Document Imaging Blog

Information Zen and other good info sources

AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association, just launched a new online community, Information Zen. Big kudos to AIIM for starting this up and I'm pledging to be active in the new community, as well as to get my colleagues involved. Take a moment to poke around the site...it has great information on all things ECM and information management and will hopefully turn into an active community!

A big reason that I am excited about this new community is that it is another resource for both end users and vendors to discuss challenges, successes and best practices around ECM. As we all know, ECM is a big umbrella and includes document imaging as a subset. At eCopy, we've started this blog and the Document Imaging Wiki to provide a similar, central resource for document imaging. I'm hoping that we can create lots of back and forth between our Web 2.0 initiatives and AIIM's...providing awareness of document imaging within the ECM conversations and offering a place to come and learn more about specific document imaging-related information in our blog and wiki.

These Web-based resources are a tremendous asset to our industry and a big thank you goes out to AIIM for continuing to increase awareness and spur conversation.

AIIM Webinar Q&A – Part 4

Time to answer the last question posed during the April 9th AIIM webinar, Document Imaging for Microsoft-Driven Organizations. If you missed the webinar, a recording is available on our Website.  And please post a comment to this blog post if you have further questions that you would like me to answer. I’m happy to keep this Q&A going as long as the questions come in!

Our final question is around document services and came in from an IT executive at a professional services company. He asks:

Does eCopy have the ability, when dealing with a common document format to, while scanning the doc, pull data in certain areas for OCR, then using that data for naming, routing, or storing metadata in a database?

Yes and no. eCopy ShareScan comes bundled with an OCR engine for full text indexing and search purposes. For example, a document can be OCRd during the scanning process to create a searchable PDF for improved search and retrieval from databases or back end application. Our product does not automatically extract portions of data (i.e. zonal OCR) for purposes of indexing and routing. However, eCopy ShareScan is an open development environment with a published API and document services interface. Through this services interface, capabilities such as metadata extraction, barcode recognition, and image compression and cleanup can be easily added. For example, one of eCopy’s partners, I.R.I.S., has used the SDK to offer a set of document services for ShareScan.

Thanks again for all the great questions around document imaging & Microsoft. And please, if you have any other questions, please post them as a comment to the blog.

Bill DeStefanis
Director of Product Management

AIIM Webinar Q&A – Part 3

In part 3 of our Q&A follow-up to last week’s AIIM Webinar (see part 1 and part 2), I’m going to answer a couple of questions around getting paper documents into Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint, not surprisingly, is top of mind with Microsoft-driven organizations who are implementing the technology in droves to enable better collaboration and document workflows. And one of the big challenges that these organizations face is how to ensure that knowledge workers are able to include information that resides on paper inside SharePoint.

Our first question asks: How does eCopy know where to send documents and metadata content to SharePoint?

Our integration with SharePoint is done through our Connector to eCopy ShareScan. Our SharePoint connectivity is predicated upon authenticated user access, i.e. the username/password assigned to users who access SharePoint. With this information, users are logged into their SharePoint repository at the MFP and can self-determine where to deposit information by browsing to the site, subsite, document library, etc. at the MFP. Alternatively, eCopy’s SharePoint connectivity can be pre-configured for a dedicated capture operation, for example, scanning resumes to a dedicated folder accessible by Human Resources. In this configuration, there is no user interaction with SharePoint, but the application intelligently knows where to store the document and what indexing information should be included with it, i.e. username, date, document type, etc.

The second question asks: What are the benefits of eCopy with MOSS 2007. And is eCopy a good connector for MOSS 2007?

The answer to the second part is yes, of course.  We recently upgraded our connector to support many of the features that were added to SharePoint in MOSS 2007, including support for multiple content types and workflows.

