The Cloud: 5 Things to Do Before Adopting Cloud ECM

Don't Let the Cloud Kill Your Network

Companies have been slow to adopt cloud-based ECM for a variety of reasons: security, perceived lack of control and lack of integration.  Scanning high image volumes to the cloud can kill your network, and cause major issues.  Take these 5 steps to make sure a smooth roll out:

1. Assessment is key.  Doing a file assessment and analysis should be done immediately.   Take a deep dive into each of your departments, and figure out their scanning and capture needs.  Does your legal department want to scan 500 page documents?  Is back-scanning of file cabinets going to be a major portion of the project?  Does marketing want to scan full-page color?  Key areas to be identified are: large document scanning, color requirements, and high volume areas.  For more information on planning and assessment see here:   Scanning Planning
2.  Check your internet bandwidth, and monitor.  IT involvement from a monitoring perspective will be key to ensure you proper bandwidth to support your scanning efforts.  Batch uploads from large file scanning can kill bandwidth quickly, and create a user revolt.  Proof of concept and single department implementations can give great insight into network impact, and provide some great stats for follow on phase roll outs.
3.  Check your device settings, and control them.  Most scanners and copiers today will scan in full color if you let them.  File sizes vary to the extreme between black and white, grayscale and color.  Along with color settings, DPI should be controlled, and in most cases 200 DPI black and white is sufficient for most organizations needs.  Nothing kills a party like a 500MB color scan!!  Tips for Scanning Copier settings:  Copier Settings that Kill
4. Check your server side settings.   Does your ECM System  set file upload limitations.  Make sure from your file assessment that you will be able to handle all file sizes required.  If you cannot control these settings, or your provider will not change them, make sure you use a capture technology that can perform file splitting for you .
5. Timing can be key.  Depending on your requirements, it may be necessary to control large uploads.  For example, some customers have chosen to do their back scanning and large uploads during off hours / weekends so as to not impact daily operations.  Others will coordinate with a 3rd party scanning service to perform all their high volume scanning off site, with a planned, controlled upload during off hours.

Anything I missed?  Comments from the trenches?  Please post your comments.

Gartner Magic Quadrant

Great overview of the latest Gartner review of ECM

Gartner Magic Quadrant

How do I scan documents into Microsoft SharePoint?

SharePoint was designed for collaboration with Microsoft Office, and it does a fantastic job, especially with MOSS 2007. But what happens when there are paper documents that need to be added to a site through a digital imaging or scanning process? What options exist?

Below are some key areas to evaluate before deciding on the type of scanning application you require:

Scanning Volume
What type of page and/or document count will your users be scanning each day? Scanning and Capture applications are divided into two separate segments: basic and advanced capture. For users that are scanning just a handful of documents, say below 20 per day, basic capture applications will suffice. What constitutes a basic capture app? All of the scanner manufacturers provide basic capture applications with their hardware. These applications allow you to scan to file (Usually PDF or TIFF), and then you can just use the SharePoint interface to add the file. There are some applications out there that actually interface with the SharePoint server to provide upload capability either directly through a SharePoint menu, or through a “middleware” application that interfaces with SharePoint.  You might also need to examine SharePoint OCR.  The links below provide information on several applications:

Scanning Applications for Microsoft Sharepoint

What if you have high-volume scanning needs where you are scanning boxes of paperwork into the SharePoint Server? This type of requirement will usually require an advanced capture application, like Psigen or Kofax, that will interface with a high speed scanner, allow you to utilize document separator sheets, and provide the ability to batch upload documents and metadata. Links below:

Distributed versus Centralized Capture
How do you envision your users scanning documents? Will you place the power of scanning in the end user’s hands, or will you have a centralized scanning process where documents are sent to a centralized facility for scanning? This decision is usually tied to the volume of scanning required, and most organizations will choose a hybrid method where both options are available. Placing desktop scanners in the hands of key users, or enabling a copier with an application like eCopy can provide a simple conduit into SharePoint for the masses. The centralized capture route is great for higher volume, or when you want to insure standardization and compliance.

