US-12625898-B2 - System and methods for optimizing document storage cost

US12625898B2US 12625898 B2US12625898 B2US 12625898B2US-12625898-B2

Abstract

A document management method for optimizing storage costs of new importing documents and existing documents are disclosed. The method categorizes the uploaded documents and the existing documents based on metadata and attributes embedded therein and saves the uploaded documents and the existing documents in a cold storage or a hot storage based on their usage or access metrics calculated from the attributes. A document management system that managing storages of new uploaded documents and the existing documents using the above method is also disclosed.

Inventors

Selim ZAMAN
Chikara YUKI

Assignees

KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240819

Claims (17)

1 . A computer-implemented method for managing storage costs of documents, the method comprising: analyzing metadata embedded in a plurality of documents that are newly migrated into a new document management system, wherein the metadata is used for categorizing the plurality of documents; analyzing attributes embedded in each document of the plurality of documents, wherein the attributes include usage metrics for each document of the plurality of documents; saving plurality of documents with retention statuses in a retention folder; saving plurality of documents other than those with retention statuses to other folders based on their categories; determining whether the documents saved in the retention folder have been accessed in a first predetermined period of time; determining whether documents saved in other folders have been accessed within a second predetermined period of time; storing the plurality of documents to specific storages including hot storages, warm storages and cold storages based on the metadata and the at least one attribute; and wherein the usage metrics of usage of the plurality of documents includes a frequency of access, a priority, a class, and a retention state.
2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising analyzing the attributes embedded in the plurality of documents after being stored in the specific storages and determining if storage statuses of the plurality of existing documents needs to be changed.
3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the analyzing is performed periodically or by demand.
4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising determining usage patterns of the plurality of documents based on the attributes, and routing the plurality of documents to different storages if the usage patterns change over a predetermined threshold level.
5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the predetermined threshold level is a seasonality of a document, a frequency of the document being accessed, or a retention state of the document.
6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , further comprising determining document usage characteristics of each document of the plurality of documents and routing the plurality of documents to different storages based on their usage characteristics.
7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the document usage characteristics include a measured number of times each of the plurality of document is accessed, a measured number of users who access each of the plurality of document, priorities of the plurality of documents, and characteristics retained in the plurality of documents.
8 . A computer-implemented method for organizing documents, the method comprising: analyzing metadata embedded in each document of a plurality of documents saved in a document management system, wherein the metadata is used for categorizing the plurality of documents; analyzing attributes embedded in each document of the plurality of documents, wherein the attributes include usage metrics for each of the plurality of documents; saving plurality of documents with retention statuses in a retention folder; saving plurality of documents other than those with retention statuses to other folders based on their categories; determining whether the documents saved in the retention folder have been accessed in a first predetermined period of time; determining whether documents saved in other folders have been accessed within a second predetermined period of time; and storing the plurality of documents to specific storages including hot storages, warm storages and cold storages based on the metadata and the attributes; analyzing the attributes periodically or on-demand to determine if at least one of the attributes changes over a predetermined threshold level re-routing the plurality of documents if any of the attributes changes over the predetermined threshold level; and wherein the usage metrics of usage of the plurality of documents includes a frequency of access, a priority, a class, and a retention state.
9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising determining probabilistic patterns of the plurality of documents based on the attributes, and routing the plurality of documents to different storages if the probabilistic usage patterns change over the predetermined threshold level.
10 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the predetermined threshold level is a seasonality of a document, a frequency of the document being accessed, or a retention state of the document.
11 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising determining document usage characteristics of each of the plurality of documents and routing the plurality of documents to different storages based on their usage characteristics.
12 . The computer-implemented method of claim 11 , wherein the document usage characteristics include a measured number of times that each of the plurality of document is accessed, a measured number of users who access each of the plurality of document, priorities of the plurality of documents, and characteristics retained in the plurality of documents.
13 . The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein the analyzing and the rerouting steps are performed periodically or by demand.
14 . The document management system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine document usage characteristics of each of the uploaded documents and the existing documents and to save the uploaded documents and the existing documents to different storages based on their usage characteristics.
15 . The document management system of claim 14 , wherein the document usage characteristics include measured number of times each of the plurality of document is accessed, measured number of users who access each of the plurality of document, priorities of the plurality of documents, and characteristics retained in the plurality of documents.