As for the benefits, I’ll list three of the biggest. 1) Our SharePoint Connector replicates the user’s desktop experience with SharePoint at the MFP, allowing navigation through sites, subsites, document libraries, etc. This leads to high user adoption and a reduction in errors because the workflow process is unchanged.  2) The Connector features dynamic connectivity to a live environment, meaning that a user is working with a live environment vs. a static image of the application. So in that environment, if new folders or other destinations are added to the SharePoint environment, these are automatically available to the user during the capture process.  3) From an IT perspective, our SharePoint connectivity requires no changes to the SharePoint environment and there are no modifications or additions necessary to the MOSS server.

We’ll be back next week with the final questions from last week’s webinar (view a recording here).

Bill DeStefanis
Director of Product Management

AIIM Webinar Q&A -- Part 2

I’m back again with more Q&A from last week’s AIIM Webinar, Document Imaging for Microsoft-Driven Environments”. In part one of this series; I covered questions primarily dealing with the process for ensuring proper indexing of documents in a distributed environment. Today, I’m going to address a couple of questions around the topic of MFPs, or multifunction peripherals.

The first question is around the operating environments of MFPs:

How soon do you foresee having a large number of Web services enabled MFPs in the market?

Well, today approximately 9 million (laser) MFPs are put into the market each year and a growing number of those will have a Web services operating environment. A few vendors, such as Xerox, Sharp and Toshiba, are shipping devices with these environments today. But even with that being the case, the main challenges for the ISV community remains that while each of these are Web services based, they still remain different -- and proprietary -- development environments.  The ideal for the ISV community would be a single, “standard” Web services based development environment. Unfortunately, that is not the development landscape available from the MFP vendors today.  What is available are document imaging platforms like eCopy’s, which works on all of the major MFP and scanner brands and provides a single development environment (SDK) from which ISVs and end users can connect to a variety of MFPs.

Today’s second question is about whether MFPs are appropriate for processing back files, and asks, “this can’t really be done on an MFP?”

Agreed, that is not what MFPs are designed to do.  MFPs are great capture environments for low-volume document scanning by office workers.  Back file scanning is task that is best suited for high-speed, high volume scan operations with a dedicated scanning professional. One thing to think about however, is if “one-off” documents enter the organization that would need to be added to an archive. In those cases, the ability to have an office worker scan that document to the archive at a later date using an MFP can be beneficial. So, it is not so much that it can not be done on an MFP, but there are certainly processes that are better suited for other scanning processes.

I’ll be back later this week with some questions around scanning documents into SharePoint.

Bill DeStefanis
Director of Product Management

Document Imaging for Microsoft-Driven Organizations – Webinar Q&A

I co-presented a Webinar on document imaging for Microsoft-driven organizations with Forrester Research last Wednesday afternoon.  A terrific audience of nearly 400 attendees posed a number of questions at the end of the Webinar and I will be posting those questions and answers on the blog this week. If you missed the Webinar last week, you can download a recording here.

The first question I will cover came in from an end user who works for a Credit Union. He asked:

In a distributed capture model, who captures the metadata/index information? How do you best control consistency and accuracy? And, how do you control user/site license costs?

While I hate to start off this week-long Q&A like this, the answer is it depends. A good distributed capture application should be flexible enough to automatically capture metadata information  based on items such as username, date, time, etc., AND present a Windows-like user interface that prompts the user for metadata information. In terms of control and accuracy, this can be addressed by the application designer/administrator through the use of tools such as list boxes, character limitation, mandatory indexing, and other selection fields. In the case of eCopy ShareScan, user selections would be pulled live from the backend application – for example with SharePoint, indexing fields are displayed with options such as content or document type to reflect the same metadata requirements at the MFP that users would see at their desktop. So, if you have trained your users to save electronic documents to a repository, the same process will apply at the MFP.

In terms of controlling user/site license costs, scanning at shared scanning devices like MFPs is typically not charged on a per user basis. When working with a backend application, a users SharePoint CAL is valid at either the user’s desktop and the scanning device, so no additional CAL should be necessary.

A follow-up question to this was also posed:

So, while reducing a centralized scan/capture environment, would we still need a centralized index/quality control-type environment?