Savvy or Technophobic Users?
Capture applications can be painfully complicated, or extremely simplistic. You need to gauge the learning curve for each type of technology, and insure acceptance. Simple is better for organizations that are new to scanning and capture technology. Making the process as simple as possible will encourage users to scan and add files to the repository. eCopy is an outstanding, yet simple application to get your feet wet in capture, below are some links to read up on eCopy:

What is eCopy?
If you have tech savvy users, and require a high horsepower application, checkout PsiCapture from Psigen or any of the other advanced capture apps:

Document Capture Links

SharePoint is a powerful tool for collaboration and sharing, and any of these applications can help image paper documents into the repository.

eCopy, SharePoint and Scanning in the Enterprise

More and more organizations are taking the leap into a centralized document repository, through the use of Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint is an oustanding tool for collaboration, and accels when utilizing Microsoft Office documents. But what happens when you create a SharePoint site that will require the uploading of numerous scanned documents? How can you standardize file naming, metadata population and the overall document imaging process?

One of the best solutions I have found is eCopy ShareScan. eCopy is a document capture solution that can be connected to just about any Multi-Function Copier or Dedicated Scanner. The challenge with traditional scanning solutions is that they usually require dedicated scanner hardware that is connected to a PC. This provides a one to one solution, allowing only the PC user to scan documents. With eCopy, you can provide a one-to-many relationship, and share the scanning capabilities of your copier or scanner with an entire office or department. It has a simple, easy to use touch screen interface that even the most technically challenged user can learn to use. It can provide a rapidly deployable solution, with quick adoption, and low training requirements.

eCopy provides a SharePoint Connector that allows quick integration into any site, with all security in tact, and the ability to require metadata fields. For larger organizations, you can configure one ScanStation, and then publish the configuration to all the others on your network. For more info on eCopy and additional tools, go to What is eCopy? or for other SharePoint Scanning Utilities, click on the following link SharePoint Scanning Utilities.

What does paperless mean?

As I see more and more offices move towards the paperless office, i have realized it definitely pays to take the slow road. The major issue in almost any Document Management project is the human factor, and their ability to accept and use the new technology. Overload the employees with difficult and complex technology, and you may as well have thrown your investment in a bonfire. Organizations will always have different technology adoption rates, even when they are in like verticals. The best course of action for any organization is to choose a vendor you can trust, and that has a strong track record within your industry. A Document Imaging Solutions professional can assess your current situation, your ultimate destination, and then map a technology path to the promised land. Any vendor that is recommending full-blown, enterprise wide systems from the get go is just trying to pad their pockets, and will ultimately leave you a mess you will not be able to clean up. Figure out your pain points, come up with a reasonable budget/technology that will solve the problem, and then go for it.

There are some great planning resources here:


Document Management Planning

Document Management and Security

Justifying your Document Management, Scanning or ECM Project

Scanning and Document Management with Microsoft Sharepoint

SharePoint is being touted as the "swiss army knife" of Enterprise Content Management. I have to admit, we use this tool for just about everything under the sun: sales pipeline management, deal tracking, project management, help desk , sales material library, etc, etc. It is a very solid application for a variety of functions, and it is so easy to create a site. You can easily download an application template, and within minutes have a site up and running. The customization is even easier, and adding columns and metadata fields is a breeze. The other day I was playing around in our demo room, and decided to try out the eCopy SharePoint connector to test scanning into my library. It was a breeze, and eCopy is fantastic, with seemless integration into the product.

I will write some follow on articles on the subject, as I am finding more and more prospects asking about SharePoint inegration and scanning into the application. I have done some basic research on scanning utilities for tha app, links at:

Microsoft SharePoint Scanning Links

And for some great reading on SharePoint and Planning:

Microsoft SharePoint Information Links

More to follow.

Document Management and Integration with Business Applications

In the beginning, most of the Document Management and ECM solutions I sold were stand alone applications. Users would scan documents (say invoices) into the repository, and would use the search client to bring up documents by index field, or perhaps do a full-text search of the OCR'ed contents.

What I am finding today, as more and more IT folks get involved in the decision making process, is that integration is King. Applications must play well, and play easy with all other business applications within the organization. What does that mean? What does integration truly mean?

