The Green Sheet 047

Keeping You Informed

November/December 2007

Issue 47

The foremost authority on the Information Management industry, the Green Sheet provides news, views and technical reviews from around the world

in this issue NOV/DEC

07

Magazine Advertising Rate Card 2007 (Hard Copy & PDF) Type Area (H x W mm)

Info Ireland

Disaster Recovery

Cost (GBP)

Cost (US$)

Double Page Spread

275 x 400

£1200.00

$2340.00

Outside Cover

275 x 190

£ 800.00

$1560.00

Inside Cover

2 7 5 x 190

£ 750.00

$1463.00

Full Page

2 7 5 x 190

£ 650.00

$1268.00

Half Page

138 x 190 or 2 7 5 x 9 3

£ 400.00

$ 780.00

Third Page

90 x 190 or 275 x 63

£ 325.00

$ 634.00

Quarter Page

1 3 8 x 9 3 or 6 9 x 1 9 0

£ 250.00

$ 488.00

Eighth Page

69 x 93 or 93 x 69

£ 150.00

$ 293.00

Large Banner

24 x 190

£ 115.00

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Small Banner

12 x 190

£

75.00

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10x60

£

27.00

$

Per SCC

53.00

Discounts for multiple insertions on same order - 5% for 2x, 10% for 3x and 20% for 6x issues (Whole year) Additional Discounts - Agency, 10% and Pre-payment, 15%.

ARMA Review

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For GSM Online and GSM Directory Advertising please see www.greensheetmedia.com/advertising.htm ADVERTISERS’ INDEX Offshore Europe

A vanquest.......................................................................................................... 21 Fujitsu Europe......................................................................................................5 Genus G ro u p ...................................................................................................... 19 IB M L .....................................................................................................................29 In o te c ...................................................................................................................20

Product News m

Microform GmbH ............................................................................................. 28 M icroV u e.............................................................................................................. 7 nextScan .............................................................................................................. 9 OITUK .................................................................................................................27 Scanning Resources ....................................................................................... 25 SunRise Im aging................................................................................................25 Wicks & W ils o n .................................................................................................. 32 Upton S ervices.................................................................................................. 13

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Info Ir e ta n O

2007 GSM visits D u b lin ’s A IIM sponsored show

Infolreland 2007 GSM’s John Baker was in Ireland’s fair city of Dublin to attend the AIIM sponsored Infolreland event. Held in the giant Burlington Hotel, the show was extremely well attended with an excellent mix of exhibitors and a first class speaker list.

everyone, regardless of their job spec or market sector. This was reflected in the diversity of exhibitors too. (Of which there were 33 in total.) In comparison to larger events such as CeBIT, AIIM Boston and Documation, the presence of several big names at the show suggests that the IM industry in Ireland is much more than just Microsoft.

Companies such as Oracle, IBM and the Seattle giant are all too often missing from shows.

Well done all for attending Infolreland.

'Tame your Information Beast' has been 2007's credo from AIIM, and when the beast is as In d e ta il... ferocious as information can be, you need some big game ABBYY - Their new FineReader experts on hand. There was no 9.0 is now available with shortage of those experts in improved OCR engine. Look Dublin. With the keynote out for a full review and test speech from AIIM Europe's MD report of FR 9.0 in our next Doug Miles kicking off proceed­ issue. ings, he led the way for an impressive series of speakers.

The roundtable discussions also drew considerable interest with a wide variety of subjects under discussion. GSM was particularly interested to note that Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP were one of the sponsors of the event. Surely an indica­ tion of how seriously such com­ panies take IM, and the poten­ tial for their own particular brand of consultancy.

The key speakers and round­ table discussions alike, covered a true depth of IM subject mat­ Adest - Integrated EDM soluter. There was something for tion which automates many key Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

provision of capture and man­ agement of documents and data. activities to save tim e and Digicom - Laserfiche reseller money. since 2004, Digicom includes Adobe - Full range of document some big name customers in its management and manipulation client list. products. The PDF standard DRS Data Services - The DRS has taken off in many ways, and software offering called DocXP is a firm favourite with EDM is an intelligent document software offerings as an easy archive and data management method of presenting complex solution. information.

IB M - Their filenet system APC-MGE - Innovative data needs no introduction for many, centre solutions improving as it is the IBM flagship EDM management, availability and solution around the world. performance.

EMC2 - Documentum 6 was on Beta Systems Software AG - show, another world famous Providers of automated recog­ brand leader offering online nition, extraction, processing access to documents and data. solutions, for the distribution Microsoft - The company has and archiving of documents been operating in Ireland since and data.

1985 and is a main employer Canon Business Solutions - with 1,200 on its books at the ADOS was on show, which is Leopardstown campus.

Canon's scalable EDMS. Olympus UK - Showing the CA Pic - Discover, control and new Pro-Line digital recorder, manage key information across GSM at first thought Olympus an enterprise regardless of were a bit out of place but where it sits on the system. recognise that everyone can use these tools at some point. [I do! Exec. Ed.] Oracle EMEA - With their own solution to document and data management, their unified ECM offering provides a full range of functionality on one platform.

Pricewatehouse Coopers - See main text.

DICOM - Showing why they are one of the market leaders in the

Also seen: Day Software Digiscan - Easy Software - eCeltic - Filestores - Hyperwave ImScan (Ireland) - Inpute Technologies - K2 - Kainos Meridio - Morse - Opex International - pTools Software ReadSoft - Scan - Image Services - Storm Technology TerminalFour ■

INFOIRELAND 2007

4

Comment from Simon Stammers, Sales Director, Anacomp Ltd. cal documents as paper origi­ nals.

Managers often do not consider the impact a disaster - be it man-made or natural - can have on their company. Information has become one of an organisa­ tion’s most valuable assets, and documents - the vehicle for that information - should be treated with the utmost care. Floods, fire, IT failure or terrorist attack just some of the potential disas­ ters facing every company today. In fact, a recent study cal­ culated that 43 percent of busi­ nesses who experience a cata­ strophic data loss never reopen, while 51 percent close within two years, and only 6 percent survive in the long-term .

Certainly, it is true that careful thought needs to be given to a DR plan, and for this reason some firms prefer to bring in a third-party advisor from the out­ set to direct the process. For instance, it is essential that DR requirements be considered in the wider context of all docu­ ment-related obligations. Every firm will be aware that there are many (sometimes conflicting) operational, legal and regulatory issues that already have a bear­ ing on the way in which docu­ ments are treated, and DR plans cannot be considered in isola­ tion from these - they must complement existing business rules.

Of course, safeguarding docu­ ments is at the heart of disaster recovery. For this purpose, it is In light of the increasingly unpre­ usually recommended that a dictable nature of the UK’s document archive strategy relies weather, I am constantly on at least two technologies; bemused at the number of busi­ and the greater their diversity, nesses who remain complacent the better the spread of risk. On in the face of such risk. Too the basis that one format will be many firms have simply not digital, the other should be ana­ taken steps to create back-up logue. copies of their important records and store these off-site I’m not From the digital point of view, just talking about digital files - having a web-based archive that many firms still keep a frighten­ can be accessed from anywhere ing proportion of business-criti- in the country is one way to

DISASTER RECOVERY

make sure that business-critical microfiche records and the sub­ documents remain active in the sequent storage and manage­ face of impending or unforeseen ment. A secure, electronic data disaster. Having paper-based transmission facility is set up documents converted to elec­ between the bank and the thirdtronic images and stored on party, and daily microfiche pro­ easy-to-transport removable duction from digital records then media, such as CD-R, that can takes place off-site in a man­ be moved offsite to a remote aged facility. Banks are finding office or other secure location, that this makes microfiche a can make the difference suitable medium even for between being out of business records which require fairly reg­ for just a couple of days, or for­ ular access - they simply submit ever. a request to the outsource provider for microfiche retrieval The recommended analogue and copies (or email scans) of storage format that is often the master records are then overlooked is microfiche. couriered back to the bank Although this is associated with within 4 to 48 hours. an old style of information preservation, it remains one of As a final point, I would stress the most cost-effective, secure my earlier assertion that disaster storage media. In fact, micro­ recovery should be approached fiche is undergoing something of in combination with other docu­ a revitalisation in today’s market, ment-centric risks. Therefore, as companies - particularly in any investment in disaster the financial services sector - recovery provision should reap realise the watertight approach substantial dividends in terms of of duplicating digital documents operational efficiency, mitigating with a long-term validity to legal risk, etc. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that the microfiche. future of business rides on the Also, new services have been ability to capture, manage, developed to suit the modern deliver and securely preserve application of microfiche. every document and every com­ Because it is no longer safe to munication. The dual media keep all production, storage and storage strategy that I have back-up of master records on introduced in this article is one the same site, banks are out­ way of achieving this goal. ■ sourcing both the production of Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

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Choosing the right back-up strategy Eric Schott, Senior Director o f Product Management, EqualLogic Dealing with a disaster situation is one of those activities that you hope you never have to go through. Putting together a plan to cope with this kind of situa­ tion can appear to be an exer­ cise that won’t deliver value to the organisation, but it can offer more benefits than you think. At the heart of this is how the organisation backs up its data: the choices made here can lead to overall better business processes, and a small invest­ ment can deliver high returns in the future.

How the organisation defines a disaster can be important to the overall decision making process. When you mention a "disaster" to most people, they will normally think of cata­ strophic events such as flood­ ing, hurricanes or terrorism.

However, the more common "disaster" to affect a company’s IT operations is more likely to be loss of critical information due to a routine power failure, a virus infection or simply human error. In these circumstances, being able to get back to a "known good" state quickly and simply will deliver substantial benefits to the organisation.

How much can you lose?

The first decisions to be evalu­ ated in a disaster recovery (DR) strategy are how much impact a failure would have on the busi­ ness and how quickly it is required to get back to running order. This exercise will help the organisation create two clear

DISASTER RECOVERY

goals for the DR strategy cover­ The most common system for ing activities both before and back up, particularly within after any incident.

The smaller businesses, is using Recovery Point Objective (RPO) tape. This involves using a tape covers the amount of data the system to record all the busi­ organisation can afford to lose. ness’ data, and then storing it Secondly, the Recovery Time off-site. In the event of a failure, Objective (RTO) is the amount the organisation can use the of time taken after any incident tape to restore its systems or to get back to an acceptable even reproduce its systems at a level of operations. remote location in the case of a catastrophe. From an RPO per­ Determining the RPO and RTO spective, the level of data pro­ values for the organisation will tection will depend on the show how much the organisa­ organisation’s policy around tion has to invest in protecting back up, and the amount of its systems against the risk of critical data that has to be failure. If the transactions that a stored: most tape backups take company handles are highplace weekly or at most daily. value, then the RPO will proba­ bly be very low. This will mean Because it is so small, a tape is that having data that is accurate very portable, and so providing over the last few hours will be a DR may be as simple as some­ worthwhile investment. If the one taking the recording home organisation can afford to lose a in the evening. While tape has a couple of days’ business, then low level of initial investment, it the RPO will be higher. does have some drawbacks.

The equipment used to recover Back up to the fore the data has to be identical to Once the organisation has con­ that used in the production sidered the amount of data it environment, or it may not be can afford to lose, a strategy possible to bring the systems around data protection can be online. Secondly, the organisa­ brought together. Central to this tion should check that its back­ will be back up: creating a copy ups are being made correctly of the company’s existing infor­ on a regular basis: this will mation and storing this sepa­ involve testing the recovery rately from the production data. procedure to prove that sys­ In order to make the right back­ tems are being protected and up choice, a company again that the recording process is has to balance the speed at taking place. which it can restore its systems back to normal, the granularity Discussing disk-based DR of protection and the level of The other method of protecting investment that it is willing to data is to use disk-based stor­ make in a DR strategy. age to take direct copies of pro­

duction data and send these to a remote location. While tape depends on converting files into a specific back-up format, using disk means that there is no need to convert files over.

This means that it can be far quicker than tape, and the RPO can be brought down signifi­ cantly. Instead of losing a day’s worth of data, a back-up on disk can be carried out over shorter timescales.

This process can also be auto­ mated: back ups can be set to take place every hour, for exam­ ple.

The cost of disk space has come down significantly over recent years, which means that using disk storage to provide a recovery platform is within the reach of a wider section of the market. While upfront costs may be more than tape, diskbased systems can be much easier to manage than a tapebased strategy due to the level of automation and flexibility that is possible, as well as the extra features that using disk can support. This approach is there­ fore cheaper to maintain in the longer term, and speed of recovery is much quicker.

