Research carried out for PeopleDoc on the top 400 UK companies by
turnover demonstrated these blue chip organisations are becoming
aware not only of the benefits of electronic document management
(eDM), but equally of its potential when embedded as an integral
part of business applications.
Research carried out for PeopleDoc on the top 400 UK companies by
turnover demonstrated these blue chip organisations are becoming
aware not only of the benefits of electronic document management
(eDM), but equally of its potential when embedded as an integral
part of business applications. Indeed, practically 70 per cent of
respondents believe eDM would be more effective if embedded, and
some 30 per cent are already implementing imaging/document
management solutions.
PeopleDoc develops/supports eDM component software for
independent software vendors to enhance their business
applications, to capture, manage, and exploit unstructured
information. That's e-mails, documents, and voice records that may
be currently wasted by being inaccessible within the application.
The claim is that software vendors can present all relevant
information to their users, so they can make informed decisions
faster.
'There's a growing demand for embedded eDM, as companies wish to
enhance their business applications to capture, manage, and exploit
unstructured information,' says Royce Murphy, PeopleDoc's ceo.
'Also, existing user interfaces can be used.'
Examples of ISVs/Vars PeopleDoc works with are informAction, a
Var for US company Action Technology, producing web
applications/workflow, and TDOC Projects, an ISV in construction
project management. PeopleDoc is a member of the SunAlliance
partnership programme.
Meanwhile London law firm Masons Solicitors has selected 750
seats of iManage's content management software for firm-wide
deployment, plus extra software for business-to-business
applications, using the internet (an XML web based part of the
system). Masons' aim is to improve client service. Documents will
be published to client-specific extranets, with audit and security
control remaining under iManage's system, embedded in Microsoft
Office. Masons intends to roll out the software to offices in
Europe and the Far East.
Internet-scale content management (that's web content management
and document management) provider Documentum recently integrated
IBM WebSphere application server with its products. The aim here is
easier, faster, and more reliable deployment of web content.
Prominent IBM platform Documentum customers include Astra Zeneca,
Nokia, Dow Corning and Ford.
One customer had to search 85 Lotus Notes databases, 25-plus
intranet sites, and a file server with 1,100 sub-directories to
locate product information. A solution was implemented, based on
Documentum's web-enabled document management server. Sales of
products now take days instead of months.
Business Document Software UK, subsidiary of Paris based
Business Document Company, provides document solutions for online
real-time applications. Its PC based Edinat system 'features
intuitive document design' and is, says md John Beaver, 'intended
to sort out problems in call centres and billing environments'.
Today over 50 large accounts, mostly in France, use the company's
technology. Beaver is expecting to make a joint announcement in
May/June concerning a large UK financial institution.
'We're after the financial sector initially - banks, building
societies, insurance companies,' says Beaver. 'After that we'll
target telecom and utilities. We're after those scenarios - eg call
centres - where our software can provide immediate documentation
per call, as well as records. Business documents are strategic
documents defining a company's relationship with its customers, and
include contracts, notices, correspondence, reminders, invoices,
etc.'
CrossWorlds Software believes the need to integrate with
existing enterprise applications is a crucial requirement for the
success of e-business initiatives. Enterprise application
integration (EAI) is another acronym to enter this part of the
market. The company believes many document management systems were
not built with today's enterprise demands in mind.
Edo Knowledge Management's senior technical consultant, Stuart
Mail, considers document management is a crucial building block in
the construction of modern knowledge management systems. The
difference between the two disciplines, argues Mail, is the
'difference between technology and culture.
'Document management is basically an essential enabling tool
that starts the whole knowledge management process,' says Mail.
'Used in isolation, document management as a solution can, and
will, deliver some impressive and tangible business benefits. But
problems with delivery, the cost, and implementation, and lengthy
completion time-scales make it unacceptable. Without radically
changing the work environment and business processes within an
organisation, true knowledge sharing cannot begin to work.'
Customers include Royal Mail, Arts Council, Surrey Police, Pfizer,
and EDS
'The new generation of document management tools is designed
with knowledge management in mind,' says Mail. 'They've expanded to
include images, process management, the web, and digital documents,
and have been scaled up to serve the enterprise, as opposed to a
single department. They're compatible with intranet and internet,
including browser clients, and support e-commerce.
'All data has a role in knowledge management, because gathering
information for storage at the core of an organisation is the key
to successfully pleasing customers, and operating efficiently,'
says Mail.
Peregrine Systems is adding knowledge management into its
infrastructure management software portfolio, following acquisition
of Knowlix Corp (heavily into help desk and customer support
centres).
Meanwhile, a report from analyst Ovum on integrated document
management, maintains the technology is mission-critical for
e-business. Organisations cannot embrace future strategies without
document management, because 'knowledge management and e-business
simply will not work on a platform of corporate chaos'.
'Investing in the right document management product is the first
step to becoming a successful e-business,' says Alsn Pelz-Sharpe,
Ovum analyst, and lead author of the report.
Another key technology for the area is XML, whose market can be
sliced up into:
1.Generating/distributing documents on the web. Unlike HTML, XML
also describes document content as well as structures, making
navigation within the web easier and increasing the level of
personalisation with information research.
2. E-commerce. With products labelled with XML tags by vendors,
prospective buyers receive information about the articles they're
seeking.
3 .E-business. While the internet has improved communication
between companies, no great use can be grasped until a universal
standard is found for data formats. Enter XML
4. Integration platform. Integrating heterogeneous systems -
Forrester and Gartner estimate companies spend up to 40 per cent of
IT budgets on integration.
A flexible approach and infrastructure, bringing in different
technologies - such as document management - under the supervision
of expert knowledge management consultants, is the route an
increasing number of organisations take. The true worth of document
management is only now becoming apparent. But how come filing
cabinets are still so pervasive? l
UDV UK speeds payment
Leading spirits and wine company United Distillers &
Vintners UK installed an ImageView document management system to
provide credit control. Sales and distribution are based on AS/400e
running JBA's ERP software, with EDI links to major supermarket and
brewery chain customers. The problem was how to match
proof-of-delivery dockets (PODs) with invoices when the customer
calls to claim a case of whisky was missing from the invoiced
delivery. A system was needed to scan the returned POD dockets and
split-screen compare them with the original order and customer
invoice.
David Strudwick, UDV's customer service analysis manager, says:
'We chose Pacific Solutions International - PacSol - not just
because of AS/400 expertise, but because they were better prepared
to customise ImageView to meet our current requirements and future
internet-based objectives.'
PacSol initially installed its software on the AS/400e with two
Bell & Howell scanners, Kofax data capture cards and 20 Gb IBM
optical disk storage library with 16 worm - write-once-read-many -
disks.
'The internet is central to future plans,' says Strudwick. 'Not
only will customers be able to select and order products over a
private internet or extranet, but ImageView's database will enable
customers to track their own orders and view PODs to confirm
orders, delivery dockets and invoices are in accord."
UDV is to upgrade to the latest version of ImageView which
incorporates PacSol's Java based image, report and document
browser, plus Kofax's latest document, data and internet scanning
software. UDV will then be able to implement a document management
system using internet, intranet, and extranet connectivity between
AS/400s plus any NT, Unix or Linux platforms customers may be
running. It'll also enable remote scanning and document download
via the internet from UDV and its customers' offices/warehouses
anywhere in the UK.