I have found that it means many things, to many different people. Below is a summary:

Basic Metadata Population
Wow, that is a mouthful. Basic Metadata Population, or BMP, involves the pulling of index field information from an existing source, and allowing the user to manually pick the information from a vendor field. The most common used case here is to present a popup list of information for the user to choose. Take for example, one of my customers that has PeopleSoft Financials. One of my engineers created a view within the PeopleSoft DB of all the vendors. When Purchasing is indexing their Purchase Orders, they see a listing of vendors directly from the financial system. This prevents rekeying of data that has already been keyed, prevents duplicate names or mispellings, and insures standardization.

Advanced Metadata Population
Another mouthful, but AMP takes population of index fields a step further, and provides autopopulation of fields based on a database lookup. For example, you might have a Vendor Number field that is entered, and the capture application will go and lookup all the information on that vendor and assign it to the document.

Screen Scraping
This technology is usually used to "scrape" information off the screen from an application, and use it to populate index fields, or to perform a search. Different functions can be tied to hotkeys, or some advanced applications can have a quicklaunch bar that will perform certain operations. For example, if you are in your financial software looking at a particular vendor, you can hit a hotkey and have all the documents for that particular vendor resented.

True Integration
True Integration requires application programming interfaces that will allow two applications to talk directly to each other. For instance, you can create a button in the tool bar of your financial application that will link to a function within your document management system, or ECM system. So with one quick click, you can find all the associated documents, or scan a document to a particular vendor file with all the fields populated.

Integrations always present some challenge, and it is important to make sure you are on the same page when talking to a customer or vendor to insure everyone is satisfied in the end.

For more info on Document Management and ECM, go to the following link:

ScanGuru Document Management/ECM Portal

Document Management and Image Processing

Image processing is an area that is often overlooked when implementing a Document Management, Document Imaging or ECM project. In some cases, it can even be the key to success or failure, depending on how you are using the images. So, what exactly is image processing? It is the use of software to enhance or improve scanned images and the underlying content. An example would be that nasty copy, of a copy, of a copy of a fax. This page would be seriously speckled, very faint and could have a black border on the edges. Image Processing software can remove the speckles, enhance the text, and remove the border, resulting in a legible, clean, small image.

Many scanners on the market include image processing functions within the scanner driver. My Canon 9080 has border removal, deskewing and color drop out included within the driver. For basic, image only applications, this may be enough (Note: Setting these options may reduce the throughput of your scanner significantly). If you are relying on clean images to provide searchability, then you usually have to go with more powerful image processing software, such as Kofax Virtual Rescan (VRS). VRS provides a broad array of image processing features, and comes in two flavors: Basic and Professional. For an overview and comparison of VRS features click on the following link VRS Basic versus Professional Features.

For additional information on image processing and all the benefits, there is additional info at the following link ScanGuru Document Management and Image Processing Article.

Document Management and Accounting Departments

It is an interesting landscape out there in the accounting world today. More and more organizations are trying to become as "paperless" as possible, but the inflow just keeps increasing. There are so many options out there, and with every major accounting software vendor now touting their "Document Management"module or add-on, what are managers in this department supposed to do?

Although I am a proponent of the pilot program philosophy, especially with ECM and Document Management, there needs to be an organizational plan and strategic vision. If every department put their software vendor solution into play, IT would have a major nightmare handling multiple disparate systems to manage company documents. Along with that, the majority of specialized departmental software falls way short in the capture and scanning portion of their functionality.

So what is the answer? Find a solid enterprise solution that can be customized for each department's specific needs. Easier said than done, but in focusing on Accounting and Invoice Solutions, here are some key points:

• Focus on document capture - a quick, easy and reliable method for converting paper into digital format is essential. Utilizing a capture front-end such as iCapture can speed up the scanning process, and make the documents available to end users quickly.
• Look at integration - Most accounting software will tout this as a major advantage to their Document Management modules...one place for all your info. In reality, no one piece of software can be a "jack of all trades"; let the Accounting Software do what it does best, and find a Document Management vendor to handle your documents. All of the major vendors have Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow you to integrate these systems with just about any application on your network.
• Look at possible future initiatives - That system may have a rock solid Accounts Payable piece, but what about all the other document types? Contracts, POs, invoices, vendor information, tax info, etc. Ensure that the system you are evaluating can handle all document types, and not just specific functional areas.
• Get end users involved - There are so many key factors to success on these types of projects, but success will always lie in the end users ability to quickly adapt and utilize the system. Get their feedback and acceptance before moving forward.