When using disk-based sys­ tems to back-up data, replica­ tion involves taking a complete copy of the existing systems ' and storing this at a remote location. Replication creates a complete copy of the original systems: this means that get­ ting them back into working

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order again after a problem is ful: for example, critical applica­ far faster, as there is no need for tions that are processing large system re-installations to be volumes of transactions. carried out. Replication of data Because data replicated is as can be carried out at any point: up to date as possible, only a backups can be taken when a minor window of data is lost certain amount of changes to due to a physical issue such as data have been created or at flooding or power failure. set intervals during the working However, this approach does day. have a drawback: because all There are two methods of data changes are automatically repli­ replication which are depend­ cated, if a mistake is made at ent on how data is handled. The the primary site such as a file first is continuous data replica­ deletion or a virus bypassing tion, where information is sent security measures, this is auto­ across from the production site matically replicated as well. To to the back-up location without protect against this threat, the a gap. The second method of organisation also has to imple­ replication is periodic replica­ ment a tape-based system, tion, where changes are sent which again means that recov­ over at set intervals. Both ery from some events can approaches have their benefits potentially be longer due to the length of time spent on restor­ and challenges. ing systems from tape.

Continuously replicating data between sites means that the The second method for disk most up to date information is replication is to take periodic always available at both loca­ updates of the production envi­ tions: as data is changed at the ronment and use these to pro­ primary site, it is also sent over vide protection. This can take to the DR location. In the event place asynchronously, so the of an incident, the organisation act of taking the snapshot does can return its systems to work­ not impact on the running sys­ ing order using the backup. tems and overall performance With major incidents, this level of the business is not affected. of protection can be highly use­ The snapshot can then be

transferred to the remote site over a wide area network and held in a catalogue of images.

Over time, older system images can be archived onto tape.

This approach means that organisations can go back to a "known good" system image, which protects against both the effects of a physical disaster and any human / IT errors as well. The remote site can be fur­ ther away from the production venue than in a continuous data protection scenario.

Balancing costs and benefits For some organisations, the investment in DR technology can be much higher than any value that is delivered through being protected against failure.

In this case "doing nothing" can be a valid DR strategy, as the cost of investing in DR would be less than the cost of simply redoing the work that was lost.

Making a conscious decision not to invest for sound business reasons is far better than not considering investment in the first place or just thinking that DR is something for other peo­ ple. However, this situation is becoming increasingly rare: most organisations know that

the cost of lost data is more ^ than just financial.

Because the cost of disk-based storage has come down so rap­ idly over the last few years, the potential benefits of using disk rather than tape are now open to a far wider audience than ever before. With the advent of enterprise-class IP-based net­ worked storage, functionality that was only available to large enterprises with specialised storage infrastructures is now becoming available to a wider variety of organisations. This process will only continue: as the demand for greater flexibil­ ity and support continues to grow, storage platforms will have to offer these replication and snapshotting features as standard. Overall, companies can use their investment in pro­ tecting themselves against dis­ aster to streamline their man­ agement processes and auto­ mate wherever possible. By moving more intelligence into the storage array itself rather than relying on manual proce­ dures, the DR strategy is more likely to deliver on its promises, but it will also mean that the organisation can see more value from its investment. ■

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DISASTER RECOVERY

8

Active solutions Building a bridge between the physical and the digital

By Julia Daehne, Product Marketing Manager, Iron Mountain

The one-size-fits-all approach to document management is nothing more than a production line, where customers can be left feeling like pre-processed packages: off-the-shelf ‘solu­ tions’ fail to address specific needs, and businesses should not have to adapt to accommo­ date them. Excellent document management is an active process - not a passive one where the solution is informed by and adapts to the business it is integrating with. By actively exploring each business and what its unique requirements are, document management can become a strategic partner, creating and adapting solutions that will help business grow.

Let’s get active by unbundling some of the more traditional document management solu­ tions to see how they can be adapted to better suit busi­ nesses. Appropriately, perhaps, one of the ways to do this is to see how use of active and semi active documents can be improved.

This has long been a no-go area for storage and management solutions - fear of placing valu­ able and confidential informa­ tion in the hands of a third party drives the belief that documents that are in use need to stay on­ site.

held in physical form, can it be electronic or should it be both?

Iron Mountain is different in that it works to build a bridge between physical and digital files, creating a fully integrated document solution to better manage your hybrid storage environment.

Take a file which is deemed to be active and required to be physical and onsite - an HR file for an existing employee for example. It is undeniably active but there may not be a require­ ment for it to be regularly retrieved. So it sits in an inhouse filing cabinet, taking up premium space, requiring resource 365 days a year even though it may rarely be accessed. By using the Iron Mountain open shelf document management service combined with image on demand retrieval, a business can outsource the storage of their active physical HR files without the need to scan each and every one of them. If the file is needed it can be retrieved and either deliv­ ered physically or scanned and delivered electronically. As well as greater flexibility, this offers real cost savings as scanning is only undertaken on demand and in-house storage costs are cut out.

Although apparently unavoid­ able, this causes problems because valuable storage To the company board docu­ space needs to be set aside, ment management all too often document tracking needs to be seems like a necessary evil handled in-house, legislation instead of a strategic tool. This expertise must be added to job is hardly surprising; data stor­ descriptions and staff members age and management can be still have to spend their expen­ expensive, difficult, and can sive time seeking out docu­ lead to costly litigation if it’s not ments that have been lost done right. Too often it just within the system. doesn’t appear to be directly related to core business.

Software storage packages can be expensive to buy, with high So how do intelligent data man­ license and implementation agement companies turn this costs, and wholesale in-house around and deliver? The answer scanning projects are often is deceptively simple: turn the lengthy and painful exercises. problems discussed on their But the reality is that not all head. Document management documents need to be scanned should take away the difficulty because not all are needed reg­ The flexibility offered by the and the pain, be cost effective ularly - some are, but many are seamless hybrid approach and ensure companies stay out not. One of the first tasks is to opens up an almost limitless of trouble when it comes to explore what kind of ‘active’ scope for variation, which can using or losing information. documents are being dealt with be used to tailor solutions to Finally - and this is really impor­ - or to put it another way, dis­ each com pany’s unique tant - proof is needed that infor­ cover the file’s active lifecycle. requirements. Businesses can: mation can work for busi­ How often is it used? How move their entire active physical nesses, be a driver rather than a many concurrent users need to file library offsite; move parts of drag. access it? Does it need to be the library; have parts of the

DISASTER RECOVERY

library scanned; opt for scan­ ning on demand; or any combi­ nation that suits them.

Companies that need improved accessibility whilst maintaining data security can convert the desired paper documents into an electronic format and store them in Iron Mountain’s hosted Digital Record Centre. This allows remote access to vital documents at any time from any place. In essence, the cus­ tomer has access to a secure and managed vault of docu­ ments, with control over who can view them completely in their own hands.

For those businesses that have active documents that really do not want to outsource - owing to confidentiality issues for example - the control, conven­ ience and reliability of electronic retrieval can be replicated. By using external document man­ agement expertise onsite and the use of barcoding, it is possi­ ble to offer secure, reliable and cost-effective document administration with search and retrieval as fast as it is accurate.

Businesses are moving fast, as are their information needs, and so document management providers must stay ahead of the game. By actively taking the time to see what is needed and tailoring solutions to suit, providers can evolve new sys­ tems that reflect individual company requirements - and forge enduring partnerships with customers who value the strategic benefits of document management. ■ Visit www.ironmountain.com

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10

DOCUMATIONUK 2007 NEWS AND VIEWS GSM were media partners at this years London based version of the worldwide Documation show

see www.greensheetmedia.com fo r th e full a rticle

OVERVIEW Once more Olympia lives down to its name. Am I being too harsh? I think not. Olympia was built when Britain had an Empire. Like the Empire, it is old and decrepit and in serious need of a facelift, but what can you do with a large cantilevered Victorian hall made out of iron, and an art-deco style 'modular' extension? Not a lot! The Documation area was far too cramped, there was no daylight and there appeared to be zero ventilation. The odd shaped hall made navigation difficult too.

On the upside, Storage Expo enjoyed the wide open space of the Great Hall where the International Horse of the Year Show takes place in December.

But!... venue aside, let's read between the lines in terms of company's present (and let's be honest, there are companies very significant by their absence!) GSM heard more than one comment about the show being 'the same as last year'. A blinkered view, as there was much to see of interest, and some new arrivals on the UK IM scene.

OF NOTE...

AnyDoc - Showing three new solutions. AnyDoc®CLASSIFY for automating the capture and classification of incoming mail.

AnyDoc®Patient Records and

DOCUMATION 2007

AnyDoc®Mortgage™. Also on show were AnyDoc®INVOICE for automated invoice acquisi­ tion, and version 5.0 of OCR for AnyDoc®, their main product for recording and processing documents.

IBML - Winners of the DM Scanner Product of the Year 2007 award, IBML had their huge ImageTrac document and cheque scanner on show with frequent demos.

BancTec The flagship Intelliscan XDS high volume document and cheque scanner was prominent (due to its sheer size). Rolling demos ensured a good audience to see this impressive beast put though its paces touching 550 pages minute on average, and even higher on cheque size docu­ ments. [ They should get a GSM special award along with IBML for having the guts to install huge scanners for a two day event. Exec. Ed.] Cygnet - An excellent large screen animation fronted the

in the UK. Digital Vision Technologies With some major blue chip cus­ tomers already in the bag, DVT were showing why those large enterprises have adopted their innovative purchase-to-pay solutions covering financial automation, document scan­ ning and data capture.

DRS Data Services - Finalists in the DM Awards for "Data capture product of the year", DRS (who were established in 1969) demonstrated their capa­ bility in this sector with the ver­ satile DocXP product.

Hollingworth and Moss - UK resellers for Kirta scanning equipment, their book scanning 'robot' was on show. Featuring hands-off page turning and no necessity for de-binding books, the product joins an increasing number of specialist scanners in the marketplace.

Hyland Software - The devel­ oper of the modular and rapidly deployable OnBase product.

OnBase contains document

Some said this show was "too similar to the last one!". John Baker disagrees and lifts the lid on innovation, enterprise and award. stand. Based on the change management best-seller "Who Moved my Cheese?" by Dr Spencer Johnson, copies of the book were available to visitors as part of the promotion of the opening of new Cygnet offices

imaging, document management, workflow, COLD/ERM and records management functionality.

O/T UK - Providing EDM and workflow solutions with their CCube software, OIT have

L ...

M o st stands w ere above par, b u t som e w ere below

BancTec IntelliS can XDS in fu ll flow

already won recognition within the healthcare community and other key business sectors. The C-Cube range also covers elec­ tronic forms, content searching, and EDRM for legal compli­ ance. A robust online storage offering is also available.

Sunrise Imaging - Showcase equipment was a triple format production speed microfilm scanner (roll-film, fiche and aperture card) the 3-ln-1 TurboScan.

IWatch for a major GSM article on microfilm scanning and digital-to-microfilm technologies in 2008. Exec. Ed.] The Content Group - By focussing on the essential ele­ ments of ECM, The Content Group assist a wide variety of organisations in achieving com­ pliance, competitiveness and efficiency with reduced risk, by the analysis, sourcing and implementation of their ECM strategy. CEO Ben Richmond has been instrumental in the authoring of the first ECM Standard to be published by the Bsi. The standard was pub­ lished in September.

Version 1 - Their portfolio con­ sists of ‘paperless office’ tech­ nology enabling storage, retrieval, delivery, processing and authorisation of business documents directly from accounting and ERP systems.

They have a new OCR offering for automated data capture..

This includes line-level detail, thus reducing manual data entry by up to 80%.

Xythos Software - New to the

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UK is the Xythos Enterprise Document Management Suite.

Used extensively by organisa­ tions in the USA and Japan, this is the first outing in the UK. With an open standards based approach, the software will run with any combination of appli­ cation server, database or authentication.

Director of SNIA, and well pre­ sented by Hanns Kohler-Kruner (Director of Global Education Services EMEA, AIIM). The presentation was centred on whether ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) should take precedence over ECM (Enterprise Content Management). Part of the prob­ TECHNICAL SEMINARS lem is that the terms are fre­ BUSINESS THEATRES GSM attended several semi­ quently confused and relate to Visits included Is Open Source nars, and the final one on the totally different things. a Viable Alternative for Content second day was titled ILM and Education is the first step in Management. The case for ECM: Which should come first? adapting, adopting and improv­ Open Source software was opened by Bob Plumridge, launched by Alan Pelz-Sharp of CMS Watch, and eloquently furthered by Eric Barroca, (Exec. VO of Op's at Nuxeo,) and John Newton, (CEO of Alfresco, and former co­ founder of Documentum.) This is an area of particular interest to the writer, as GSM already uses b pe n Source software for front office, email and other applications. The swell of inter­ est from large corporations and major Government depart­ ments on both sides of the Atlantic means that this method

OVERVIEW A lively and buoyant show with plenty to see would be the best way to describe Storage Expo 2007. This was the larger of the two shows co-habiting within Olympia for the two day event.

Storage Expo (SE) gets less press within these pages, as GSM's view is that the main areas of interest amongst our readers lie more with the offer­ ings of Documation oriented exhibitors. [Let us know if you disagree and want more SE coverage. Exec. Ed'] The mes­ sage at SE seemed to be one of 'anything they can do, we can do as well - or better'. With more than a few areas of over­ lap in terms of approach and solutions, perhaps we will wit­ ness a few major mergers or acquisitions over the next year.

