Document Imaging Blog

Welcome to eCopy's Document Imaging Blog

Businesses are adopting technology to address electronic workflows and processes --- but these processes are slowed by paper. Document imaging can help solve the paper problem by converting paper into electronic images and distributing those images into digital workflows.

This blog provides eCopy's perspectives on document imaging based on 15 years experience working with end users, MFP and scanner manufacturers, software vendors, and reseller channels. It is our goal of this blog to foster better understanding of document imaging technology through examples of companies who have benefited from implementing the technology and by sharing the experiences/problems/challenges.  We look forward to hearing from you!

eWeek Article on Document Imaging and Microsoft Apps

Many organizations struggle with how to best integrate document imaging technologies with their Microsoft applications. A recently published article in eWeek by eCopy's Ed White covers the critical considerations when marrying document imaging with Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Access and SQL Server. The three-part article is a must read for IT managers implementing document scanning in conjunction with Microsoft technologies. You can read the article by clicking here.

Centralized Versus Distributed Capture at EMC World

As distributed capture gains in popularity, more and more organizations are asking: Should we implement centralized or distributed document imaging or both.

EMC's Captiva product marketing manager Bill Galushia was seeking to help organizations answer this question with a customer panel at EMC World today.

Panelists from Conseco and Eaton Vance, two firms that provide financial services, provided their guidance on why they decided to use both types of capture.

Panelist Patti Bishop, assistant vice president of mutual fund operations for Eaton Vance, revealed that her company decided to invest in decentralized capture because the content being captured is completely unstructured. Often she needed the document owners to characterize the document to get the right process started. After all, who knows more about the documents than the document owners.

Bishop is certainly doing it right at Eaton Vance. She is saving 30 - 35% by bringing document imaging in house and she has increased the number of pages being captured by 200%. She has accomplished this, in part, by using EMC Captiva InputAccel with eCopy software at her MFPs.

Net Generation and the Changing Office

With every new generation comes an increased technology savvy and evolving work approach. But the Net Generation – the first group of “digital natives” – is shaking up the office workplace such as no other age bracket.

 

It often feels like this group was born with cell phones and handheld gaming devices in their hands, and can’t imagine working without keyboard and mouse at the ready.

 

And these natural born techies see paper as archaic. This permeates their personal lives – try and find someone in their twenties who gets their daily news from a newspaper. They are also a prime audience for digital devices like Amazon’s Kindle.

 

Paper as archaic also extends to their work lives where they are as comfortable reading a document on a monitor as baby boomers are reading the same document in hardcopy. Paper in the workplace also strikes against the environmental instincts of this age group.

 

Industry researcher IDC says the Net Generation “feels that their companies have not yet adopted electronic processes.” This is a risky position for organizations that want to attract the best and brightest.

 

Here are three steps organizations can take right now to help the Net Generation thrive in the workplace – and contribute to their potential.

• Start the transition away from paper. Document scanning software can help you connect paper-based information directly into the applications that run your businesses. It delivers easily proven ROI – there’s no reason to wait.
  
• Look for software that enables staffers to work with electronic documents like they do with hardcopy information. Adding annotations, signatures, highlights, blackouts and whiteouts to scanned documents. Tapping optical character recognition (OCR) to create easily searchable text.
  
• Embrace the Net Generation as tech mentors in the office. This is a perfect opportunity where the students can become the teachers. Let them experiment in ways to drive paper out of workflows – and lead and teach the rest of the organization.

 

Two Key Points on Document Imaging from Xerox Global Services

Xerox Global Services Vice President and GM Ashby Lowry (shown here) presented the keynote today at the Photizo Managed Print Services (MPS) conference in San Antonio. Photizo is the analyst group that was quoted in the Feb. 24 Wall Street Journal article on MPS.

In his presentation, Lowry made two key points about MFP document scanning:

1. It is the role of MPS providers to "signal" their clients to let them know when they should be scanning and not printing documents. He mentioned XGS client Microsoft as one implementation where scan to e-mail played a role in reducing the amount of material that the software company sent to landfills by 20 million tons.

2. Lowry also mentions that MPS providers must manage multi-vendor MFP implementations. If you take this point to the next logical conclusion, MPS vendors must also manage MFP scanning in multi-vendor implementations, and it would be important that the MFP scanning software work across brands. Otherwise the users will continually have to change the way they scan as they move from device to device.

The Photizo conference is very well attended given the current economic climate. There are approximately 130 people from office equipment dealers, software vendors, VADs and MPS providers attending the event, which is billed as the first ever MPS conference.

Misconceptions of MFP Scanning (Part Two)

Organizations find MFP scanning increasingly attractive because they can combine scanning, copying and printing all on one device. Doing so allows companies to buy faster, more powerful (page per minute) devices because they don’t need pay for separate devices to do each task.