Accounting Management realizes their need for Document Management, but the task is daunting, and in most cases totally overwhelming. Get your IT involved, and a reputable vendor with implementations in like organizations.

Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Document Management and Compliance

What is Gramm-Leach-Bliley and how does it apply to Document Management?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, or GLBA, was put into place to allow consolidation in the banking industry. It provided rules for the combining of Commercial and Investment Banking. The main crux of the Act are provisions to protect the private financial information of consumers. The two main regulations governing the protection are the Financial Privacy Rule and the Safeguards Rule. The regualtions apply to many different types of financial institutions, including: securities firms, insurance companies, brokerages and banks.

Compliance with GLBA is manadatory, and below is a summary of the two mainregulations:

Financial Privacy Rule

The Privacy Rule governs the disclosure and collection of private financial information. It requires Privacy Notifications be submitted to the consumer that discloses how information will be used and/or shared. The consumer has the right to opt out and not provide the required information.

Safeguards Rule

The Safeguards Rule requires a written plan to protect and secure the private information held by an institution. The plan requires overall management of the safeguards through organizational structure, risk management plans for each department that handles the private information, plans for monitoring and suditing complaince and the ability to manage the overall collection, usage, storage, and distribution.

So how do Electronic Document Management Systems or Electronic Content Management Systems help with this daunting task?

EDMS or ECM systems can provide the oversight for managing private information through:

• Enhanced Security and Access Controls
• Centralized auditing
• Centralized, rather than distributed storage
• The ability to control usage and distribution

For some further reading on GLBA go to www.scanguru.com and read the compliance section, or click on the link below to go to the GLBA Compliance Links Page:

GLBA Compliance Page

Document Management, HIPAA and Compliance

So what is this HIPAA thing, and how does it apply to the management of Documents? Here is my understanding, and an overview of the basic details.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was put in place to protect personal health information and to improve the process of information transfer through standardization. The Act was put in place in 1996 as a "kick in the pants" to the Health Care industry, designed to place requirements on how patient information is handled, transfered and maintained. From a technical perspective there are several areas of focus:

• Standards on electronic transactions
• Standards on code sets for information
• Provision for unique identifiers for employers and providers
• Privacy of individual health information
• Security and Digital Signatures

The first two areas of focus were created to standardize the transmission of administrative and financial healthcare transactions. This definied, standardized format is to be used for any number of transmissions, including claim status, payment and remittance as well as referrals and authorizations (and many others).
From a Document Management perspective, the real impact is on the privacy and security portion. This section is the most controversial, and holds the healthcare entity liable for any breach of patient confidentiality or disclosure of private information. Organizations are required to create privacy policies and procedures and manage the patient records. Below is a summary of the privacy requirements:

• The right for patients to copy and inspect their health information
• Required training for employees on privacy regulations and procedures
• Policies and procedures are required for the disclosure of information and access
• Patient authorization for the disclosure and/or use of private information
• Documentation of access, use and disclosure

These are just a few of the requirements.
An Electronic Document Management System, or Electronic Medical Record System provides the best path to HIPAA compiance. The correct system will maintain proper security, audit all access, and allow policies and procedures to be enforced.
Some additional compliance links at:
Further information on HIPAA and Document Management

Why buy a Document Management or ECM System?

The Business World is a rapidly changing entity, and technology helps adapt to these changes quickly and will help a company keep its competitive advantage. Paper has always been an inefficient medium for conducting business processes, and recently has become a key focus for Business Process Improvement (BPI) initiatives. So what are the main reasons for a company or organization to move towards the paperless environment?
Below are the two main categories:

Operation Efficiency and Business Process Improvement

-Through the use of a DM/ECM system, operational costs can be reduced. A primary example of this is floor space. A 4 drawer file cabinet takes up about 8 square feet of floor space. Multiply this by the number of cabinets and what you pay per square foot on a lease, and this can be a significant waste of dollars. Along this same vein we can examine the costs of handling and process paper documents. It is estimated that a single file folder can cost $25-50 to create, and that a lost file has a cost of $125 – 300 (depending on the cost of the employee time and recreation costs). This is a small sampling of how Operational costs can be reduced.

