Chapter 3. Administration 67
The skill level of the users might be a determining factor in the degree of authority that is 
granted. It takes a more skilled user to define indexes and report parameters than to set up 
users and groups. A decentralized system is typically used when data from different sources 
is stored on the same Content Manager OnDemand system but must be maintained 
independently of other data. Decentralization also makes sense when report loading and 
processing needs are limited to a specific group of users for security purposes or when 
administrators that add users and groups must be prevented from accessing report data.
The decision about whether to use a centralized or a decentralized administration model is 
best made before any data is set up in the system. Even though the type of administration that 
is chosen can be changed later, the amount of work that is involved in that change is greater 
than the amount of work that is necessary to study the requirements of the system and 
implement the appropriate administration policies from the beginning. 
In this section, we describe different types of users, followed by a description of a 
decentralized administrative plan. We also introduce a new administrative tool, Content 
Manager OnDemand XML Batch Administration, which is a command-line program that is run 
on the Content Manager OnDemand server.
3.2.1  User types, authorities, and functions
Four types of users are available in a Content Manager OnDemand system. Each type has a 
different level of access, authority, and responsibility in the system:
/SM590000User: Logs in and queries the system to retrieve documents and reports for viewing.
/SM590000User administrator: Adds users or other user administrators to the system.
/SM590000Report administrator: Defines the application groups, applications, folders, and cabinets to 
be part of the system. The report administrator is responsible for understanding the report 
and document data and for defining the indexes to be extracted from the data and stored. 
A report administrator is also responsible for designing the user interface to the reports 
through the folder definition process and for controlling access authority to the reports that 
the report administrator designs, indexes, and loads. 
/SM590000System administrator: Has the highest level of authority in a Content Manager OnDemand 
system. The system administrator has authority for all system functions and can grant 
other users the authority to perform various tasks. The system administrator is the only 
level of authority that can create storage sets and define system printers. 
When the administrative tasks and levels of authorities are understood, you must decide the 
span of control in the system. Is it better to have one user control all access and functions in 
the Content Manager OnDemand system, or is it better to spread the administrative tasks 
among several users to smooth the workload based on system requirements? The answer to 
this question depends on whether your environment uses centralized or decentralized 
administrative control.
A centralized administrative plan is best suited for a Content Manager OnDemand system 
with a few users and relatively few reports to define. In the next section, we focus on the 
decentralized system and describe the different aspects of a decentralized administrative 
plan.