They have complex relationships with each other. A number of significant activities have evolved to pick and choose a set of standards that work together. The methods used by these activities can prove useful for any organization. The following list contains a few suggested questions to ask in the process of picking a document standard and document processing systems for a project. Some industries have legal requirements that mandate that information must be available for 20 years or more.
Airplane manufacturers are one example.
In that period of time, all aspects of the computer systems will have changed, such as the hardware, operating system, and retrieval and display programs. In addition, there may be other foreign requirements, either corporate or government, that mandate the use of particular standards. Ordering a switch from one document processing system to another may be more harmful than helpful. The expense in staff retraining can be significant. One alternative to a forced switch is to investigate document conversion systems or services.