-Using a digital repository can improve productivity. This is an obvious benefit. Any time you can reduce the time required to perform a required task, that time can be applied elsewhere. A basic online search for a customer file requires about 5 seconds. To accomplish the same information lookup with a physical file cabinet can take 10 – 25 minutes, or perhaps even days if the file is held in offsite storage. This is just for basic lookups, and not complex searches, which could take weeks if performed through the physical file system.

-A DM/ECM system can provide improved customer service. Take for example a large HMO Claims Department. Members call with questions about claims, and with the old paper system, they were put on hold until the physical claim could be retrieved. Now, it is viewed instantly, and information passed within minutes.

-Managing customer documents efficiently can lead to improved customer retention and acquisition. The ability to manage contracts, expiration dates, equipment lists, etc. quickly and easily, along with improved customer service, will ultimately result in enhanced retention and acquisition if managed correctly.

All of the above will result in improved operating margins, and ultimately, increased profits.

Risk Reduction

-DM/ECM systems are imperative to those organizations subject that are subject to compliance laws and regulations. The ability to produce records, provide documentation during audits, track access to documents, and track transactions is now required in certain business verticals. Financial Firms, Non-profits, Healthcare, Government and others are now required by law to fully manage and track many operations within their business. ECM/DM system vendors have focused on these requirements and the law to ensure compliance when it comes to retaining and tracking documentation and access to records.

-A document repository can reduce litigation exposure for an organization. The ability to retain and recall documentation and records at a moments notice can be imperative in any legal situation.

-Document Security is often an overlooked area within an organization’s security plan. An online system gives the ability to track access, changes, additions, deletions, etc. For more info on ECM/DM security go to the following articles: http://www.scanguru.com/page.php?9 and http://www.scanguru.com/page.php?10 .

-An ECM/DM system allows for the backup of critical files. What would happen to an organization if their file room was destroyed by a fire or flood? Business Continuity Planning is a critical theme today, allowing an organization to insure that a disaster of any kind will not bring business to a halt. Scanning paper files provides the ability to backup and restore key business documentation.


For more information on the above topics, visit http://www.scanguru.com/ .

Key Factors for ECM Project Success

Many of the Document Management and ECM System Implementations fail right out of the gate due to several factors. Most of them revolve around planning, and project definition and focus. Below are some key areas that are imperative to a project’s success:

Infrastructure
A huge part of the planning for a DMS/ECM System is examining your organization’s network infrastructure and ensuring it is ready. Implementing a system with inadequate resources can provide wrong end user perceptions. Focus should be placed on the below items:

-PC Clients – the client PC’s should have appropriate horsepower to handle their specific tasks. Obviously, basic search clients will not require extensive resources such as memory or hard drive space, but a scanning or OCR station may.
-Network – It is time to get rid of those hubs your brother in-law gave you, and upgrade to 100MB, or in some cases (at the server), Gigabit technology.
-Server – adequate memory, processor and storage is a necessity.
-Backup- often an overlooked area, planning for system backup, now and in the years beyond is very important.


Simplicity
There are so many technologies out there that are incredible, powerful, and just way too complex for any normal human. If it is too difficult to use, end users will not accept the technology, and inefficiency will result. The goal is to make the user interface as simple as possible, but have the necessary complexity behind the scenes to achieve your goals. eCopy is a great example of this principal. On the surface, it is a simple touch screen panel, but behind the scenes, many complex operations can occur without end user intervention.

Acceptance
So many times I hear prospects say, “My people will never use this”. The move to ECM is not only a move in technology, but a change in process and attitude. The benefits and power of the system need to be explained and accepted by management and the end users. There needs to be a commitment to the technology and the change, as well as a setting of expectations. I see so many projects fail because they are not given the chance to succeed, and are doomed right out of the gate due to a lack of support from management. Never accept “We will try it and see how it goes”.



Pilot Program
Always, always start small and grow. Phased implementations work the best, by starting with a certain department or document, and then expanding. This gives the end users the ability to move slowly in the right direction, and it gives IT the ability to identify any problems or areas that were missed in planning. It also allows slow cultural change, which is so important to overall success of the projects. Users can take their time, and slowly adapt to the technology in a certain facet of their daily duties, rather than being “thrown into the fire” with a full move into a paperless environment.