A lot of talk of 'market share at any cost' is not necessarily good for the industry, and con­ sensus was that it is a buyers market at present with many good deals available and a price war between several com­ panies looking to improve their

of design, development, testing and implementation of software must be taken seriously by all in the IM industry and not just the ECM sector (as was the target here). A full article on Open Source software is in prepara­ tion and will appear here in the New Year.

2007

ing any methodology within an organisation. From end-user to board level, if the participants know what is meant within the detail of the terms, they have half a chance of fitting whatever they need from either ILM or ECM into their enterprise. The debate will continue for some time, as it depends on on your viewpoint of your organisation, and what tasks you need to perform in order to achieve a days work.

SYNOPSIS To be honest there was too much happening to report within the confines of a page and a half of magazine space.

There is an extended version of this review on the GSM web site at www.greensheetmedia.com.

The overall feedback was that there was a reasonable quantity of visitors and that the quality was high as always. Reed and particularly Eskenzi PR put on a great show, and one which GSM will definitely be visiting in 2008. ■

By far the bigger of the two events, visitors to Documation were also allowed access to Storage Expo 2007.

GSM’s John Baker went along to see what was new in the storage arena. storage manage for desktop and enterprise wide.

Vector and Scalar Products RAID disks with dual redun­ dancy fibre optic controllers

market share. However this did not in any way detract from an entertaining show in a poten­ tially mundane market sector.

products.

Fujitsu Seimens - Robotic backup tape storage and retireval. FibreCat TX24

OF NOTE ...

With over 150 exhibitors to choose from, it was impossible to get around them all. Stands visited included: Acronis - True Image Echo backup and restore software.

C2C - Email archiving Cisco Systems - Networking, access and data protection

TECHNICAL SEMINARS Amongst all of the technical seminars attended, without doubt the quirkiest, but nonetheless the best one vis­ ited by GSM over the two days, was Back Up Everest by Ben and Tom Clowes. Guests of HP, the brothers presented slides and video of their second, (and this time highly successful,) attem pt to conquer Mount Everest. The expedition, spon­ sored by HP (and others) high­ lighted the abilities of HP lap­ tops and backup tape equip­ ment at high altitude and in HP - Backup, storage solu­ extreme conditions. Driven by tions. (See Technical Seminars) solar panels, it was strange to Plasmon - Archive Appliance see hi-tech kit alongside oxy­ Express network storage system. gen bottles, tents and snow.

Sun Microsystems - Sun Well done lads. ■ StorageTek SL24 TapeLoader, Virtual Tape Library System, runs on Solaris and offers up to If you would like to read more on these subjects, please email 24 terabytes of storage.

Symantec - Data security and content@greensheetmedia. com

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DOCUMATION/STORAGE EXPO 2007

12

A RM A 2007 Baltimore 7th-9th October 2007 Over 3,100 attendees and 190 Exhibitors on 160,000 square feet of Expo Floor

There follows a brief review of some of the exhibitors and their products Anacom p - Anacomp were showing the latest version of the ScanPro 1000 microfilm scanner with the new Autoscan automatic 16/35mm roll film scanner (see e-imagedata report for more details), which they resell. Also on the booth was the Kodak i1220 document scanner. docHarbor was well marketed, which is Anacomp's web hosted service. Late news was the recent acquisition of CaseLogistix - a litigation soft­ ware specialist - the idea being that this will be integrated into the docHarbor platform to offer a specialised niche document management service to the legal market place. docHarbor is marketed by Anacomp as a "Solutions-as-a-service" port­ folio incorporating Enterprise Information Capture, Online, Business Process Management and Archive modules. Anacomp Micro-Imaging Services is the division that sells the microfilm related products, this division being under Multi Vendor Services along with the Equipment Service division. www.anacomp.com Canon - On the microfilm side Canon were showing the MS800II Universal which now has a USB2.0 connection whilst retaining the SCSI interface.

This will allow more flexibility from the Users point of view in terms of connectivity. Big News from Canon was the pre-launch of their highest volume docu­ ment scanner to date - the DRX10C. This beast will head up the Canon Document Scanner range and, with a rated daily throughput of 60,000 docu­

ARMA REVIEW

ments and 120ppm, this should replacing, with an estimated be of interest to the Bureau 30,000 fiche per work shift pro­ market. The DR-X10C is duction rate. Although looking expected to ship in the first similar to the 665 the Mach VII quarter of 2008 in the US with a has been totally redesigned projected US list price of with better quality and strip US$19,950.00 which will make scan capability being just two it very competitive. of the improvements. Also on show for Crowley was the eco­ Also on show was the very nomically priced Zeutschel recently launched ScanFront OS12000 book scanner and the network scanner - this comes new Microbox X-ray film scan­ in two forms the 220 and 220P. ner.

The "P“ has fingerprint detec­ www. crowleymicrographics. com tion for identifying different departments, more memory and ultrasonic double detection feed. It provides the ability to preview captured images on its large 8.5" touch screen, scan-to -email, -folder, -FTP and -USB memory; and takes up less desk space than most models on the market - according to Canon. With the network scan­ ner market apparently set to increase by 46% in the next 4 years this 26ppm (52ipm) e-im agedata - The already colour, greyscale and black and popular ScanPro1000 Universal white scanner should do well microfilm scanner was for Canon. It also includes a enhanced further with the intro­ number of easy to use features duction of their new AutoScan such as its touch screen tech­ software which allows for the nology. www.canon.com scanner to be left to scan roll film automatically. It is not a production film scanner at 15 30ipm but it creates a whole new market for people who want to auto scan film on a low to medium level, but don't have the budget for full production microfilm scanners. Features include Very User friendly soft­ ware (with a new easy to under­ stand help button); Previous/ Next button to move automati­ cally backwards and forwards; Crowley - Crowley were show­ One button that will simultane­ ing their complete range of ously auto straight, auto bright microfilm and book scanning and auto contrast the image; products as usual. The Mekel the ability to Customise the tool Mach VII fiche scanner was of bar and the ability to save your particular interest as it has only job templates for different micro just been launched. The Mach formats. With a 7-54x zoom VII is claimed to be three times lens the ScanPro 1000 really is faster than the 665, which it is

a Universal Microfilm Scanner. www. e-imagedata. com

Eyecom - Eyecom had a num­ ber of microfilm and document scanners on show including the DRS 5000 5 mega pixel film scanner and the DRS 12000 12 mega pixel film scanner. The DRS 12000 is a Universal Film Scanner and because of its high quality optics is ideal for applications where quality is of paramount importance.

In approximately 3 months Eyecom will launch an X-ray film version of the DRS 12000 which will be able to scan X-rays up to approximately 16" x 18" in size.

Also on show was the Copymaster Book/Document scanner. This is a Colour Scanner using Cold light illumi­ nation with a USB2.0 connec­ tion allowing Library Users to walk away with their scans on their flash drives or memory sticks. The Copymaster I has an integrated computer and moni­ tor whereas the Copymaster II does not. The integrated com­ puter feature was extended to the DRS 3000 film scanner with a prototype version on show. www. eyecom. com Fuji - Fujifilm U.S.A were exhibiting the AR-1000 16mm film writer again but this time^ with the brand new Virtual AR Software operating system.

Unusually for software vendors Fujifilm U.S.A. are offering this software FREE to both clients

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who have bought an AR-1000 already and to new clients. The main feature of this new soft­ ware is a preview of the images before you write them to film.

This is a very simple but very effective feature making it easy to operate the AR-1000, the operator can see very clearly what film he will get before he presses the write button. Now up to 50 different file types are accepted making it easier to archive most digital files now.

All file types are automatically converted to TIFF before writing to film. A nice new Duplex fea­ ture is also included allowing up to 24,000 images to be written onto a 215ft (65m) film. There are a whole host of other extra features to make this an excel­ lent film writing device. www. fujifilmusa. com

opens up new revenue streams for existing and new Archive Writer installations - it should provide a very positive boost to Archive Writer sales. It also has a clever "Virtual Roll" feature to test output before printing to film. GID were also showing their output to Colour Microfilm services, www.gid-it.com

Kodak - New on the Kodak booth was the s1740Capture System that Kodak have rights to sell to everywhere outside of Europe. It can scan, in duplex, at speeds of up to 120ppm for letter size documents in colour, greyscale and black and white all 6 images being delivered at the same time if required. It has an integral mail sorter to sort documents in up to 12 pockets post scanning. It can also OCR, barcode and MICR information capture. The new i1400 docu­ ment scanner range was on show. The range includes a simplex (i1410) and two duplex (i 1420 and i1440) scanners, with USB 2.0 interface and doc­ ument volumes of up to 10,000 pages per day. The i1400 range comes with a host of extra fea­ tures such as 3D ultrasonic multi-feed detection, 600dpi optical resolution, background colour smoothing, auto orienta­ tion, auto photo extraction (i1440) and up to three trainable colour drop out feature to improve OCR read (i1440).

GID - GID had an excellent new piece of software to reveal.

Their "IDS@open Archive Writer" software turns a Kodak Archive Writer into a 16mm COM device. It enables a Kodak Archive Writer to print both Image and Line Mode onto 16mm film. Adapted from their intuitive IDS software for their Fiche COM units this new soft­ ware allows input from tape, on-line and FTP/servers. With automated job routing, queue­ ing, job production plus auto conversion of PDF, Script and Word Documents the IDS@open Archive Writer" software really The speed of the i9600 series

UPTON

Archivewriter has also been improved slightly (10-15%) with a new CPU board with more memory. Also new but not on show was the S1220 Photo Scanning System. Previously seen at AIIM and PMA this has 300, 600 or 1200dpi scanning producing JPEG files. www.kodak.com

scanning of jumbo fiche, standard fiche and aperture cards and an increase in the server from 500GB to 1 Terrabyte which allows for more post pro­ cessing capability.

13

Another new introduction was version 1.2 of the Nextstar soft­ ware with added features. The main advantage is the external post processing capability thus allowing the scanner to con­ tinue scanning whilst post pro­ cessing is completed sepa­ rately. A new controller also allows bureaus to manage mul­ tiple film scanning jobs from one easy to use control station.

The Eclipse high speed roll film scanner was also on show.

Both the Eclipse and Flexscan come with Fusion software as standard, with the Nextstar 1.2 software as an optional extra.

However Nextscan report that the vast majority of their scan­ ners are shipped with optional Nextstar software.

M icroform - The German and American based company known for its high volume and high speed document scanners launched a brand new microfilm processor at ARMA. Microform took control of many of the microfilm /scanner production equipment previously sold under the AGFA name. The processor is no exception and the new FP505 is a move for­ ward from the old AGFA FP500 processor. However the FP505 is a total redesign with new electrics, drives and controls and now with UL certification for the US market. New features include new keyboard, deep W icks and Wilson - The main tank technology, digitally con­ new product on show for Wicks trolled developer heating to half was the Virtual Scanstation for a degree, equalising developer 16/35mm roll film scanning on tank, electronically adjustable the RS325 325ipm roll film dryer, optional fixer heating for scanner. Basically the whole roll ultimate archival permanence, of film is scanned in one pass optional cleaning sink unit and now, the software splitting the optional replenishment system. images down individually. This All metal is now Stainless Steel allows for maximum productiv­ and all plastics are chemical ity as the scanner can scan the resistant. Microform have done next film whilst all the post a magnificent job with the checking is completed sepa­ redesign on this processor and rately without need to rescan. have thought seriously about Any post scanning changes can customer needs. It is very wel­ be applied to all images or just come to see new R+D on con­ one image on that roll in a click ventional microfilm equipment. of a mouse. These include post www.microform.us or mirroring, post rotation and www. microform, de auto frame sizing. Also on show Nextscan - New for Nextscan was the FS300 fiche/jacket were two new enhancements scanner and the relatively new on the FlexScan 2 in 1 Scanner C-Series range of Aperture for Roll film and Microfiche - a Card scanners. ■ Jumbo fiche module to allow www.wwl.co.uk

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ARMA REVIEW

data drilling Managing the North Sea’s oil & gas information In September, GSM’s John Baker attended Scotland’s massive Offshore Europe exhibition. He reports here on how the oil and gas industry manages the diverse types of information and huge quantities of data that form part of the global oil and gas industry. johnbakehSgreensheetmedia.com How it all began

pumped, and working in logis­ and the North Sea one of the renowned for re-inventing itself. tics at the time of first oil, the most important oil and gas (And has done so in the past My old stomping ground for general consensus at the time regions in the world. Advances more times than Cher, Tina work (ex-Cimage International was that something big and in finding oil and gas, and tech­ Turner and Madonna put project manager), leisure and exciting was taking place in and nology developments which together!) recreation, was my home town around the North Sea. Back allow the last drop to be of Aberdeen in Scotland. My "It's Scotland's oil!" then the pundits reckoned the squeezed out without loss of family moved to the Granite Scottish oil industry would have quality (or pressure) have all That was the famous SNP City in 1959 so I was ideally a 10 year life cycle before the come to the fore. These days (Scottish Nationalist [political] positioned to witness first­ once the oil or gas is found, Party) war-cry in the 70's. But oil dried up. hand, the rise, triumphs, disas­ the Scottish 'oil industry' goes ters, fall, and rise again of the FACTOIDS back much further than the late now enormous North Sea oil • 1965 - gas discovered in the North Sea 1960's.(And they managed it and gas industry.