Distributed scanning processes are not necessarily designed as a replacement to centralized scanning operations. So, it is very likely that both will be maintained. As far as indexing/QC operations, in an application like eCopy’s those functions are done by the user at the point of capture (preview, indexing, metadata, etc.). However, a distributed capture application can also augment a  centralized capture process, pushing the indexing/QC functions further out to the workforce.

We’ll have more questions on the blog later this week. In the meantime, please feel free to post any questions that you may have about Document Imaging in the comment field below.

Bill DeStefanis

Director of Product Management

Document Imaging for Microsoft-Driven Orgs – Webinar on April 9

This Wednesday we are co-presenting an AIIM-hosted webinar with Forrester Research analyst Craig Le Clair on the topic of Document Imaging for Microsoft-Driven Environments.  To register for the free Webinar, click here.

The webinar is designed to help companies that have invested in Microsoft software understand how to best integrate paper-based documents into the electronic workflows that are powered by applications such as Microsoft Office, SharePoint, SQL Databases and beyond. Craig will also talk about how companies can leverage both Microsoft technologies and 3rd party applications that tightly integrate with Microsoft to help bridge the information gap between back office operations and the front office, leading to the goal of a highly productive Information Workplace.

Join us on Wednesday at 2:00 EST for this Webinar, followed by an open Q&A with Craig and Bill DeStefanis of eCopy.

Corporate Developers & Document Imaging SDKs

In a post on the Xerox blog Big I, little t, Roger Ellefson writes from the AIIM Expo that:

I was speaking with a senior manager from the IT department of one of our largest customers - he was very interested in how the software developers on his staff could gain access to our SDKs just as any of our traditional ISV partners can.

eCopy also has found that many of our end customers are interested in using our SDK to create integration between eCopy's document imaging platform and their software applications. Like the Xerox SDK, it will allow developers to create integration so that end users can use the document scanning capabilites of their Xerox MFPs to incorporate paper documents. eCopy's SDK includes a powerful "connector" development wizard that makes it nearly effortless to create native integration. Over 80 ISVs, SIs and corporate developers already have created integration that works with Xerox MFPs.

AIIM’s State of the ECM Industry Report – Paper Déjà vu

This month, AIIM released its annual State of the ECM Industry Report, which is always a good read and full of good data points collected from AIIM’s survey of end user organizations. Among the many observations in this year’s report, AIIM President John Mancini highlighted a topic that is near and dear to document imaging -- Paper Déjà vu. He says:

There are three dimensions of this problem that we need to help organizations understand. The first is the traditional one – getting rid of paper. The second dimension relates to getting rid of paper from information that was actually born digitally. We have a tendency in the work of blogs and wikis and Enterprise 2.0 technologies to somehow imagine the paper is a thing of the past… And lastly, I think that part of the renaissance of paper concerns in organizations will center around green concerns.

I agree with all three dimensions, but think that a fourth needs to be added to that list: information access. John references this as one of the four major trends in ECM, but in an echo of what I hear from end user organizations, he focuses on electronic information access. For organizations to capitalize on the value that applications like SharePoint and other document tools the reach the desktops of workers across an organization, electronic and paper-based information need to be merged together in these new workflow processes. Providing all employees access to an easy to use document imaging solution can help meet this goal.

AIIM Picks City of Torrance for Best Practices Award

Last week during its awards gala event, AIIM announced that it had selected the City of Torrance for a Best Practices Award. AIIM picked well. Never before have I seen an organization that used technology to so thoroughly transform itself. The Torrance City Attorney's Office used document imaging, document management and case management software to:

• Eliminate nearly 300 cubic feet of file cabinets, easing City Hall space constraints.
• Bring over 95 percent of legal work performed in house, saving outsourcing costs.
• Save administrative staff expenses estimated to be $240,000 annually.

If you would like to know more about why AIIM picked Torrance for a Best Practices Award, see the eCopy case study by clicking here for the PDF.