The keys to success for an ECM or DMS are numerous, but the items listed above are key focus areas for the success of any system.

Planning for Document Management and Scanning

When companies are in the planning stages for the implementation of scanning and document management systems, there are several technical infrastructure areas of focus that need to be considered. Most organizations will need to make an investment in their infrastructure to ensure program success and optimal performance. Below are some considerations:

•Storage – Storage planning is critical to provide adequate space and meet future growth requirements for the system. A typical 8 ½ x 11 page will require 50K of storage space. A typical 4 drawer file cabinet contains approximately 10,000 pages, and will require 500 MB of storage on a server. With these benchmarks, you can easily estimate the amount of storage space required. When performing these calculations, make sure and examine your document types to see if they have images, logos, pictures, etc. This will add to the baseline, and increase the amount of storage required. Test scanning of documents is always a good idea to see what the actual size of your image files will be using your scanning hardware of choice.

•Backup – An area often overlooked, a sufficient backup system will be necessary. There are many different philosophies on how to backup a system, but one thing is for sure, larger organizations with a large volume of paper will require a dedicated system for backup. Some options for small offices include CD/DVD, USB Hard drives or a network attached storage device at another location. For large organizations, tape drives and even tape changer systems will be required. Ensure that the device has the ability to backup the entire document repository.

•Network – If you are running your network on 10Mbit hubs, it is probably time to upgrade. Remember, all the facets of a document management system will be transferring large files back and forth between servers, client workstations, MFD scanners and the backup system. You want to invest in the fastest possible network infrastructure to ensure high performance.•Server – That old NT 4.0 server your brother gave you is not going to cut it. Processor speed is not that critical, and any recent server technology will serve well in this environment. Ensure that the server has at least 1GB of memory, and invest in a RAID Disk subsystem for fast access to the files, and redundancy.

•Clients – If you are still running Windows 95, it is time to get up to date. Any modern XP workstation will suffice, and if you have capture workstations that are doing intense document conversion processes (OCR), or are attached to high speed scanners, invest in fast processors and as much memory as you can afford.

Investing the time, resources and capital in a Document Management/Scanning system also requires a modern network to work properly. The investment in modernizing your organizations IT Infrastructure will provide a larger payoff in enhanced system performance, and confidence that the system will be able to grow to its full potential.

Document Management and Security

As with most technical endeavors, it seems that with the majority of Document Management projects, security is always an afterthought. Paper documents are an important asset to an organization, and once they are moved into the digital realm, even more attention should be placed on their security. Would you place an unlocked file cabinet with all your confidential customer information in the middle of Grand Central Station? This article will be the first on how to involve Information Security (InfoSec) from the beginning of your Document Management/ECM project, to the end and in implementation and maintenance.
To start with, as in any technical project, the three basic tenets of InfoSec should be considered: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability.

Confidentiality

The basic premise of the Confidentiality tenet is to prevent unintentional or intentional disclosure of information. In the planning stages, steps need to be taken to arrange the correct controls on your digital documents. The need exists to analyze the types of documents that will be stored online, and who needs to access them. Any system that is being considered to manage the security of the documents should have the ability to control access, rights and privileges. Care should be taken to mitigate risk, and protect all confidential information.

Integrity

What does integrity mean? In a nutshell, a system will be required to prevent unauthorized alteration of the data. In the case of a Document Management System, the data includes the image or file and the information about that file (metadata). There needs to be the ability to control who can alter data (update a record), and who cannot based on specific users or groups. In some industries (financial), the ability to write data to unalterable media will be required so changes cannot be made. In planning, it is necessary to examine the Integrity tenet, and insure the system you examine has all the capabilities to prevent alteration.

Availability

What good is a system if you cannot access your information? Availability goes way beyond just having the information available to users. It is what happens behind the scenes to insure the greatest possible redundancy and in-depth disaster recovery planning. It includes everything from having a redundant disk subsystem, to having a restore plan in the case of a disaster. Availability planning is paramount to the success of any Document Management system.
These three basic tenets of InfoSec must be a requirement of any Document Management or Enterprise Content Management project. They must be carried through all the project phases: Planning, Implementation and Maintenance.
Stephen Boals, CISSP sboals@scanguru.com http://www.scanguru.com/