• 1970 - first gas brought ashore entirely without their American • 1971 - First North Sea oil brought ashore by tanker by Gas was first discovered in the cousins that time around.) It American company Philips Petroleum (Ekofisk Field) was a Scottish chemist called North Sea (historically some­ • 1975 - First oil by pipeline (BP Forties) times also referred to as the James Young that perfected a German Ocean or Germanic technique for extracting oil from • Once an oil well is capped to make it safe, there are a Sea,) in 1965, but it was not cannel or candle coal. The yield number of different ways the oil can be transferred to until 1970 that actual gas pro­ of crude oil achieved was shore, sometimes via a sub-sea 'junction' where several duction began. Oil was discov­ enough to inspire him to patent pipelines are metered and channelled to shore ered in 1969, and the first crude the process, and the first 'oil company' was formed in was brought ashore by tankers • North Sea Brent Crude is used as a benchmark against in 1971. BP upped daily pro­ Bathgate in 1851. In later years worldwide oil prices. duction significantly in 1975, Young founded Young's with much higher quantities Paraffin Light and Mineral Oil • Oil company investment in the North Sea peaked in Company which sold lamps being transferred ashore by 1999. Production of North Sea oil was nearly 6 million pipeline. In that year the Queen and oil around the world. As a barrels (950,000m j per day and natural gas was also at switched on the pumps that result he became known as a high production figure reaching nearly 10 trillion cubic 'Paraffin Young'. allowed oil to flow through the feet (280,000,000,000mJ in 2001. (Gas output continues newly built Forties Field to increase meantime.)

Data storage in olden days pipeline. Although there had • A special tube like machine for inspecting and cleaning been some oil production the In the late 1960's and early oil and gas pipelines is called a 'pig' and if it carries previous year, that event 1970's when Phillips Petroleum electronics for measurement and surveying it is an marked the real beginning of first found oil in the North Sea, the North Sea oil industry. 'intelligent pig' computing technology and storage mediums were such Since then • Aberdeen holds the record as the worlds busiest that oil companies and the bur­ heliport. All due to the oil industry. geoning support industry began The oil and gas industry has gone through many iterations of to amass huge amounts of • Until the Chinook helicopter disaster in 1986, when 45 advancement in size and tech­ paper. Those of us old enough Shell personnel died, Chinook helicopters were a nological innovation. To keep to remember band-printers, common sight over Aberdeen and the surrounding area mainframes and mini-comput­ up with advancements in oil and used extensively to ferry people and supplies to rigs ers will recall just how much and gas field operations, the and barges. management, manipulation and space a 132 column report on storage of data in all its forms continuous stationary took up has always been of prime The North Sea sits on top of 3 controlled and ready for pro­ in the office. importance. This has largely tectonic plates, and forms a rel­ duction, the facility can even be Managing drilling data was a been driven by the need for atively shallow (in oceanic unmanned requiring only occa­ discipline akin to the UNIX exploration companies to terms) geological plateau rang­ sional human intervention for operating system (remember access the most recent and ing from 100m (325ft) to 700m repair and maintenance. that?), in fact drilling data was accurate information quickly (2300ft) deep. With a further Recent reports from the finan­ a black art of what then passed and efficiently. It is also 'Atlantic shelf sitting off the cial sector show that in recent for information management. because when you are in the oil west coast of Scotland, there years, UK oil production has (These were the halcyon days and gas industry, drilling and was always the prospect of fallen consistently. Further, that when a large hard drive was. oil-field information is one of technology allowing more oil to it will continue to drop through called a 'platter'. It held 5Mb (or your companies greatest intel­ be extracted from much 2010, and dry up 5 years later! I less) of data and was the size of lectual assets. deeper wells. will not be holding my breath on a small flying saucer.) Seismic Although I was only just out of 23 years on, and Aberdeen is this one. Having lived with the data was held on reel-to-reel school when first gas was still the Oil Capital of Europe, industry for so long, I know it is tapes (as was video!) and ►

OFFSHORE REVIEW

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15 core samples from the actual field were held in temperature controlled rooms. Collectively, this data was the intellectual property of the respective exploration company, and potentially worth millions of pounds. Especially if a particu­ lar sector showed signs of oil and was sold to another com­ pany. The seismic data being the 'tale of the tape' and lets reservoir engineers know what is under the sea floor.

As technology moved on, the original estimate of 10 years of life for the North Sea oil industry kept being extended. With techniques such as directional drilling and reservoir injection being developed to extract every last drop of oil or gas out of a reservoir, the need to main­ tain, store and subsequently retrieve data became para­ mount. Covering a wide range of activities from HR to pump parts, the range of IM was extended to cover the entire package that is an 'oil rig'. (Life of platform + 25 years has been quoted as a retention period for documents and data.) Some of this new requirement was as a result of health and safety requirements or other legisla­ tion, usually born out of reports on various disasters such as the Piper Alpha tragedy, and the Shell helicopter crash. It was also born out of protests by Greenpeace and other environ­ mentalists about the dumping of PCB's into the North Sea at the end of a platform's life. (The 'de-commissioning' phase.)

With an ever increasing need for storage and retrieval of data, off-site hard copy secure stor­ age became popular, as did EDM's, where large quantities of data and documents could be moved around organisations and easily retrieved. In the 90's Cimage and Documentum sys­ tems were commonplace within the industry. SAP was also beginning to make it's presence known too. Oracle was usually the RDBMS weapon of choice, although there were pockets of resistance where Ingres, dBase, Sybase and others were in use.

Oil change As the industry hurtled towards the New Millennium [Can you have an Old one? Ed.], the main topic on everyone lips was Y2K. Didn't the IT industry do so well at preventing worldwide IM dis­

aster on the first day of the new In precedence order, the main millennium? (That was sarcasm advances need to be in: on my part. Personally I believe • higher capacity data storage it was mostly hype, and nothing • faster LAN and internet access more than an excuse to get the • simplified system integration bearded and sandalled UNIX • more open source software and COBOL programmers out • lower 'per-seat' licence costs of retirement? Email me please!)

• more formal standards Due to the planning that went

stored offshore where space is a premium. [More a case of JIT (Just In Time) parts manage­ ment, as opposed to JIC (Just In Case). Ed.] Linked in with a BOM (Bill Of Materials) many systems not only manage entire maintenance cycles, but also address relevant H&S issues, provide detailed instruction on how to perform repair and / or maintenance, and allow staff the opportunity to complete logs and time sheets within one single software environment.

Open source - chicken or egg?

into the prevention of predicted Capacity Y2K disasters, companies found themselves not only with The results come as no real sur­ new procedures and tighter leg­ prise to me. These days many islation, but also with a plethora documents are originated elec­ of IT people capable of design­ tronically and therefore systems ing, building implementing and need to be able to store and maintaining complex and retrieve them while they are still diverse systems. As in the 90's, held in their native format, this with project partnering and all requires reliable disk space take-overs (or 'mergers' as they with dual, triple (or more) redun­ tend to call them in the oil dancy built in. industry), there was also a need Speed & integration for organisations with The LAN and internet different systems speed problems to talk to each encountered by other.

The users having to resulting wait for access to increase in information were data require­ 'annoying', but ments led to usually 'being a need for addressed' by much higher the companies capacity elec­ concerned. Many tronic data companies now storage, as E xhibition C entre - Aberdeen have a require­ well as an ment to pull large increase in hard copy and media storage off-site. (The lat­ video and other large data files ter being part of the additional across networks for the pur­ need for Disaster Recovery to pose of engineering evaluation. be in place, particularly after Gone are the days when an engineer would need to be 9/11.) 'choppered' offshore to evalu­ The future ate a situation, with a subse­ At Offshore Europe I asked 36 quent delay in sending out fur­ companies involved in IM, ther help or parts. Often it is "What is likely to be the most now possible for onshore staff diagnose a problem significant advance that would to assist with your information remotely, and only after analysis management requirements of the fault or problem, for rele­ throughout the remainder of the vant staff to then be sent off­ "Noughties" and to the end of shore if required. Alternatively, the ''Teenies'' (2000 to 2019) the exact spare parts required They were then requested to for repair / maintenance can be (anonymously) tick multi-choice sent as a priority. options, each ranging from Most Wanted to Nice To Have.

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In turn this reduces the need for a higher value of inventory to be

I suspect this item was a dig at the software companies that use their own proprietary data files. However having said that, it has been my experience that every time someone comes up with a proprietary file format, someone else is 10 minutes behind with a converter, so it should not be too much of a problem. Fortunately this works well in the virus / anti-virus arena, lessening our exposure to attack.

Licence costs Some software vendors appear to make licence fees artificially top heavy (keeping initial soft­ ware cost low to aid sales).

Some vendors pitch their soft­ ware as expensive but on-going licences at a reasonable cost.

Finally there are the few who have both expensive software and expensive licences. This is usually in vertical market areas, where the software is extremely specialised and caters for a lim­ ited few. Having said that, in the EDMS market there are a few vendors (who shall remain nameless) who practice the high price, high licence and high yearly maintenance fee policy, but I think they will need to change their pricing model if they are to compete and survive in the future.

Standards In any business it is always good to have rules and regula­ tions. That is on the provision that they are not bureaucrati­ cally onerous or too open to interpretation. (Leading to what I like to call Paralysis By Analysis.) With any complex project such as those that exist in the oil and gas sector, extremely important to have the arguments at the beginning. IT issues and IM requirements should always be agreed ►

OFFSHORE REVIEW

16 ►up front, and not left for mid­ project discussion when all too often it is costly or too late to make changes to deliverables.

This is a key area where stan­ dards are of immense value, as at least everyone is reading the same book, if not the same page.

Synopsis There is a fair bit to go before everyone is happy. With higher density hard drives coming to market, mega density DVD storage apparently just around the corner, and faster and faster server, internet and network speeds available, there should be no excuse for a lack of disk space or poor access speed.

With many security options on the market, and faster and bet­ ter development tools available, the oil and gas industry should be well able to cope with their own increasing demands in terms of data quantity. At least for now. With the same principle of Moore’s Law applied to other aspects of IT and IM, it will be interesting to see what happens in the Teenies. ■ Email John Baker at johnbaker@greensheetmedia. com

It’s not ALL hard work!

offshore europe 2007 review Green Sheet attended the 1,400 exhibitor oil & gas industry show with the view of assessing how such a large business sector m an­ ages diverse types and huge quantities of data.

This show review focuses on the companies visited by GSM, who are either directly or indirectly involved in handling data.

Read the full article oil industry data on the previous 2 pages.

Show Facts Bannered "Rediscovering the Future" the record breaking 2007 event boasted: • • • • •

1,455 exhibitors occupied 20,550 square feet of space on it's busiest day had 13,000 visitors overall, had in excess of 35,000 visitors is already over 50% booked for 2009

The Venue The AECC (Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre was found to be: • • • •

easy to access by air easy to park at although a short walk easy on the pocket to eat and drink at slightly hard to drive to if you picked the wrong time of day

Proving that journalism is not all slog, and that attend­ ing shows can be fun, GSM snapped this lucky artist decorating one o f two girls on a stand. Apart from a tiny thong, the finished article was an 'all-over' paint job, thus ensuring this company had plenty o f attention.

OFFSHORE REVIEW

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17 Visited at Offshore Europe A b so ft Lim ited

Absoft is an independent SAP consul­ tancy, providing specialist SAP solutions and services to the oil and gas sector for over 14 years.

tries, supporting over 13,000 individuals and 300 organisations internationally. A Royal Charter membership organisation, the El provides a home for energy pro­ fessionals and a scientific and technical reservoir of knowledge for industry.

Value Added Reseller, Training Centre and Authorised Software Developer, ems Ltd Infield provides worldwide field data­ bases, covering a huge range of topside and subsea analysis and modelling activities.

FMC Technologies

Aclaro Softworks provides enterprise information management solutions for reserves reporting, planning, budgeting, capital allocation, financial reporting, operational reporting, and performance management through their industry­ leading petroLOOK system.

Supplier of mission-critical integrated systems, stand-alone products and engineering designed to meet cus­ tomers' life cycle demands, covering subsea and surface systems, floating production systems, marine terminals, flowline products, measurement systems and loading systems.

A world-wide provider of comprehensive Life-Cycle Management systems, innotec offers professional software solutions and services. The Integrated Comos concept is designed to cater for both customer-specific requirements and established industrial processes.

AKE Group Ltd

Fugro-R ovtech L td

ITF

Fugro collects and interprets data related to the earth's surface and the soils and rocks beneath and provides advice, for purposes related to the oil and gas industry, the mining industry and the construction industry.

ITF, owned by 17 major global operators and service companies, acts as an 'hon­ est broker' between technology users and technology innovators to champion the development and implementation of innovative technologies for the oil and gas industry.

A claro S oftw orks Inc.

A leading international security risk miti­ gation company, AKE provides a variety of fully integrated services, reducing their exposure to danger across a broad spectrum of risks.

