then link to it from each eRoom. An alternative is to “push out” the listing so it appears as a database in each eRoom (instead of just a link). This is the concept of a RED Configuration, or a “Reverse Enterprise Database.” 
Typically, an enterprise database collects data from many eRooms and rolls it up into a central location: many inputs, one summary. In the case of a RED setup, there is just one source of data that is distributed: one input, many summaries. Setting it up is simple:
- Create the enterprise database in the facility
- Create an enterprise database in the “public” eRoom and populate it with data
- Create an enterprise database Overview (roll-up) in each eRoom
Whenever you update the database in the public eRoom, the changes automatically appear in each eRoom. There is, of course, the limitation of the Facility. You cannot “distribute” data in an enterprise database beyond a single facility. For some eRoom administrators, this will be a showstopper for “universal” databases like the one in this example. But the concept can still apply for departments who operate within a facility, perhaps for other types of information like an internal policies. Ultimately, the idea is to seek creative uses of eRoom features, and I have had a number of companies very grateful for this solution.
Groups and Roles make admin a lot easier
From the Q&A Vault…What’s the difference between Groups and Roles?
A Group is set up at the Community Level and includes a set of members from the Community List. For example, Human Resources or Project Alpha Team or IT Managers. A group can be added as a member to an eRoom and assigned a role like Participant or Observer. It can also be seen in any member lists in the eRoom. For example, I can assign a task to “IT Managers” or I can set up a private folder that only allows “Human Resources” to access it. A group can be added to one or more eRooms, and the membership of that group is controlled by Community Admins only.
A Custom Role is another type of member grouping, but only applies to an individual eRoom. For example, for an eRoom that is used to publish books, I might have a Role called “Tech Writers” that is used to permit the technical writers access to some documents but not others. Because it’s a specific need for this eRoom, I would not create it at the community level. Custom Roles appear in all Member List dialog boxes, so if I want to assign the Tech Writer group to my weekly staff meeting, or assign them a task, I can do that.
By using groups and roles to apply access control, you save a lot of administrative time and strengthen your security measures in the eRoom. Using Groups and Roles has long been one of our standing best practice recommendations, and I’m sure many Admins and Users can attest to its usefulness.
eRug Meeting 1/15/08 Recap
We had 33 users attend our first eRug Meeting on January 15, 2008. (Not bad–we thought 20 to 25 would be a good start). Thanks to Elaine Nearing and Rod Largoza from Wyeth for their help in planning and presenting. There were two primary topics we discussed:
eRoom Governance, Procurement Process. Elaine and Rod talked about Wyeth handled their internal process for requesting new eRooms. They have a fairly sophisticated process because of the volume of eRooms they handle, and they use a custom-built form to log, process, and fulfill requests. Here’s a thumbnail view (click for a larger image, or get the full size image from the presentation file below):
A Strategic Approach to eRoom Training. I presented from a consultant’s “best practice” view an approach for training eRoom users. These were the “Guiding Principles” for approaching training:
- Include Best Practices and applicable operational policies, and match content to audience
- Focus on Coordinators
- “Build” training into eRooms with good design
- Identify and deliver to all users the “Essentials”
- Provide JIT, focused training to jumpstart new groups
Rather than republish all the information from the presentation, I’ve provided a short summary of the main topics and attached the slides here for further details. We are NOT posting the entire recorded conversation, just the slide deck (in PDF format). Let me know if there any questions on it.
eRug User Group 1/15/08 Meeting Presentation
New eRoom User Group Started!
Having worked at the original eRoom Technology company, I know we had many time when users were brought together in small or large venues to share ideas, get feedback for product enhancements, and generate a lot of enthusiasm for eRoom. Today, if you are a member of EMC’s support area (PowerLink), you can get some of these benefits. However, most companies are limited to a handful of authorized users who have access to these forums and other resources. Having an eRoom User Group open to anyone is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, so I was grateful the folks at Wyeth approached me at the EMC World Conference with this very idea. For details and registration see http://www.openvine.com/eRoomUserGroup.htm.
