Document Imaging Blog

Choosing a Document Imaging Solution for SharePoint

I continue to see a lot of discussions amongst blogs, discussion boards and other Web forums about how to deal with one of the identified “shortcomings” of SharePoint…imaging. The proliferation of SharePoint licenses in organizations of all sizes has shone a new light onto the struggles that organization’s face with paper, and the question, “How do I get paper documents into SharePoint” is being asked more and more.

And, not surprisingly, many vendors (hardware and software) have released products that offer a way to scan documents and load them into SharePoint. So how do you select which is the right product for you? Here’s a couple of questions you may want to consider:

 

1. How will scanned documents be searched for once saved to SharePoint? You should look for an imaging solution that offers both the capability to manually add metadata to a document at the point of scanning and perform OCR (optical character recognition) on the scanned image to create a full-text searchable PDF, or capture certain key pieces of data from the document and include them as metadata.

2. Are SharePoint workflows supported by enforcing metadata requirements for rules-based processing?  If you are using the workflow capabilities of SharePoint, it is important to be able to kick-off those workflows for paper-based documents at the time of scanning. Your document imaging solution should prompt users to include the necessary information needed for these workflows (such as content type and necessary metadata), at the capture device when scanning the document.

3. Are changes to the underlying SharePoint site structure reflected dynamically at the point of capture? SharePoint is a very fluid system and changes to sites, document libraries, lists, etc. are commonplace. When capturing paper documents, users need to be able to see the most recent version of the site that they are saving the document to. Document imaging solutions that use pre-defined routing (either using barcodes, embedded directives, or hot folders) can not easily stay up-to-date with changes. Using a document imaging solution that has dynamic integration with SharePoint ensures that users have access to the most up-to-date site layout because they are logged into SharePoint when scanning.

4. Does the document imaging solution require components to be added to the SharePoint server? This is important for two reasons. First, the less third-party software that has to be installed on the SharePoint server the better, as it reduces the risk of that software causing problems. Secondly, if the document imaging solution has components on the server, it can not support hosted SharePoint environments.

There are of course many, many other factors that go into choosing the right document imaging solution for SharePoint. For additional information, download the white paper series: Distributed Document Imaging: Maximizing Your Investment in Microsoft Technology.

WSJ: Xerox Tries to Go Beyond Copiers

In Bill Bulkeley's Feb. 24 Wall Street Journal article on Xerox and managed print services, the most telling point made in the article was "more than half of the 1.5M devices the company (Xerox) currently manages are from other vendors."

This leads me to believe that a critical consideration in the selection of MFP document scanning software is that it must operate with all the leading MFP brands. The vast majority of large organizations don't want to be locked into their MFP brands so that they can multi-source or change brands. This is one reason why Xerox and HP have been so successful with managed print services. MPS allows you to go with Xerox and still keep your non-Xerox brands. You should insist on the same flexibility when it comes to your MFP document imaging software.

What is your ECM Maturity?

I just came across a great resource for enterprises who are looking to better understand how mature their content management strategies and systems are, and help build a roadmap towards the highest level of maturity. The Enterprise Content Management Maturity Model (or ECM³ as it is being coined), is in its early stages, but nicely breaks out maturity measurements into 13 dimensions across three categories: Human, Information and Systems.

 

 

In reading the five levels of maturity, it is clear that many more organizations fit into the lowest two levels of maturity – characterized by non-existent or limited scope technologies, policies and procedures, as well as limited understanding of enterprise-wide ECM needs. Even if you believe that you are well past the lowest level of ECM maturity, consider these recommended activities that should be considered by organizations at Level 1:

 

• Develop an ECM strategy that is part of the organization’s overall information management strategy

• Establish executive-level ownership for delivering on that strategy

• Initiate several ECM core foundational tasks such as developing content inventories, classification schemes, and metadata models

• Develop a cross functional team made up of business and IT stakeholders to identify technology to support aligned business and IT drivers with respect to content management

• Conduct an initial content inventory

 

I’ll be keeping an eye on this organization as they continue to build out this model, which will in turn, help improve business processes and document workflows. In the meantime, the initial model is a very eye-opening read and will help you assess your current situation and map out your next steps.

 

And if you are interested, they are also looking for participants to join the “Guiding Consortium”. To be considered, visit this page.

Information Input and Output Relationships

I was talking to an IT director at a large customer of ours recently about his information management strategy and was impressed by his realistic and holistic view of information management…or Enterprise Content Management (ECM), to use AIIM’s industry term. Like many organizations, he has an ECM application in the center of his content management strategy. And, like many organizations, he has mapped out the connections from that ECM system to his line of business applications, Intranets, Extranets, desktop applications and email systems, as well as paper.