AMEC

inno tec GMBH

AMEC is a project management and engineering services company that designs, delivers and supports assets for customers worldwide in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sectors, petrochemicals, pipelines and mining industries.

Utilising the advanced technologies of finite element analysis and computa­ tional fluid dynamics, the ANSYS suite of products combines two robust CAE dis­ ciplines and offers ANSYS®, FLUENT® and ANSYS Workbench® ANSYS CFX® ANSYS AUTODYN® software.

Founded in 1986, Pisys specialises in the development and provision of high spec­ ification software applications for the oil and gas industry globally including They also provide consulting and bespoke development services.

ProAnalysis AS

ProAnalysis delivers innovative and costeffective on-line Oil-in-Water monitoring solutions based on optical sensor tech­ nology, for environmental monitoring and reporting, and process control.

Schlumberger is the leading oilfield serv­ ices provider. Through well site opera­ tions and in research and engineering facilities, they develop products, serv­ ices and solutions that optimise cus­ tomer performance in a safe and envi­ ronmentally sound manner.

ASTEC Services Ltd provides high qual­ ity engineering consultancy services and contract resources to the Nuclear and Oil & Gas Industries, with a variety of techni­ cal skills and experience.

SIMULIA UK

Abaqus provides complete and powerful solutions for routine and sophisticated linear and non-linear engineering prob­ lems. Dassault Systemes acquired ABAQUS, Inc. and announced SIMULIA, making realistic simulation an integral business practice.

ASSAI S oftw are Services BY

ASSAI focuses on delivering document control and document management solutions to major engineering projects world wide. Offices are based in The Netherlands and Kuala Lumpur.

SpecTec L td

SpecTec are providers of Asset Management Software and Consultancy Services to the Oil & Gas, Offshore and Shipping industries.

The AMOS Business Suite is installed at 600 Oil & Gas sites worldwide.

AVC Media Enterprises AVC offers a complete media and com­ munications agency, combining Scotland’s top-rated corporate produc­ tion house with quality brand develop­ ment, design, advertising and event solutions.

S potfire AB

Global 2000 companies use Spotfire analytics to achieve a information advan­ tage over their competitors. Spotfire’s industry-leading applications support many areas of industry.

Chevron U pstream Europe

One of the world's largest integrated energy companies, Chevron is an inter­ national leader in finding, producing, and marketing oil and gas, as well as other energy products. Working in almost 180 countries, the company's branded prod­ ucts hold top-tier rankings worldwide.

Terrington Data M anagem ent

Consistently delivers innovative, proven, scalable software systems which enable large global, and small single-site, oper­ ations to collect and manage data far more efficiently.

D eloitte

Deloitte's oil and gas group provides comprehensive, integrated solutions to the sector. These solutions address the range of challenges facing energy com­ panies as they adapt to a changing reg­ ulatory environment, to political, eco­ nomic, and market pressure, and to technological development.

The Energy Institute (El) is the leading professional body for the energy indus­

Pisys L im ite d

S chlum berger O ilfield UK

A stec Services L td

E nergy In s titu te

Pipesurvey International provides experts on pipeline pigging, pipeline in­ line inspection, mechanical and elec­ tronic engineering, NDT technology, soft­ ware development, data analysis, pig design, chemical cleaning operations and pipeline operation.

RDS specialise in the provision of Satellite Communication Solutions for those operating in remote or hostile regions. Bespoke solutions provided by RDS will enable broadband connectivity, even in locations where internet access is not currently available.

I

Energistics (formerly POSC) facilitates an inclusive and collaborative global user community for the production, promo­ tion, deployment and maintenance of open electronic data exchange stan­ dards that deliver business value to the upstream oil and natural gas industry through business process efficiencies across the entire E&P life cycle.

Pipesurvey Interna tiona l

R em ote Data Services L td

ANSYS

E nergistics

by many major companies worldwide.

B-

Trac ID Systems AS

Trac ID Systems develops and delivers optimal system solutions for wireless identification, monitoring and communi­ cation related to equipment, processes and personnel with strong focus on the oil and gas sector and other markets with harsh operating conditions.

H alliburton

N ow casting

Since 1919, Flalliburton has continued to earn the trust of our customers around the world by leading the well-site serv­ ices industry through the delivery of innovative technology, reservoir-specific expertise and outstanding service qual­ ity.

Nowcasting International is an acknowl­ edged global leader in marine weather forecast solutions. Their comprehensive range of forecasting services, has con­ stantly proven to significantly improve efficiency, planning and safety.

PhDSoft

IMASS L td

Imass Design Solutions is one of Autodesk’s top tier UK partners operat­ ing in the manufacturing sector. They have full accreditation as an Autodesk

Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

PhDsoft has developed world leading technology for integrity and maintenance of structures such as offshore rigs (FPSOs, Semi-Subs, Jack-Ups), barges and ships. Their software C4D® is used

Troika Interna tiona l

Troika International is a leading software house for all seismic data input, output, plotting, compaction, recovery, copy, demultiplex, QC prep, distribution, poly­ cut include and exclude. Jill Lewis, Managing Director is also the chair of the SEG Technical Standards Committee who set the world-wide SEG exchange and acquisition standards. ■ johnbaker@greensheetmedia. com

OFFSHORE REVIEW

18

NEW PRO DU C TS The new TurboScan 3-in-1 SunRise Imaging EMEA Limited even higher return on invest­ the distributor of SunRrise ment by reducing the need to products within Europe the purchase additional scanners Middle East and Africa when wishing to scan different announced the launch of the film formats. new TurboScan 3-in-1 range of production microfilm scanners at this years Documation UK. Generating considerable inter­ est, the TurboScan is the latest in a premium line of advanced scanners which continue to offer the SRI hallmark 3-in-1 capability of interchangeable microfilm modules for the auto­ matic production scanning of 16mm & 35mm roll film, jacket fiche, COM fiche and aperture cards using the same base unit.

SunRise (EMEA) also announced the new *Module Exchange Program for direct SunRise customers offering an

system not only includes PC running XP and ScanFlo RowScan and RowWise for application. One or more of the higher fiche scanning through­ three modules (roll film, fiche or put but also ReelScan that aperture card) completes the allows roll film to be scanned system for the type of media continuously for maximum pro­ that is required to be scanned. ductivity.

The microfilm media modules are not only interchangeable on SunRise Imaging continues to the TurboScan, but also with lead the microfilm scanner previous models of scanners industry by incorporating the since SunRise first invented latest in technologies that them in 1991. ■ include computing, imaging and software applications to For more details o f the provide the best digital image TurboScan and other SunRise quality. The new family of 3-in-1 products within Europe the scanners use a camera devel­ Middle East and Africa, contact oped by SunRise specifically SunRise Imaging (EMEA) Ltd. at for the purpose of microfilm sales@sunriseimgaing.co.uk or The 3-in-1 TurboScan, together application.

Tel: +44 (0)20 8255 2011 or visit with the latest ScanFlo scan­ www. sunriseimaging, com The SunRise 3-in-1 scanning ning and image processing application offers unparalleled system consists of a base unit ‘Exchange program only available in the performance in terms of speed, which includes scanner con­ UK from SunRise Imaging (EMEA) functionality and features. The trols, an inbuilt network-ready Limited, terms and conditions apply.

First OCR technology intelligent enough to retain key formatting ABBYY recently announced document formatting. to provide increased user pro­ time-saving alternative to man­ version 9.0 of the ABBYY ductivity with less steps and ually retyping documents, The new version offers up to 35 FineReader document and PDF effort spent on OCR tasks than FineReader 9.0 delivers preci­ percent accuracy improve­ conversion software. ever before. sion accuracy in converting ments, particularly with docu­ almost any type of document, Based on a breakthrough new ments containing tables and ABBYY FineReader 9.0 pro­ including tables and spread­ recognition platform with adap­ images from digital cameras. vides comprehensive and easysheets, magazine articles, con­ tive document recognition tech­ FineReader 9.0 combines to-use document conversion tracts, and even faxes. ■ nology (ADRT), FineReader 9.0 enhanced accuracy in the capabilities which allow users is the first optical character reproduction of document lay­ to readily transform document For more information about recognition (OCR) product intel­ outs with new tools, extended images and PDF files into ABBYY and its products please ligent enough to automatically document format support, and editable and searchable elec­ visit www.ABBYY.com deliver editable files in native an innovative interface redesign tronic files. A cost-effective and

New range of production scanners The new M 06 range of mid volume production scanners launched at the Documation UK show Olympia created a great deal of interest.

InoTec GmbH introduced this innovative and exciting scanner through InoTec UK at the Documation UK show boasting sales in excess of 30 units within the first six weeks of its launch in Germany.

mixed documents effortlessly and Scamax® high production scan­ without error. Looking inside you ners open up a whole new world will find that they really are of possibilities when scanning designed to withstand a range of colour documents. With its challenges and last much longer unique failsafe process of auto­ than most other scanners in their matically differentiating between field. They are built without com­ colour and bitonal images, scan­ promise using high gauge alu­ ning jobs can be streamlined by The scanners flexibility, high minium and precision machined simplifying the process. image quality and ease of use steel to run 24-hours a day, seven were demonstrated at the show Add to this the impressive new days a week, fifty-two weeks of confirming to customers that the paper feeding system specifically the year. scanner lives up to its reputation. designed for mixed document Running almost silently at 150 A4 Incorporating Intelligent scanning, featuring the environ­ sheets per minute the M06 422 Automatic Colour Recognition mentally friendly requirements of ran through countless batches of (IACR) the new range of the new energy star regulations

PRODUCT NEWS

and the option of an Ethernet connection, InoTec have taken a significant steps forward in improving an already highly respected product line.

The outcome of these improve­ ments saves time and money by delivering scanning jobs more efficiently and cost effectively than ever before. ■ For more information contact: Email sales@inotecuk.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)20 8773 7661 or visit www.inotec.eu

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19

Launch of the IDEAL 4005 shredder Duplo International has pushed objects entering the cutting forward the boundaries of shafts. There is an automatic shredding technology with the reverse and power cut-off in the introduction of the IDEAL 4005, case of a paper jam. Coloured which has a combination of indicator lights inform the user if high productivity and safety too many sheets are being fed that make it suitable for the at once and of the on-going office market. At the same time capacity of the shred bag.

Duplo is announcing the When the bag is full the availability of new safety machine automatically stops. facilities for the IDEAL 2220, The IDEAL 4005 is priced at 2240 and 2260 shredders £3808.00 RRP. which make them suitable for use in the home.

of a first class shredder is effectiveness and efficiency.” perhaps not always obvious, “The robust construction and but every aspect of the IDEAL reliability of the IDEAL 4005, 4005 has been carefully thought together with its enhanced level out and rechecked during of safety gives the shredder the extensive trials,” says Peter muscle to handle everyday Jolly, UK Marketing Manager shredding requirements in the for Duplo International. “ From office environment. The IDEAL the convenient 405 mm feed range of finishing equipment is opening to the quiet but a hugely popular selling line and powerful 1,600 Watt single we've already had a very phase motor, each element has enthusiastic response from dealers to this latest addition.”

The IDEAL 2220, 2240 and 2260 all have a cutting width of 4mm, a feed opening of 220mm and a 150 Watt motor capacity.

All of these models have been upgraded to include an additional safety flap feed opening to prevent objects entering the cutting shafts, which has also been introduced into all shredder models in the IDEAL range. The IDEAL 2220 is priced at £132.00 RRP, the IDEAL 2240 at £227.00 RRP and the IDEAL 2260 at £329.00 RRP. ■

The IDEAL 4005 incorporates a host of features to ensure efficiency and value, including an energy saving mode, automatic oil injection on the cutting shafts for a constantly high 'shred performance and photocell controlled start/stop.

The hardened steel cutting shafts, which have a five-year guarantee, are paper clip proof and capable of shredding CDs. Safety has been a top priority in the design of the IDEAL 4005, which has an electronically controlled transparent safety flap in the feed opening to prevent fingers, ties or other

For more information visit www. dupiointernational. com

Full SM A RANGE a v a ila b le

GENUS P R O V ID IN G A CC ESS T O Y O U R IN F O R M A T IO N

SMA22 A2 Fragile Book/Document Colour Scanner

SMA21 A1 and A2 Colour Scanner

SMA51 Digital to 16 and 35m m Film

SMA32 A2 and A3 Colour Scanner

L arg e F o rm at D o cu m en t,

Sf

Book and Bound V olum e S c a n n e rs and C a m e ra s

SMA0/SMA1 AO and A1 Microfilm Cameras

SMA10 AO Book/Document Colour Scanner

SMA11 A1 Book/Document Colour Scanner

1 .

™

ft1 /

HAMMOND CLOSE, NUNEATON, WARWICKSHIRE, CV11 6RY, UK

GENUS P R O V ID IN G A C C E S S T O Y O U R IN F O R M A T IO N

t: (024) 7625 4955 e: info@ genusit.com

Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

f: (024) 7638 2319 w: www.genusit.com PRODUCT NEWS

20

Microfilm for the 21st century Microform GmbH is pleased to announce a new, fully auto­ matic microfilm processor: the Microform FP 505.

allows the wash tanks to be run at a lower temperature.