16 . A document management system for organizing uploaded documents and existing documents saved in the document management system, the document management system comprising: at least three storages, including a hot storage, a warm storage and a cold storage; a database for storing medium-readable instructions; a managing device comprising a processor, wherein the medium-readable instructions stored in the database, when executed, causes the processor to: analyze metadata embedded in each of the uploaded documents and the existing documents, wherein the metadata is used for categorizing the plurality of documents; analyze attributes embedded in each of the uploaded documents and the existing documents, wherein the at least one attribute includes usage metrics for each of the uploaded documents and the existing documents; save plurality of documents with retention statuses in a retention folder; save plurality of documents other than those with retention statuses to other folders based on their categories; determine whether the documents saved in the retention folder have been accessed in a first predetermined period of time; determine whether documents saved in other folders have been accessed within a second predetermined period of time; store the plurality of documents to the hot storages, the warm storages and the cold storages based on the metadata and the attributes; analyze the attributes of each of the uploaded documents and the existing documents periodically or on-demand to determine if the attributes in any of the uploaded documents and the existing documents changes over a predetermined threshold level; and reorganize the storage of the uploaded documents and the existing documents if the attributes of any of the uploaded documents and the existing documents changes over the predetermined threshold level by moving the uploaded documents and existing documents to different storages; and wherein the usage metrics of usage of the plurality of document includes a frequency of access, a priority, a class, and a retention state.
17 . The document management system of claim 16 , wherein the predetermined threshold level is a seasonality of a document, a frequency of the document being accessed, or a retention state of the document.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a system and method for managing and organizing uploaded documents and existing documents. In particular, the present invention relates to a system and method for uploading bulk documents to a new document management system and re-organizing existing documents saved in the new document management system to optimize their storage cost. Description of the Related Art When a new customer merges their document management system into a new system, the customer usually needs to import documents in bulk into this new system. Currently, after the documents are uploaded, the customer has to manually organize their folder structures so that the uploaded documents can be saved in their specific folders. Storing the documents could be costly. To reduce the cost, the customer may reorganize the documents by placing less frequently accessed documents into a cold storage, and more frequently accessed documents into a hot storage. This method also involves manually switching documents between the hot and cold storages. Currently, there are no document managing system and method that can automatically classify the documents for storage cost optimized purposes. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A computer-implemented method for managing storage costs of documents is disclosed. The method analyzes metadata embedded in a plurality of documents that are newly migrated into a new document management system, wherein the metadata is used for categorizing the plurality of documents. The method also analyzes attributes embedded in each document of the plurality of documents, wherein the attributes include usage metrics for each document of the plurality of documents, and storing the plurality of documents to specific storages including hot storages and cold storages based on the metadata and the at least one attribute. In the above method, the usage metrics of usage of the plurality of document includes a frequency of access, a priority, a class, and a retention state. The above method also analyzes the attributes embedded in the plurality of documents after being stored in the specific storages and determining if storage statuses of the plurality of existing documents needs to be changed. The analyzing step is performed periodically or by demand. Further, the above method determines usage patterns or document usage characteristics of the plurality of documents based on the attributes, and routes the plurality of documents to different storages if the usage patterns change over a predetermined threshold level. The predetermined threshold level could be a seasonality of a document, a frequency of the document being accessed, or a retention state of the document. In the above method, the document usage characteristics include a measured number of times each of the plurality of document is accessed, a measured number of users who access each of the plurality of document, priorities of the plurality of documents, and characteristics retained in the plurality of documents. A computer-implemented method for organizing documents is further disclosed. The method analyzes metadata embedded in each document of a plurality of documents saved in a document management system, wherein the metadata is used for categorizing the plurality of documents, and analyzes attributes embedded in each document of the plurality of documents, wherein the attributes include usage metrics for each of the plurality of documents. The method further stores the plurality of documents to specific storages including hot storages and cold storages based on the metadata and the attributes, analyzing the attributes periodically or on-demand to determine if at least one of the attributes changes over a predetermined threshold level, and re-routing the plurality of documents if any of the attributes changes over the predetermined threshold level. In the method, the usage metrics of usage of the plurality of document includes a frequency of access, a priority, a class, and a retention state The above method further determines usage patterns of the plurality of documents based on the attributes, and routing the plurality of documents to different storages if the usage patterns change over the predetermined threshold level. The predetermined threshold level may include a seasonality of a document, a frequency of the document being accessed, or a retention state of the document. The method also determines document usage characteristics of each of the plurality of documents and routing the plurality of documents to different storages based on their usage characteristics. The document usage characteristics include a measured number of times each of the plurality of document is accessed, a measured number of users who access each of the plurality of document, priorities of the plurality of documents, and characteristics retained in the plurality of documents. A document management system for organizing storage of uploaded documents a