But with the growth of MFP scanning, companies have questions about how it can best fit into document workflows. My last post addressed comon misconceptions in this area. Today’s post continues to look at common misconceptions of MFP scanning:

• MFPs are restricted to small-size documents. Not correct. While the MFP document feeder may restrict you to 50 or so pages, just hit the “scan more” button and you can continue scanning for any number of pages.
• Scanned images from MFPs will be much larger file sizes than images from scanners. Not true. MFP scanning software includes image compression so even color pages can be reduced to as little as 200 KB per pages while retaining sharp text and good image quality.
• You can’t create searchable PDFs with MFP scanning. Yes you can. MFP scanning software allows you to create and save PDFs that are available for text searches within documents and network folders.

Please add your comments on additional MFP scanning misconceptions you have heard.

Misconceptions of MFP Scanning

Today there are millions of MFPs populating the workplace. The ease of MFP scanning makes it attractive to everyday office professionals to add hardcopy documents to their electronic workflows.

But MFP scanning is still new to many organizations, leading to questions about whether it is possible to use MFPs the way you would standalone scanners. Here’s a look at four common misconceptions of MFP scanning:

• Scanning will create a line at the MFP. People will queue up. Not true. It takes 30 seconds to two minutes to scan almost all documents if the scanning software is properly designed, and you can scan while someone else is printing.
• You won’t be able to preview a scanned image at the MFP. Yes you can. Previewing will allow you to check the image to be sure it scanned correctly before returning to your desk.
• You can’t use barcode recognition to automate routine document scanning tasks. Not correct. For example, using barcodes during a batch process can eliminate bottlenecks with automated splitting of document batches and naming of files.
• You can't do image cleanup or drop colors out of images automatically. Yes, you can create clear, legible images from less than perfect originals on the fly with MFPs, eliminating scanning errors and saving time.
  
  Today, eCopy introduced Business Automation Services that address barcode recognition and image enhancement. You can read the news release here.
  
  Please share with us other MFP scanning misconceptions you have experienced.

LinkedIn Document Imaging Group Reaches 2,000 Members

The Document Imaging Group on LinkedIn recently reached a major milestone, surpassing the 2,000 member mark. The Group is the companion social networking group to this Blog.

eCopy created the Group to help people involved in the document imaging market to expand professional relationships for business and employment opportunities. You can join the Group by clicking here.

Whitepaper: Distributed Capture Platforms

EMC has sponsored a whitepaper that looks at how to improve business processes in decentralized work environments through the use of distributed document capture. Jarad Carleton from the industry analyst firm Frost & Sullivan wrote the whitepaper, which outlines the steps organizations should take to capture documents from remote sites using MFPs.

The whitepaper covers automated document classification, extraction and validation of data, as well as delivering documents and data to central content repositories and business applications. It also reviews how EMC Captiva and eCopy work together to address distributed capture requirements at remote offices. You can read the whitepaper here.

Gartner Calls MFP Manufacturers' Messaging "Greenwash"

There is no question that there's been a resurgence of interest in the paperless office. Much of this new found interest has been a result of increased desire for organizations to present a better face when it comes to sustainability, reducing greenhouse gases and other environmentally sound practices.

It's to be expected that MFP technology providers would want to join the bandwagon and put on a green face, too, even if their business models depend on customers printing more pages. What I've found surprising is that the industry analyst firm Gartner addressed this topic so candidly in a research note late last week. Gartner analysts Don Dixon and Pete Basiliere said MFP technology providers' public messaging around sustainability is "greenwash," that is, more marketing than actual programs and process changes to reduce paper in enterprises.

If you have a Gartner subscription, I recommend that you read the Gartner research report (#G00166785) called Cost Optimization is Key to Print Management in the Recession.

AIIM 2009 - What wiil it bring?

AIIM kicks off next Tuesday in Philadelphia with some new branding (Info360) and a lot of anticipation around what the show will bring. Over the last couple of years, the show has been more of a gathering place for vendors, resellers and consultants, mixed with a spattering of end user customers. Will the change in venue from Boston to Philadelphia change that? How will the economy effect numbers? And what will the buzz be about?

One topic sure to be on the minds of attendees is SharePoint. The story has moved from "What is it?" to "How do I use it?" to "What has been your experience with it?" over the past couple of years, but without a doubt it will be a prominent part of many vendor's stories -- including us. We'll be presenting on SharePoint and Document Imaging in the Canon and Microsoft theaters:

• Canon Booth - Tuesday (noon); Wednesday (3:00) and Thursday (10:30)

• Microsoft Booth - Tuesday (11:30) and Wednesday (3:30)

AIIM is still the big event in the ECM realm and is always an important place to be seen and to continue to build the ecosystem. We'll be continuing on our strategy for the show for the past few years and supporting our ecosystem partners in their booths. Join us and our partners at:

• Canon (Booth #1701)

• Equitrac (Booth #2500)

• I.R.I.S. (Booth #605)

• Konica Minolta (Booth #1425)

• Microsoft (Booth #900/MP21)

• Rochester Software Associates (Booth #2248)

We look forward to seeing you at AIIM and I'll be sure to post a couple of times from the show. What are your expectations for this years show? Leave a comment!