Reduction of pre heating and pre-processing time from 30min to 15min. heating is only switched on when a film is in the processor.

Using the very latest technol­ ogy, the unit offers efficient and reliable processing which brings microfilm processing into the 21st century.

The FP505 is a worthy succes­ sor to the long established Agfa FP500. The FP505 develop­ ment was based on the pedi­ gree of the older design, many of the improvements have been specifically designed to save precious resources and reduce energy consumption, for example:Design Im provem ents ★ State of the art technical design meets RoHS safety standards. ★

★

Machine body and covers are made from stainless steel and other chemical resistant materials.

Digital operator terminal and keyboard allows the user to control all aspects of the

processor. This includes start/stop mode, speed and temperature control.

Acoustic alarm signal notifies the operator of film run-out or film end. ★

★

fluids overspill to the inner machine parts. ★

Easier; lower cost servicing by use of integrated circuitry with updated motors and power supply Electronically controlled film take-up "emulsion in or out" winding.

★ Thermostat for protection against over heating of the liquid tanks. ★

Improved protection against

Power supply with option for 110 V -120V and 220V - 240V

Ecology and energy saving features ★ Water stop function: water consumption only occurs during film transport. Water consumption is proportional to film volume and transport speed. ★ Optional heating system for the fixer tank. This function guaranties best fixing results and processing quality for long term archiving, it also

Water consumption starts only after pre heating and pre-processing time and during film processing. This function helps to save natural resources. ★

Fulfils all national and international safety certificates like : CE, UL, TUV-GS

Microform will begin shipping the new FP 505 Film Processor in the last quarter off 2007.

DocStor Ltd. was founded in 2005 - via a Management Buyout of the Agfa MDS Division and is the sole distribu­ tor for all Microform products in the UK and ROI. ■ For more information please contact: Barry Minty at barry.minty@docstor.com or Tel: 020 8979 5395

The New M 0 6 attracted Paper Scanning Systems considerable interest at Documation UK

To find out why contact

*4,/noTec Paper Scanning Systems

T: +44 20 8773 7661 e: sales@inotecuk.co.uk PRODUCT NEWS

w: www.inotecuk.eu Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

21

Travelscope improves operational efficiency Travelscope are ABTA, ATOL and PSA registered professional Tour Operators specialising in Reader Holiday Offers. Holidays are pro­ moted in local, regional and national newspapers and maga­ zines throughout the UK. Travelscope has grown rapidly in recent years, culminating in their relocation in 2006 to new purposebuilt offices in Gloucester, which were designed to meet the most up to date energy conservation initia­ tives.

The Challenge

Sustainability, both home and abroad is an important part of com­ pany policy. Travelscope actively encourage customers to receive brochures electronically and catch their holiday flights from local air­ ports. i Suppliers are sought who demonstrate best practice to con­ serve natural resources and min­ imise pollution.

With successful company growth and an increased product range, the volume of associated ‘environ­ mentally unfriendly’ paper docu­ ments had mushroomed. Manual paper-based processes in all departments were inefficient and took up large amounts of storage space. Travelscope wanted to resource a ‘greener’ way of storing, managing and sharing paper docu­ ments to reduce their carbon foot­ print, which would also deliver busi­ ness efficiency savings throughout the business.

Specific departm ent challenges were: The Custom er Service Team who deal every day with customer enquiries and needed a process which would allow them to respond to ‘live’ queries in real time, negat­ ing the old process of photocopying correspondence and distributing it around the company and then hav­ ing to pull paper documents from filing cabinets during the customer service calls. The customer was either left on hold whilst documents were located, or operatives had to call them back.

A ccounts Payable who receive a range of invoices from hotels, coach operators, airlines etc through to third party telephone and energy bills. They required a system which would facilitate easy access and seamless cross checking of invoices against purchase orders.

The Solution:

Captaris Alchemy and Alchemy Web were installed at Travelscope

by Avanquest Solutions’ Partner, Document Genetics. Phil Dunkley, Systems Manager at Travelscope said he likes the fact that Alchemy is simple to maintain and robust.

He also commented that, “The solution was quick to implement and integrate with our workflow process and is priced competitively, plus the web interface meant it could be rolled out across the organisation in a timely manner."

Alchemy's first application was in Accounts Payable where a fast speed Kodak i260 scanner (A3 with duplex) was used to scan a wide range of documents. For general scanning across all departments, Travelscope utilise the scanning facility on their Xerox digital copiers. Users simply scan to a mail­ box on the Xerox copier, the image is then automatically imported into the relevant Alchemy database. This has made the process of scanning docu­ ments into Alchemy accessible to most employees in the company, without extra training.

A number of databases have sub­ sequently been added including Direct Debits and Schools Trips, highlighting the flexibility and scala­ bility of Alchemy.

As Alchemy Web is licensed concur­ rently, Travelscope has been able to roll out the search facility to all departments from day one. Security and access procedures (Alchemy maps directly to Travelscope’s Microsoft Active Directory) have been put in place to minimise the risk of improper or careless use. Staff quickly embraced the new ‘system’ which has also successfully stream­ lined processes throughout the organisation: ★ Reservations - All booking paper work, such as completed forms returned by customers, letters etc are scanned into Alchemy. ★ Post Tour Correspondence - All post tour correspondence, such as feed back letters and

questionnaires.

Sales - General correspondence, key account information and brochure artwork in PDF format. * A ir O perations - Converted all their previous paper based filing over to Alchemy. * Financial Director - Confidential database for company accounts.

*

The Benefits

Alchemy has allowed Travelscope to increase productivity and effi­ ciency and reduce the huge volume of paper flowing around their organ­ isation by creating a huge ‘elec­ tronic filing cabinet’.

Specific documents can quickly and easily be retrieved. For cus­ tom er service staff, this means being able to respond to client queries in an efficient manner with the benefit of all related correspon­ dence being visible on their screens as they speak to customers - they have the whole picture at their fin­ gertips.

There is also the positive effect on staff who are able to respond effec­ tively to customers.

Future plans for extending Alchemy include the intelligent recognition of completed customer booking forms and the building of a workflow process for Accounts Payable to automate the approval of invoices prior to payment. ■ For further information contact Avanquest Solutions on 01462 832870 quoting reference GSTS07.

Lets w ork to g e th e r . . . . . . the Avanquest solutions team are

actively working with bureau partners to help promote and broaden your capabilities.

Call us today to see how we can add value to you on 01462 832870. . . . for users of document management systems, call us to request our latest Avanquest Solutions case studies and the chance to win a free document health check (value £950.00) Visit us on stand 4 4 5 a t Docum ation UK 2 0 0 7

Avar\quest*solutions Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

CASE STUDY

22

Oakwood lay foundation Oakwood Worldwide implements Kofax Intelligent Capture & Exchange as foundation for invoice processing system DICOM Group pic has Office Systems and Kofax announced that Oakwood Professional Services, we were Worldwide, the leading global able to implement an effective temporary housing and serv­ solution to better automate how iced apartment provider, has our accounting team processes selected Kofax Intelligent the large volume of utility bills Capture & Exchange as the we receive each month. As a foundation for its new solution result, we have been able to to better automate the process­ reduce disconnects with our ing of the tens of thousands of vendors and are positioned to utility bills it receives each support our projected annual growth of more than 20 percent month. w i t h o u t increasing full-tim e or temporary staff.”

“Our previous system involved a heavy amount of manual pro­ cessing for each utility bill,” said Brad Niemiec, manager of the national accounting process for Oakwood Worldwide. “Through our partnership with Western

Founded in 1 9 6 0 , Oakwood W o rld w id e ’s client base is primarily Fortune 2,000 companies, but the com­ pany also serves a wide range of clients, including small-tomidsized businesses, entertain­ ment executives and produc­ tion companies, insurance companies, consulting firms, professional sports teams, and

U.S. government and military personnel. At any time, in virtu­ ally any location, Oakwood can lease more than 25,000 tempo­ rary housing residences and furnished apartments w orld­ wide.

By utilising Kofax Intelligent Capture & Exchange, Oakwood has been able to reduce the number of disconnects, cur­ rently at less than .05 percent of all utility services provided, and is now able to process 50 per­ cent more transactions with Kofax Intelligent Capture & Exchange.

Oakwood turned to a Certified Solutions Provider, Western Office Systems, to develop a custom solution to manage its In addition, Oakwood is now high volume of utility bills that it better positioned to support receives each month. For each future growth and manage unit, Oakwood must manage increased volumes of utility and process multiple utility bills, bills. including gas, water, electricity, “ Because of their format and Internet, cable and phone. length, utility bills pose a unique “Oakwood’s former accounts challenge for organisations to payable process was paper process in large volumes,” said intensive and required a lot of Rob Klatell, chief executive offi­ human interaction,” said Ray cer of Kofax’s parent company, Group. “ Kofax Hughes, general manager, DICOM Western Office Systems. “The Intelligent Capture & Exchange custom Kofax-based solution offers a flexible, advanced solu­ we developed for Oakwood has tion that can easily recognise, allowed them to support future classify and extract the many business growth. It was a different lines of data found on pleasure to work with utility bills to help organisations Oakwood, and we look forward automate their accounts to helping other organisations payable processes.” ■ better manage their utility bills For more information, visit with Kofax Intelligent Capture & www. dicomgroup. com.

Exchange.”

Storage Solution for Real Estate move

Sourcing the right storage solu­ tions was a key element of the brief for office furniture special­ ists FFB (Furniture for Business) when they were commissioned by commercial real estate firm Atisreal. The storage systems formed part of a complete fur­ nishing package for two new Atisreal offices in London and Birmingham.

Based in London, FFB spe­

CASE STUDIES

cialises in provid­ work, FFB recommended the ing products, serv­ SystemFile range from Bisley, ices and advice on the UK's leading manufacturer all aspects of office of steel storage systems. furniture. It prides For Atisreal, this was a contract itself in being to supply furniture for two office objective in its moves as part of a roll-out pro­ approach and gramme to create the same bases its advice to look and feel for all of the firm ’s clients on a wide offices. Looking at the client’s portfolio of the specific needs for systems that best products in would adapt to their way of fil­ the marketplace. The brief for ing work, FFB chose Bisley’s FFB was to research the market SystemFile which offers a full for ranges which met Atisreal's range of versatile storage and requirements, liaising with the filing options. Tim Billingham of client, negotiating with suppli­ FFB says: "We have worked ers, producing final installation with Bisley for the past 15 years drawings and managing the and find that their products project through to completion. offer the combination of style With storage systems needed and function that our clients to support the way in which need.”

Atisreal files and organises its SystemFile is a comprehensive

range with multiple height, width and closure options. It offers combinations of drawers, flippers and glass, cupboard or tambour drawers with a wide range of interior fittings.

Manufactured from prime qual­ ity steel, with a 10-year guaran­ tee, the range is available in a choice of colours and features locks from a mastered series with removable barrels.

Tim Billingham: “SystemFile is a very versatile system which offered all of the filing and stor­ age options our client needed.

As it is a standard range, we were able to complete the con­ tract within a short period at a good price.” ■ For more information www.bisley.com

visit

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23

The SAN shines on De Montfort University With the University degree pro­ gramme moving towards a modular-based structure, and students working across differ­ ent faculties or schools, De Montfort University needed a single view of its disorganised and dispersed data. A storage area network built on Hitachi high-end modular storage and the advanced management capabilities of Hitachi HiCommand Suite software enabled De Montfort University to consolidate, access, and back up all of its information in one complete system.

As one of the largest Universities in the United Kingdom, De Montfort University (DMU) is a dynamic organisation created from a diverse range of specialist insti­ tutions. Originally known as Leicester Polytechnic, DMU was formed in 1992, following the official opening of the Milton Keynes campus by Her Majesty the Queen.

solution that is intelligent and sophisticated enough to meet DMU’s similarly vast IT needs.

clear path to recover informa­ tion from all of the different locations if there should be a power or systems outage. IT A Single View plays a vital role in university life As a legacy of its creation from as students’ IT needs are con­ separate universities, DMU’s tinuous: 24 hours a day, 7 days existing IT infrastructure a week. A resilient IT environ­ included separate silos of infor­ ment supported by a secure storage mation developed by individual and sophisticated was paramount. faculties or schools and utilised structure a variety of storage systems. Along with increased capacity Different pockets of information and simplified management, and ad hoc usage of storage DMU also required: was starting to create both IT ★ The ability to mirror data management and business between two data centres continuity concerns. Without ★ The support of Novell the ability to view all information NetWare, Microsoft and applications used through­ Windows, Sun Solaris, and out DMU on a single platform, UNIX hosts storage utilisation was both ★ The support of NetWare inefficient and expensive. cluster environments This situation called for DMU to ★ An enterprise backup solu­ review its data storage and dis­ tion that would also fully aster recovery procedures. A support NetWare clusters storage area network (SAN) ★ A network attached storage implementation from Hitachi (NAS) filer solution that Data Systems and partner would also take its disk Viglen Storage Group (VSG) storage from the new SAN was considered the best solu­ ★ A high level of service and tion to fit in with DMU’s long­ support term IT strategy. The SAN, cou­ pled with advanced software By offering a continuously avail­ management tools would able view of actual storage and configuration, enable administrators to contin­ usage uously view, allocate, access, HiCommand Device Manager and organise data. Hitachi software allows administrators HiCommand Device Manager to precisely control all managed software was selected to pro­ storage systems. The result is a vide single-platform control of highly efficient use of adminis­ trative time and storage assets. the new storage infrastructure.