AIIM Expo - Presentation for Developers

If you are heading to the AIIM Expo next week and are a software developer, systems integrator or corporate developer interested in learning how to add document imaging and capture capabilities to a software application, head to the Application Showcase Theater on the show floor at 11:30 on Tuesday, March 4th. Chip Whitman, director of software alliances for eCopy, will be presenting "Eight Critical Considerations When Extending Your Software to Include Document Imaging." 

Software applications are only as valuable as the information contained within them, and integrating document imaging capabilities to those applications can increase their value by providing an easy way for any office worker to scan paper documents and include information contained in those documents into software applications.

The session will outline the critical factors that need to be considered in a document imaging platform so that the resulting application is not only easy to use and administer but also securely connects to existing business workflows. The session will also highlight the go-to-market considerations for developers as they bring these scanning applications to customers, including:

• How to select the right MFP and scanner platforms for document capture.
• The essential tools a document imaging software development kit must deliver.
• A look at integration issues when connecting document scanning with business software applications.
• Best approaches for building customized solutions to address specific application issues.
• The “must have” document services that should be included in any development platform.

We hope that you can stop by on Tuesday to hear this presentation. And don't forget to look for eCopy in the many booths that the product will be demonstrated in next week!

AIIM Expo – Connecting Hardware and Software

The annual AIIM Expo is coming up in Boston on March 3-6. Since combining with the Print On Demand show a few years back, the AIIM Expo has really become the premier opportunity to see both the hardware and software vendors that work within the content and information management industry.  On the hardware end, all the major MFP and scanner manufacturers are usually in attendance. And from the software side, everyone from the largest ECM vendors to specialized ISVs is represented.

For those considering document imaging solutions, it’s the perfect show. At the hardware booths, you can talk about what software applications they can connect to as part of a document management or content management solution.  And at the software booths, you can talk about what your options are for ensuring that paper is easily and securely included in those systems. Too many times, organizations look at their hardware purchases and software purchases in silos, not thinking about how they can and should be integrated.

So if you are heading to the AIIM Expo in March and are walking the floor, think about your document workflows and whether there is a way to integrate your organization’s hardware and software systems. And if you are in one of the following booths, be sure to ask them to demonstrate eCopy ShareScan to you.

Hardware Vendors: Canon (#1416); Konica Minolta (#913,916); HP (#1817); Ricoh (#631)

Software Vendors: Artsyl Technologies (#2773); ADOS (Microsoft Pavilion/MP16); ABBYY (#2451); Biscom (#2472); EMC (#2231); I.R.I.S. (#2817); K2 (Microsoft Pavilion /MP16); Questys (#2655); Rochester Software Associates (#625); Sagem-Interstar (#2967); Softlinx (#2364); Equitrac (#947); Laserfiche (#2525); Hyland (#2731); and Westbrook/Fortis (#2243).

Top Enterprise Content Management Trends for 2008

AIIM yesterday announced its Top Enterprise Content Management Trends of 2008. The top-level message of the AIIM findings is that ECM is being driven by collaboration and innovation, as well as the more traditional need for information control.

Top on the list of trends from AIIM is the evolution of Microsoft SharePoint as a serious player in the ECM infrastructure marketplace. We certainly agree and have blogged about that here and here. Or click here to listen to a Webinar about SharePoint and ECM with Forrester’s Barry Murphy.

A second trend is increasing tensions between “control” and “access”. AIIM notes that the pendulum has been on the “control” side for a while, but is now swinging towards access issues.

And not surprisingly, listed among the top 10 trends was The Renaissance of Capture. AIIM notes that as the market expands into mid-sized organizations, there are untapped opportunities in organizations still reliant on paper processes.

If these trends hold and ECM is, in fact, being driven more by collaboration and innovation, than capture will certainly play a significant role. Collaboration, innovation and access to information are all powered by electronic business processes. Paper slows these processes and organizations who are adopting ECM strategies and technologies need to include strategies to incorporate paper into their electronic business processes in order to successfully adopt ECM.

