Every once in a while, a project comes along that you’re especially proud of. The Document Management System (DMS) for Porthos is such a project. By advising on the construction of a system that ensures hundreds of people in a complex collaborative network always have the correct version of the thousands of documents they use every day, Rapid Circle is helping the Netherlands meet its climate goals.
Margaretha Boxem, Document Controller, Porthos
We can process hundreds of documents at once. That was not possible manually. Moreover, the error-proneness is much lower this way.
Porthos
Energy & infrastructure (carbon capture and storage)
Managing secure, version-controlled documentation across a large and complex collaboration of internal and external parties
A central, secure document management system based on SharePoint Online, enhanced with metadata, workflows and automation
Improved collaboration, reduced errors, stronger security and more efficient document control
Porthos, a collaboration between Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), Gasunie, and the Port of Rotterdam, aims to begin storing carbon dioxide in empty gas fields more than 3 km beneath the North Sea floor from 2024 onwards. This is crucial to achieving European climate targets.
The collaboration between many different parties is Porthos’ strength, but also its challenge. In addition to the three parent companies, the companies that supply CO₂ and many subcontractors are involved. The entire Porthos team consists of around 130 people, with a core group of approximately 40 people working full-time, supplemented by many part-time and temporary contributors.
The main shared documents are highly sensitive technical drawings that must always be available in the correct version, but only to authorised users. These strict security and version-control requirements were difficult to achieve using the separate SharePoint environments of the parent organisations. A central, secure solution was needed.
The team chose to use EBN’s SharePoint Online environment as a foundation, as there was already a secure and mature implementation in place. Based on this environment, Porthos set up metadata structures and workflows supporting document control, publication management and business processes.
Much error-prone manual work could be automated, significantly improving the quality of processes, metadata and documents. Rapid Circle mainly fulfilled an advisory role, while execution largely remained with Porthos itself. Close collaboration, weekly progress meetings and short communication lines enabled quick and effective decision-making.
Once processes and metadata were in place, document workflows such as reviewing, approving, version control and archiving were automated using Power Automate. Document controllers can now process hundreds of documents at once with greatly reduced risk of error.
Additional functionality such as automatically generated document status lists allows Porthos to track submissions from contractors and quickly identify missing or incorrect documents.
The chosen approach ensured strong technical security by operating within EBN’s environment, including standard Multi-Factor Authentication. Azure Active Directory was used to strictly segregate access so that customers and suppliers cannot see each other’s documents.
In addition to technical measures, extensive training sessions, manuals and instructional videos were provided to ensure correct use of version control and document procedures. As a result, all participants – internal staff and external subcontractors alike – now understand how the system works and where to find information.
Beyond document control, the project led to the development of a new intranet to improve internal communication and information sharing, particularly supporting remote collaboration.
The system is now used intensively and has proven successful, forming a strong foundation for future expansion, including enhanced search capabilities, richer metadata and further automation.
Want to discover how a secure and structured document management system can improve collaboration in complex projects? Get in touch to explore the possibilities.
Porthos needed to manage large volumes of sensitive technical documents across a complex network of internal teams and external partners, while ensuring strict version control and secure, segregated access.
Using multiple SharePoint environments made it difficult to guarantee security, correct metadata, version control and consistent processes. A single, central system was required to manage all documents effectively.
By automating workflows for review, approval, version control and archiving, document controllers could process hundreds of documents at once with far fewer errors.
Security is handled through the EBN environment with Multi-Factor Authentication and Azure Active Directory, ensuring that customers and suppliers cannot access each other’s documents.
In addition to document control, the project enabled better internal communication through a new intranet and created a scalable foundation for further digital improvements.