Continuity and Capacity for Dispersed Communities

Seamless Migration Management

and

offering a continuously avail­ able view of actual storage usage and configuration, Device Manager software allows administrators to pre­ cisely control all managed stor­ age systems. The result is a highly efficient use of adminis­ trative time and storage assets.

Bordan Tkachuk, CEO of the Viglen Storage Group, expresses certainty that the solution will help DMU gain maximum benefit from the IT investment.

He explains, “ Hitachi Data Systems has shown a unique insight into the needs of its partners and sup­ ports us in successfully deliver­ ing on users’ storage manage­ ment needs. Viglen has a strong history of working with higher education institutions and, from experience, we know that a uni­ versity’s needs continue to evolve. I am confident that this solution will enable DMU to get the most from its IT investment, increasing effectiveness and, most importantly, reliability.”

Strong Infrastructure Future Growth

DMU’s data migration is now complete. It has moved all of its major servers to take data stor­ age off the SAN and will be looking to expand storage with the addition of SATA disk drives. This new storage infra­ structure will be used for archiv­ ing, taking disk copies, and disk-to-disk backup proce­ dures. The management of the system will be enhanced with the installation of HiCommand Storage Services Manager soft­ ware. This open- standards application will allow DMU to not only manage hardware from multiple vendors but also moni­ tor, analyse, and maximize resource utilisation from a sin­ gle management console.

Storage Services Manager soft­ ware provides management from spindle to application and will allow DMU to reduce the cost of managing its present and future storage environment, while ensuring that data is pro­ tected and resources are opti­ mised. ■

The majority of DMU’s storage The core of the solution is the capacity was being taken up by two Hitachi high-end modular e-mail and e-mail archiving, storage systems - each in a along with a Microsoft SQL separate data centre, linked by database that was connected four McDATA fabric switches via direct attached storage, and and Fibre cables. Each storage Today DMU has more than a Fibre Channel SAN. The system has six terabytes of 23,000 students and 3,300 increasing use of multimedia usable storage and the ability to staff, and it offers more than applications, such as music take “snapshots” of disks and 400 courses at its four cam­ and video download sites, by copy disks between storage puses across tw o centres - students was also eating into systems for disaster recovery Leicester and Bedfordshire. A capacity and putting a strain on purposes. The two storage sys­ tems are managed by leading institution for profes­ IT resources.

HiCommand Device Manager sional, creative, and vocational The sprawling information land­ software. This application pro­ education, underpinned by scape formed by blurred vides a single platform for cen­ research excellence, DMU also boundaries between faculties/ trally managing, configuring, has extensive international links schools created a potential and monitoring Hitachi storage. that have led to the establish­ business continuity disaster ment of Business Schools in and thus was another key driver Easy-to-use Device Manager South Africa and India, as well views storage for the IT storage infrastructure software as research links across the www.hitachi.com overhaul. DMU was at risk of resources logically, while main­ Visit globe. This huge operation permanently losing mission- taining independent physical- www. viglen. co. uk requires an enterprise storage critical data as there was no management capabilities. By Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

for

or

CASE STUDIES

24

Fine Art to the Fore Expanding the market for high quality prints and more

Cruse scanners, exclusively distributed in the UK by Capix, have long been recognised as the leading systems of their type. World famous for their ability to faithfully capture images of the finest detail and to create reproductions virtually indistinguishable from the origi­ nal, Cruse scanners are in use at such locations as: the Beethoven Museum in Bonn, Germany; the Vatican's Secret Archives; NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas; the Pentagon, and industry-leading photographic, repro and fine art companies.

sporting art: The Dictionary of British Equestrian Artists.

It was with this deep working knowledge of sporting art that Mitchell moved on to dealing in contemporary artists and pub­ lishing sporting and country prints. In addition to building the largest library of high quality limited-edition dogs prints in Europe, if not the world, the company publishes prints cov­ ering a wide range of subject matter, all of them now being reproduced via the Cruse scan­ ner to a highly receptive inter­ national audience.

Little wonder, then, that when Sally Mitchell Fine Arts of Newark, Nottingham, decided to seriously upgrade its print production process, the com­ pany's eponymous founder Sally Mitchell, in researching the options available, realised that a Cruse scanner offered the best option for producing superb and extremely accurate copies of the many original paintings in which her company trades.

Founded nearly 40 years ago, Sally Mitchell Fine Arts is listed by the British Fine Art Trade Guild as one of Britain’s top five fine art publishing houses. Sally Mitchell started the business dealing in early sporting paint­ ings - a subject on which she is universally acknowledged to be a leading authority, having writ­ ten the main reference work on

CASE STUDY

The scanner being utilised by Sally Mitchell is the Cruse CS 185 ST model which takes orig­ inals up to 100 x 150cm (40 x 50ins) and produces images up to 14,000 x 26,640 pixels.

The system incorporates an automatic light correction pro­ gramme which reads objects up to 12cm (5ins) in depth to

e n s u r e strong, even light across the surface. It offers variable scan resolu­ tion and tex­ ture effects in order to pro­ duce copies which capture every nuance of an original painting.

A variety of o ptional extras, includ­ ing such items as vari­ able scan speed, frame correction and different lighting con­ figurations, are available to take the system to even higher levels of flexibility and application.

Sally Mitchell's son John runs the day-to-day operation of the company, managing a staff of nine highly skilled and enthusi­ astic workers and six ‘artists in residence’ plus other artists who all produce a constant stream of fresh work which, along with the limited edition prints taken from them, the company markets throughout its global network of agents, dealers, online customers and the stands it takes at various major equestrian and county fairs and shows.

“A major advantage of the Cruse scanning system is its ability to scan perfectly through glass while its platen can work on pictures still in their frames,” he says. “ It is this ease of oper­ ation which has enabled us to provide scanning and related services to other fine art deal­ ers, galleries, artists, collectors and distributors, as well as The Cruse scanner employed completing our own work,

by Sally Mitchell Fine Arts has including supplies for our high quickly become the basis for all street gallery. imaging aspects of the com­ “We previously used a scan pany's business. In addition to backed camera for our repro producing limited edition prints work, and before that the serv­ - which the company can ices of a specialist photo­ mount and frame on demand at graphic studio. While those its workshops - a collection of methods were fine and suited greeting cards, gift-wraps, tags, our needs at the time, we came postcards, paper, etc. is printed to a point of expansion where using images from the scanner. we recognised that to progress A recently added aspect of the to the levels we sought, and company's business benefiting which we knew were possible, from the scanner is publishing a more advanced approach books about the artists it repre­ was necessary.” sents. The first volume contains John and Sally Mitchell over 190 colour illustrations checked out many types of which, had the company been scanners, and rapidly became using the previous photo­ aware that in order to advance graphic method of repro, would the reputation they had built for have cost in excess of £6,000. extremely high quality prints “The system has proved totally and images, it was necessary to flexible and meets all our imag­ utilise the very best of the highing needs,” comments Sally end systems available.

Mitchell, “ right through to our “ Having reached that decision, catalogues and marketing the Cruse scanner was our material, not to mention such obvious choice, and I am aspects as keeping our web­ delighted to report that it has sites fed with images, and using lived up to all our expectations them in our licensing literature and more,” John Mitchell this being another important declares. ■ facet of our business which has benefited from installing the Cruse. We have only had the scanner installed by Capix for a To contact Capix: few weeks, but already it has Telephone: 01480 472 233, proved to be of far greater ben­ Email: brian@capix.co.uk or visit www.capix.com efit than we ever considered.”

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TRADE NEWS

25

Keeping abreast with what your colleagues and competitors are doing can be vital to deciding your next move

Cygnet extends UK market New UK office will support business in the UK and Ireland Dutch Enterprise Content Management (ECM) sup­ plier Cygnet Technology has announced the open­ ing of its new UK office located in Staines. The UK office will accommodate sales, administration and marketing personnel who will serve customers, resellers and partners throughout the UK and Ireland.

records and email manage­ ment solutions. As SME businesses grow, the effec­ tive management of content becomes crucial to busi­ ness continuity.

This new office opening is in direct response to cus­ tomer demand for local representation in the UK marketplace. According to Redmond Schley, Managing Director at Cygnet’s focus is on the Cygnet, “We have experi­ Small Medium Enterprise enced a great deal of inter­ (SME) sector, which has est in our company and our recently seen an upsurge of products from SMEs in the interest in ECM, document, UK and Ireland. Many of

S u n R ise

our staff members have worked in SME environ­ ments themselves, so they truly understand the chal­ lenges faced by these busi­ nesses as they grow. Our customers tell us that our solutions are feature-rich and easy-to-use, yet sensi­ bly priced, which appeals to these organisations. By having an office presence in the UK we are well posi­ tioned to provide cus­ tomers with exceptional service.11 ■ Contact: info@cygnet-ecm.com or visit www.cygnet-ecm.com

SCANNING* s o u ass

v v C 'S

Scanner Rentals & Sales Production & Office Scanners Kodak — Bell & Howell — Scamax Canon - Avision - Fujitsu DpuScan Capture Software Rental Examples per week 90 ppm Duplex B/W £450 190 ppm Duplex B/W £750 80 ppm Duplex Colour £600 Includes on site maintenance info@scanninqresources.com www.scanningresources.com Tel: +44 (0)1582 765500

SunRise EMEA working in partnership with the scanning industry!

Tel: +44 20 8255 2011 - email: sales@sunriseimaging.co.uk - Web: www.sunriseimaging.com Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

TRADE NEWS

First independent UK service bureau to install Kodak’s i1860 scanner technology • Godiva Imaging makes over £100k investment in Kodak scanner technology • New H860 helps to processes 19.5 million documents per annum with growth to 36 million expected next year with no increase in staff • Godiva Im aging’s scanner operators benefit from ergonomic and LCD touch screen features to improve productivity Kodak recently announced that Godiva Imaging Ltd is the first independent UK service bureau, specialising in provid­ ing bespoke document man­ agement and imaging solutions, to have purchased its fastest ever production scanner, the Kodak i1860, which captures 200 pages per minute.

Offering a complete range of services to 620 clients in vari­ ous vertical markets including automotive, industrial, retail, aerospace, local government and recruitment, Coventrybased Godiva Imaging works with companies such as PSA Peugeot Citroen, Lafarge Cement (owners of the Blue Circle brand), Spec Savers, Goodrich Corporation, Spring Group and Peterborough Primary Care Trust.

Founded in 1984, the company has invested considerably in best of breed and in-house technology to provide clients online access to documents once scanned, through its webbased Live Archive service, as well as offering back capture, data migration, data manipula­ tion and reporting services.

Scanned documents can be output in colour, black & white or grayscale and into any for­ mat such as plug and play CDs and DVDs, digital tape, laser disk or even microfiche, along with Web access.

Neil Hedges, Godiva Imaging’s managing director, says, “We’ve always specialised in complex data manipulation projects. One client was issu­ ing 40k randomly generated proof of delivery notes per month, and would only get paid by its customers if these were signed, returned and properly indexed. In the course of daily operation, 9.5% of them were lost or delayed which left them with a liability of £2.5 million every day. We’ve put in a docu­ ment management processing and reporting solution which has reduced this to 0.06% with

TRADE NEWS

obvious impact to the bottom line and cashflow.”

While some may see Kodak as tomers. Third, if a sheet of higher priced, in reality they paper goes out of line or snags, offer the most cost effective jams can be handled far faster Godiva Imaging purchased the and efficient solutions on the with only one having to be i1860 scanner in June 2007 market once you factor in their removed and rescanned rather through value-added distribu­ service and support and the than a whole batch. tor, Headway Technology, after reliability of the products.” a three week trial to add capac­ Godiva Imaging has also been ity to its operation. This follows This is certainly evident in high able to reduce machine time the implementation of an i840 volume environments where from two shifts to a one 7.5 scanner in July 2006, handling even short periods of downtime hour day shift with the i1860 up to 160 pages per minute, equates to thousands of docu­ such is the throughput of the which complements various ments not scanned. Godiva system. This clearly provides other mid volume Kodak scan­ Imaging has an eight hour capacity for growth if machine ners already in operation. In the response contract from Kodak’s time were again doubled. past year, Godiva Imaging has Service and Support organisa­ Hedges says, “While our invested over £100k in Kodak tion to provide business critical expectation is that 36 million scanner equipment. backup. Hedges has been documents will be processed i m p r e s s e d , next year, we won’t have to “ W e ’ v e employ more staff just redeploy processed 12 the people we already have.” million docu­ Historically, Godiva Imaging ments on the used 13 Kodak 3510 mid vol­ i840 since it ume scanners which required was pur­ 13 members of staff feeding chased and paper into them at about 6,000 only called documents per day. Now, with Kodak out the i1860 handling some 73k twice to clean per day, the company has 10 dust off the people preparing and sorting camera heads documents for scanning as there’s only removing staples and paper Hedges says, “The i840 is a so much we can do in terms of clips for example - with one workhorse and was added maintenance with a cloth and trained operator actually man­ because our workload at the vacuum cleaner. Our expecta­ aging the system based on cus­ time had increased 35%. This tion is that the reliability of the tomer requirements.