Gartner Print & Imaging Summit

I just returned from the Gartner Print and Imaging Summit, a printing and document imaging conference that is growing in popularity. In the first presentation on the first day of the conference, Gartner Research Director Don Dixon discussed some incredibly useful information for IT professionals at large organizations.

One of Don’s slides covered the future for “smart MFPs,” which is the term that Don has coined for devices that include embedded architectures and can run business software applications. The slide listed four predictions for smart MFPs:

• Document communications in and out of MFPs will be secure
• MFP platforms will take an open source approach – truly vendor agnostic
• They will be more alike and interoperable

The final area that Don covered was the need for document imaging applications to be MFP brand agnostic, meaning that software should work on all smart MFPs so that customer organizations aren’t locked into one brand of device just because they don’t want to change the document imaging software they are using.

Overall the conference was packed with useful information for IT professionals. If your company is a Gartner client, you should consider attending the next Print and Imaging Summit.

SharePoint Meets ECM

SharePoint seems to be everywhere these days. Microsoft reports that more than 85 million licenses of the collaboration software have been purchased and many more organizations are using the SharePoint services that come bundled with MS Office. The power and potential of this software is almost unthinkable, yet many companies are struggling to navigate through the "bees nest" of its capabilities and understand how to deploy, use and manage the software.

We were fortunate to be able to speak with Barry Murphy of Forrester as part of an AIIM Webinar on the subject of SharePoint Meets ECM, which provided an overview of SharePoint's capabilities, what applications it is good for, where it falls short and how to use document imaging software with SharePoint. Here's a  recording of the Webinar.

If you are one of the many people rolling out SharePoint and have paper documents that should be included in the system, consider the following when choosing a document imaging solution:

• Ensure that you do not add a footprint on your SharePoint server; the less third-party software that runs on the server, the less likely you are to have to deal with a server crash
• Look for document imaging software that has "out of the box" functionality for your needs; customization costs can quickly run amok with SharePoint roll-outs
• Make sure the document imaging solution can support for SharePoint content types, metadata and workflows (Workflow Foundation Server, etc.)
• Keep security in mind with your imaging solution; the solution should uphold existing security models and policies; it should be able to pick up the authentication and access rights of your environment

Is ECM really the problem?

As hard as we may try to avoid this, when you work in an industry - and especially if you are in marketing - it is easy to start thinking that everybody in your universe talks in the same langauge that you do. As industries evolve, vendors, the media and analysts, industry organizations and other influencers develop terms and dreaded acronyms to talk about products and problems, and they quickly get adopted by each other. Eventually you find yourself talking to your customers about your "SaaS CRM solution for SMBs with a sales force automation problem". When what they really want to hear is that your product can help their sales people track leads better without having to invest heavily in supporting more IT systems.

In our industry, the hot term is ECM, or Enterprise Content Management. I hear it and use it all the time. So much, in fact, that I stopped questioning whether the universe knew what ECM was. Then, this week, AIIM President John Mancini wrote this blog post about a survey AIIM conducted with executive, line of business and IT individuals who are not affiliated with AIIM (which by the way, is an industry association focused on ECM). The survey results showed that only 24% of the respondents had even heard the term ECM. On the plus side, of the 160 people who had heard the terms, nearly 3/4 of them understood what it was.

The AIIM definition of ECM is "the technologies used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes." That's accurate and all encompassing, but it is certainly a handful. And, based on the survey, it is not what companies are thinking about.

So here's my pledge to you. In this blog, we will strive to talk about the actual problems that customers are facing and the ways that they are solving those problems. We'll talk about the problems that result from paper-based processes and how to solve them. We'll talk about sharing information between workers. We'll talk about making workers more productive. We'll even get into some deeper technology discussions about scanning, MFPs, PDFs and other image types. And hopefully you'll begin to understand how these problems and solutions fit into a bigger strategy...maybe even start thinking about ECM. But that's not where we are going to start.