I know many eRoom users are passionate about the product and looking to network with others, so this will be welcomed by many. Help spread the word to other eRoom users in your company and by all means, give us your ideas and suggestions for how to make this valuable!
eRoom Recycle Bins cannot be opened because “object not found”
Problem:
When trying to access an eRoom Recycle Bin, you get the error “Unfortunately, eRoom was unable to generate the page you requested, because an object could not be found.”
Solution:
Option1: Go to the eRoom Settings and disable the Recycle Bin (apply settings), then re-enable it. Try to access it now.
Option2: The Site Admin can access the eRoom Recycle Bin via the Site Settings in eRoom Server MMC, and can often see the Recycle Bin from there. At the point it should be emptied. If it cannot be seen from the eRoom Server, then try…
Option3: Contact EMC Support. It’’s likely they will send you a script which should repair th problem. If that still doesn’t work, they may ask you to send them some files so their engineering group can troubleshoot it.
Deleted users showing up in member pick lists
Q. We had a question asked recently by a client about deleted names in member lists. When creating a new database entry, a field called “Requested By” (Member List field) contained many names marked as “deleted”. How does this happen and how can they be removed?
A. This can happen if users are removed as members from the eRoom, but they have been specifically selected to be part of a pick list in a database field (in this case the “Requested By” field). In this case, the users were deleted inadvertantly (appears local user accounts were replaced with a Directory synchronization), because they should have remained in the eRoom. Re-adding the deleted users from the Community List (using the new accounts) to the eRoom did not fix the problem because it was the “legacy” (deleted) users that were part of the database field selection. The solution, therefore, was to go back to the database field, remove the checkmarks next to any names marked as “deleted”, and then select the correct names. The deleted names will then no longer show up in the list.
Importing into Databases
QUESTION. This question comes from a user in Massachuetts: “When I import into an eRoom database from a CSV file, is there any danger in overwriting what has already been imported? Or will the information just continue to be added to the database?”
ANSWER. No danger of overwriting information. eRoom always adds records to the eRoom database, never overwriting any data. But know that you can have duplicate records because of this–if you are importing an “incremental” version of the CSV file. eRoom will also, before executing the import, provide a summary of the # of records and fields imported, giving you the chance to cancel.
eRoom Inboxes
Inboxes are one of “under the radar” features of eRoom. Some companies don’t enable it because of their IT policies. Those that do, don’t always understand how to use it. Here are some “best practices” for the eRoom inbox:
Summary, as defined in the product. “A special folder that can receive and store email messages. By cc’ing email messages about your project to your eRoom, you can create an automatic archive of project correspondence.”
What it’s Not:
- The inbox does NOT replace any individual user’s inbox.
- It does NOT send e-mail, only receives it.
Good Uses:
- Repository. Most companies use eRoom as a “repository,” meaning a place to store e-mail. For example, when you use eRoom to manage a project, there are usually many e-mail messages related to that project. The inbox permits you to keep the messages with the rest of the project information in the eRoom.
- Response Box. Many companies use eRoom to manage and evaluate proposals from vendors. The inbox can be set up as the address used by vendors to send their response to. The inbox is the one way a non-member can “communicate” with an eRoom.
- Subscription Address. Some users subscribe to the same mailing list or e-newsletter, then forward to co-workers when they believe there is relavant info. I’ve companies use the eRoom Inbox address as the Subscriber address so that all mailings go to the eRoom and are now viewable by everyone.
The e-mail address can be modified to be user-friendly, instead of the long name eRoom defaults to, so be sure to use it. What other ways have people used Inboxes?
Welcome to this eRoom Blog!
Welcome to this eRoom Blog. My name is Bill Germino, and I’ve started this blog in response to many requests over the years by eRoom users to learn more about how others are using the application. In my 8+ years of working with eRoom, I’ve seen some amazing ways people have used eRoom in their environment. My hope is that users will not only read about my experience, but will share their’s. One thing that I can say with certainty is that there will always be new ideas I can learn from, so I welcome and encouarge users to share their experiences. If you find this blog helpful, please go ahead and let others know about it–we will benefit from a diverse group of eRoom users. And lastly, I welcome your feedback and ideas to improve this blog. God Bless,
Bill Germino
President, OpenVine Solutions, Inc.