 

Where this conversation became interesting was his view of the input/output relationships between every one of these parts, including paper. This input/output relationship is often forgotten when considering paper, with the focus being solely on the act of converting paper-based information to electronic form (input). But conversion and input is only half of the story. Understanding how users work with electronic files (both scanned and digitally originated), is critical to the success of an information management strategy. What he has delivered is an information management strategy that encompasses the complete document or content lifecycle.

 

 

Think about your users’ work processes. Getting a paper document into an electronic system is good for storage, but most of the time that document needs to be accessed again, edited, possibly combined with other documents, and either shared or checked back into the system. These tasks typically consist of performing multiple steps and opening multiple applications. However, using standard document formats like PDF, and working with PDF software that is integrated directly with your other applications, can significantly reduce the number of steps…improving productivity, saving labor costs, reducing resource contraints, and creating a better work environment.

DoD Agencies, CACs, HSPD-12 & MFPs

Many US national guard units have been making progress moving towards the paperless office by using their MFPs to scan paper documents as they come into the organization. But what many units haven’t counted on is Homeland Security Presidential Directive - 12 (HSPD-12) and the need for CAC authentication at the MFP.

HSPD-12 requires all Department of Defense organizations to secure access to computers and peripherals using common access card (CAC) smart cards. You can read more on the need for CAC with MFPs here.

Many DoD agencies have fallen dreadfully behind in meeting the requirements of HSPD-12 when it comes to copiers and MFPs. They need to move quickly to secure the devices so that they can continue to use scanning as a way to make document workflows more efficient.

MFPs and Network/Data Security

I wanted to pass along a link to a great article on MFPs and security in Computer Technology Review, written by Sharp's Vince Jannelli.  It is a very succint and well-written summary of security concerns around  MFPs and I agree with nearly everything in it.

However, I want to address the following statment that Vince made in relation to platform virus security:

"A proprietary platform is idea, since it won't be susceptible to viruses designed to attack more popular oprating systems available on personal computers."

I don't dispute the statement. But, it is important to weigh the trade offs between a proprietary platform and an open platform. While the risk of viral attack is lower because it is unlikely hackers will develop malicious code aimed at proprietary MFP platforms, the costs of managing those proprietary platforms are significant -- particularly for those companies that have mixed fleets (brands) of MFPs.

This problem is becoming more apparant as MFPs increasingly fall into the realm of IT and become increasingly integrated into business and IT infrastuctures. Some costs of proprietary platforms include:

• IT Training and Staffing costs
• Limited options fo 3rd party integrations (ISVs resist developing on proprietary  platforms unless that platform has a significant majority of marketshare)
• Integration code isn't portable to other platforms (what happens if you switch brands, or acquire a brand through M&A, etc.)

Furthermore, there are open platform solutions on the market today for MFPs that are secure and meet the criteria that Vince laid out for solutions: data security, access control, audit trails, network security, fax security and platform virus security. To read more about how these and other security concerns are addressed in an open platform, check out the white paper, Addressing Document Imaging Security Issues.

 

 

Webinar: “Paper That Works” – Wednesday, Feb. 11

Just a quick plug for a AIIM Webinar that we are co-sponsoring with EMC next Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. (EST) on the topic of Distributed Capture. Click here to register.

 

Here’s the abstract…

 

Centralized imaging of large volumes of documents can deliver tremendous cost savings for organizations. Yet, centralized paper processing is not the right answer for everyone all the time. As multi-function peripherals (and desktop scanners) have proliferated, the ability to capture paper documents at the source — getting them to work for you faster — is available to any organization. Discover how to get started with distributed capture—and why you should.

 

Hope you can join us on Wednesday, but if not, download Frost & Sullivan's white paper: Distributed Capture Platforms: Reducing Costs, Removing Bottlenexks & Mitigating Risk for more information.

LegalTech Keynote on e-Discovery and Imaging

During yesterday's LegalTech keynote given by Fred Borchardt, a Partner at KPMG for 25 years, Mr. Borchardt talked about how law firms need to shift their e-Discovery strategy "to the left" in the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) and take a more proactive approach to information management.  In the same speech he also mentioned how prevalent paper remains within the legal industry. 

 

 

Given the prevalence of paper in law firms, moving leftward in the reference model means law firms should scan paper documents and convert them into searchable text as early as is practicable.  The workhorse of printing and copying in many legal firms, the MFP, when outfitted with intelligently integrated scanning and OCR software will play a vital role in making this shift in electronic legal records management a reality.