Advantages of Advancing Your Information Management with Soutron and SharePoint Integration to Increase Findability and Usability
What are the advantages of using both Soutron and SharePoint for your information management?
Every organisation faces challenges with information management. Most companies start out using MS365/SharePoint folders but discover that MS365/SharePoint folders lack organisation and informational context. Everyone just throws their documents and work artifacts into SharePoint and perhaps shares that information via email, without classifying the documents with metadata for added context and findability. These practices lead to frustration, time lost, and pain when users cry out “Why can’t I find anything!” Per a recent Gartner survey, “47% of digital workers struggle to find the information needed to effectively perform their jobs.”
Findability and usability are what an information management system like Soutron addresses
Every Soutron library, archive, and information system is set up and customised for each client, purpose-built to be a place where their employees can go to easily find what they are looking for. Imagine it. Every successful organisation has differentiated itself from its competitors and, therefore, thinks and works differently.
“Findability precedes usability. In the alphabet and on the web. You can’t use what you can’t find.” – Peter Morville, a leading information science expert, stated this as he emphasized the foundational role of findability in information management. Shouldn’t your organisation have a purpose-built information portal oriented and structured around the way your users approach getting access to the right information in the easiest fashion?
In today’s AI (Artificial Intelligence) digital age, the ability to manage information effectively is not just a business advantage; it is a necessity. Soutron’s secure custom information database portals are designed around your information, data, and users, and how your users typically communicate when looking for information in a business setting. AI language models work best with labels and rich metadata; that context is critical to getting the most accurate information. Library databases are built on metadata, so they are very organized, making the library more important than ever since they help fight content sprawl that can confuse AI and lead to useless results. You should be selective about who controls the information used because you must have trust in those materials to unlock the true power of AI.
“With AI today, the quality of your information and data is even more important than it was 40 years ago when the industry first learned the rule ‘garbage in, garbage out’ (GIGO),” states Tony Saadat, President and CEO of Soutron Global. “Given AI, GIGO is more important today than it was at the inception of database technologies and the creation of SharePoint.”
Soutron provides a systematised way for you to start orienting and structuring your information system in a knowledgeable, centralised manner around the way that your users would be approaching it, not the way SharePoint approaches it from its IT management perspective, making it easy for your users to find quality information quickly. You do not want to throw a ball of unstructured information at AI; AI needs context and help in order to generate useful information that helps get real work done.
Efficient information management captures knowledge and general information about an organisation and stores it with added context for findability. Having that context is important; that is what an information management system with poly-hierarchical taxonomy management, such as Soutron, provides. Unlike SharePoint, with its linear single column for metadata storage, Soutron poly-hierarchical capabilities enable metadata terms to have multiple parents and exist in multiple categories, providing for the creation of accurate topic maps that outline interrelationships between fields and topics.
Help teams and users find trusted information
This web-like context is everything when it comes to information findability, as it reflects the complex, interconnected way we think about topics and categories in the real world, allowing users to find information more intuitively.
“Your metadata and taxonomy practices need to fit your findability purpose. Soutron’s poly-hierarchy taxonomy capabilities, along with End-user Submissions and our Peer Document Review solution, ensure quality materials are securely indexed for maximum findability by knowledge workers. And if you choose to have some information resources ingested by an AI-engine, you will have stopped the GIGO rule from affecting the output, and ensured quality generative AI-based outcomes,” states Tony Saadat, President and CEO of Soutron Global.
With Soutron, end-users can proactively submit their important work products for inclusion into an information database, with added context (metadata) associated with the material. An information specialist, such as a librarian or archivist, reviews these submissions and adds additional topics for findability. This process engages the knowledge worker in capturing knowledge and ensures that it is categorised properly.
In addition to those benefits, Soutron also provides:
- Custom information portals and data structures aligned with user needs
- Advanced poly-hierarchical metadata classification providing richer context and accurate data mapping
- End-user submission functionality enabling proactive knowledge capture with expert review for proper classification
Go beyond SharePoint
Soutron offers other specialised information management features that are not available in SharePoint, such as:
- Advanced information cataloguing options with a built-in Thesaurus for authority control of metadata, which increases findability
- Ability to catalogue the location of project artifacts, such as physical assets
- Extra context can be added to record names and filenames, providing more visibility into the content
- Management reports detailing content usage and searches performed enabling the creation of specialised saved searches tailored to the needs of end-users
- Added security, with content stored in a password-protected database, with granular-level additional security that provides controlled visibility and access to individual items, unlike MS365 records management, where IT policies dictate how long materials are retained
- Immediate access: once materials are archived or catalogued, they are available to researchers immediately
- Integrating with SharePoint not only enhances findability but also transforms how knowledge can be shared and utilised across the organisation. Many Soutron clients use their SharePoint as a gateway to the Soutron information database using a combination of Entra ID SSO and Soutron security permissions. Other clients add SharePoint document links directly into the Soutron record to provide added value.
- The Soutron search widget can also be embedded on a SharePoint page, providing a Google-like search box to provide quick access to materials.
We have been hearing a lot about the new AI and taxonomy functionalities in SharePoint Premium, which comes at a cost per seat. For organisations struggling with information sprawl and knowledge discovery, Soutron steps in as a powerful ally. Its focused features, controlled access, and expert-driven information management empower teams to work smarter and faster while leveraging their knowledge capital.
A thorough understanding of your organisation’s culture, structure, and areas of expertise that you want captured will help to close information management gaps and better fulfil information needs. Consider Soutron as a secure, centralised hub for your valuable content.
Next steps
What are your information management challenges? Are you reviewing AI technologies? How can you help your team and users gain access to your collections, securely and efficiently?
Get in touch today, we would be happy to discuss and see how Soutron can help.