This has continued and we’re now i1860 will be just the same.” means better quality scanning, handling approximately 19.5 The new i1860 offers Godiva faster throughput with less million images per annum, Imaging a new approach to pro­ errors or jams made. which is about 1.6 million per cessing documents over and month or, in other words, 73k Jonathan Tripp, Kodak’s UK & above speed. First, the scanner EAMER document imaging per day based on an average has been ergonomically working month of 22 days. We marketing specialist, said, designed and can be automati­ therefore needed the latest “Godiva Imaging is a perfect cally tailored to the height of the Kodak production scanner, the example of how our commit­ operator to make it more com­ ment to the high volume pro­ i1860, given growth is continu­ fortable to use, with an on­ ing apace with 36 million docu­ duction scanner market works board LCD touch screen control ments projected to be in practice. They have been unit making it simple to operate. processed next year.” able to make huge efficiency Second, features like Kodak’s improvements through invest­ As an independent service Perfect Page image processing ment in scanner infrastructure bureau, Godiva Imaging will result in extremely high quality which is providing capacity for work in any market sector, for scanned images and adjustable growth for demand going any company and provide a triple ultra sonic multi-feed through the roof.

We’re range of imaging solutions. detectors can be set to detect delighted to be Godiva The company has completely overlapping sheets of paper or Imaging’s premium scanner standardised on Kodak’s scan­ those with stuck-on Post-it supplier of choice.” ■ ners within its business. notes but are still flexible Hedges says, “ My philosophy is enough to cater for all the differ­ Visit: to provide customers excellent ent document types that result www. kodak, com/go/docimaging service and care and I look for from working with 620 cus­ or www.godivaimaging.com the same with our suppliers.

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27

Digital Vision acquired by BasWare Acquisition combines Digital Vision’s data capture & processing expertise with BasWare’s advanced financial automation software Document processing special­ ist Digital Vision is to be acquired by the financial automation software vendor BasWare, in a transaction worth EUR 9.2 million.

Digital Vision, based in Cheshire, will be merged with

The acquisition of Digital Vision will give BasWare a market­ leading position in the enter­ prise purchase-to-pay, finan­ cial automation and document scan & capture solution sec­ tors in the UK and Europe.

BasWare's Surrey-based UK subsidiary, giving a combined organisation of around 70 employees.

The transaction will complete in October; both companies’ offices will be retained and no redundancies are expected.

Scanner Product of the Year Guildford-based Imaging The DM Awards were pre­ Business Machines Ltd. (IBML) sented during a glittering black was named winner of the pres­ tie dinner held at the Novotel tigious DM Awards Scanner hotel in Hammersmith, Product of the Year 2007. IBML London. IBML’s award was achieved this phenomenal suc­ received by Ashley Keil, cess by amassing the majority Business Development of votes cast by users, consult­ Manager at IBML, who said: ants, resellers and other organ­ "We are thrilled to be presented isations. The company warded with this award. It represents a off stiff competition from a for­ huge vote of confidence in our midable field of contenders, company and our products including Canon, Fujitsu, from the user, reseller and Toshiba, Kodak, Opex, Ricoh bureau community we work so and Panasonic. hard to serve." ■

Bob Goodwin, director of Digital Vision said: “ By com­ bining our data capture and processing expertise with BasWare’s advanced automa­ tion technologies, we will be able to offer customers indus­ try-leading solutions that will deliver compelling benefits across a wider range of appli­ cations. I am very excited at the market-leadership oppor­ tunity this transaction pres­ ents.”

Hannu Vaajoensuu, Chairman of the Board, BasWare Corp, said: "As a result of the acqui­ sition, BasWare gains a leading position in the UK enterprise purchase-to-pay market, in

O I T U K LTD TH E METROPOLITAN

POLICE

terms of the number of cus­ tomers, net sales and size of organisation. Additionally, we will gain valuable expertise on data capture and manage­ ment. This improves our com­ petitiveness especially in the financing segment and among multinational, large corpora­ tions.”

Digital Vision's net sales totalled EUR 6.7 million (at the exchange rate of August 31, 2007) in the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2007. Growth compared with the previous year was 27% and the com­ pany's operating profit was positive. In early 2007, Digital Vision opened its first interna­ tional offices in Shimla, India, providing solution develop­ ment and support round-theclock for its customer base. ■ Visit www.dvtl.co.uk or www.basware.com

W IN N E R

Wariuig together tor * safer London

Problem The tw in th re a ts o f te rro rism and serious organised crim e, com bined w ith increasingly sophisticated com m unications and porous borders presented th e M etropolitan Police w ith th e challenging task o f storing, accessing and assessing a huge am ount o f in te llig e n ce gathered from a va riety o f sources including m obile phone records.

S olution

OITUK worked with the Met to produce a Telecommunications Intelligence Management Solution (TIMS).

TIMS allowed the safe and secure storage of critical intelligence, combined with the ability for it to be accessed by officers dealing with fast-moving investigations like kidnappings or murders.

Specific B enefits • Provides highly secure and legislation co m p lian t (FOI, RIPA) storage fo r in te llig e n ce used by Law Enforcem ent Agencies • Allows c ritic a l in fo rm a tio n to be accessed by o ffice rs involved in fast-m oving investigations • Technology is fu tu re p roof and can adapt to changing demands • Access to in te llig e n ce can be re stricte d to varying levels

For more info on (TIMS) please contact:-

O I T U K LTD

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■’ e m D O C U M E N T M A N A G E R

AW ARDS 2 0 0 7

D o cu m ent M a n a g e m e n t P ro je c t of th e Y e a r 2 0 0 7 (P u b lic S e c t o r )

O IT U K N e w S c o tla n d Y a rd

HAMMOND CLOSE • NUNEATON • WARWICKSHIRE • CV11 6RY Telephone: ( 0 2 4 ) 7 6 2 5 4 9 4 0 Fax: ( 0 2 4 ) 7 6 3 8 2 3 1 9 Email: s a l e s @ o i t u k . c o m Website: w w w . o i t u k . c o m TRADE NEWS

28

Lightening the Burden of Proof Bob Goodwin, director o f D igital Vision, shows how A utom ating key accounts receivable functions such as handling PoD notes helps to speed up cashflow, and m akes a big im p act on cu stom er relations.

Is there an FD that doesn’t want to speed up cashflow and get customers to pay ear­ lier? I thought not. After all, the incentives for doing so are clear. A 2006 survey of 250 UK quoted companies revealed they were sitting on a total of £40bn overdue debt.

the Optical Character credit control team or logis­ Recognition (OCR) facilities in tics. popular document scanning Delivery fleets can even be engines, such as Kofax, PoD equipped with mobile docu­ documents can be automati­ ment scanning capability, cally index-printed with enabling secure upload to the appropriate information. This PoD storage system immedi­ makes subsequent access ately following a delivery. This and document retrieval easier, on-the-spot scanning builds once the PoDs are received closer links between the deliv­ The worrying aspect is, over back from the customer and ery contractor and customer, half of this debt is overdue scanned into the PoD storage and enables missing PoDs to because of a customer’s dis­ repository. puted account (£12bn) or an be spotted immediately as unresolved query (£9.7bn). Indexing documents early they become rare exceptions.

The problem for many compa­ means that PoD notes can be Low-cost deployment nies is, debt collection is inex­ located and retrieved by tricably tied to customer serv­ almost any search criterion What’s more, deploying a PoD ice - delivery of goods and including delivery date, cus­ solution need not have signifi­ tomer PO number, customer cant extra cost implications products. name, invoice number, con­ on top of existing document Which is why the accounts signment note number or processing investments. An receivable (AR) function within transport contractor. In some example is a major UK plas­ companies is getting increas­ cases, this can be done as a tics manufacturer that has ing focus. Just as in accounts bar code at the time of print­ introduced imaging and docu­ payable, AR can derive ing, which makes later track­ ment management to cover tremendous benefits from ing and matching far easier. signed PoD notes, using document imaging and man­ Alfresco document manage­ agement processes, giving a Where customers make ment software. The model claims for non-delivery or rapid and ongoing ROI. here is that the company pays incorrect delivery of goods, This is especially true for com­ only for the annual support on the PoD document storage panies in the retail, distribu­ the software, and not for user system gives authorised staff tion and manufacturing sec­ licenses - enabling rapid, immediate access to a tors. Here, a single type of cost-effective roll-out across searchable repository of document is the major trigger the company and a very fast images of completed, signed for credit disputes: the proofROI. PoD document images, with of-delivery (PoD) note. PoDs links to original orders and Reaping rewards with missing signatures, or consignment documentation. delivered late from a depot, or So, extending document man­ PoDs can then be speedily PoDs that cannot be matched agement and imaging retrieved and, when neces­ with the appropriate invoice processes to this single docu­ sary, automatically e-mailed are the bane of many a credit ment type - the PoD note (as scanned images) directly manager’s life. It is a small can make a big impact on the to the customer, as valid evi­ document with a huge impact efficiency and traceability of dence of the delivery having on overall credit control. customer AR transactions. been made - putting the PoD casting demand for payment beyond While this relatively modest question. step in automation may seem So how do companies to be a low-level administra­ address the issues of From my PoD to your PoD tive function, it can play a vital automating tracking and For companies with high vol­ role in keeping bad debt under matching PoDs? The answer is to apply proven document umes of PoDs and larger cus­ control, and in quickly resolv­ tomers, secure extranet ing account queries. processing techniques from access to the PoD storage Reducing debtor days, and accounts payable, to the system can be enabled. This boosting the perception of accounts receivable function, lets customers and partners customer service are head­ to assist in indexing the docu­ log in and view the PoDs relat­ lines that are very welcome in ments. ing to their transactions with­ any boardroom. ■ For example, by harnessing out having to go via either the www. dvtt.co. uk/01606 331234

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29

PEOPLE.... ....on the Move IBML

BISLEY Bisley, the UK manufacturer of office furniture, has announced the appointment of John Atkin as Financial Director. John steps in to the shoes of one of Bisley's longest serving employees, Bill Strang, who retires after 35 years with the company.

IBML has announced the appointment of Juliet Barry, who joins the company’s UK Headquarters in Guildford as office manager and marketing executive.

IBML has experienced growth of more than 50% in the past year, and Juliet will play a vital role in supporting IBML’s entire sales and marketing function.

She will provide a consistent, office-based point of contact for customers, suppliers and partners. Juliet has a university degree in marketing. ■

John heads a team of twenty with a remit covering the finan­ cial and the IT arms of the busi­ ness. His experience which has always been in the manufactur­ ing sector, includes a six year stint with Ofquest where he was responsible for financial reporting and performance. ■

Contact Juliet 01483 549818, or email: jbarry@ibml.com

The

Visit www.bisley.com

Mailroom. Vision is Reality. jy g |jp p " The vision of a digital mailroom is appealing.

Tens of thousands of mail items, delivered electronically to recipients on time.

Consolidated costs, stringent audits, responsive customer service, regulatory compliance, business continuity. The benefits are countless.

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The vision of a true, centralised digital mailroom is now a reality.

Combining speed, tolerance and intelligence, ImageTrac from IBML has become the platform of choice for real-world mailroom solutions.

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KLilBU SIN ESS MACHINES Phone: + 4 4 (0)1483 549818

Email: uksales@ibml.com

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THE D I R E C T I O N O F I M A G I N G

PEOPLE

Hello again.

Now that autumn is well and truly with us here in the UK and winter is just around the corner for us (so soon?) it is the start of the serious travelling we need to do to attend the events our industry has come to love hosting.

This turned my mind to not only ordering some new pairs of longjohns for the fierce British winter, but also to ponder how travelling can range from being immense fun, to downright frustrating. From the moment you start to book all of the things you need to organise to go somewhere / anywhere, you are in the lap of the Gods as to how that trip will turn out. Or are you?

Unless your abode is immediately next to a venue, I think you might find some of what follows of use.

fare (hopefully first class) by book­ ing in plenty of time. The diary on the Green Sheet web site often goes 9 months to a year ahead, so there is no excuse for not booking early, and events should not come as a sudden surprise to you.

Arriving at the station in plenty time is advised. You need to find a park­ ing space, pay for the parking, use the ablutions, find the platform and get your drink and food for the trip.

(Almost always cheaper at the sta­ tion than on the train.) If you have booked a seat and you are in first class, you will (almost) inevitably have a comfortable and spacious journey. If not, you could land with any one (or more) of a vast assort­ ment of 'spoilers' such as drunks, adrenalin rushed (or pre-event ine­ briated) hen and stag parties, kids full of E-numbers, or just plain old loud-mouths etc. It never ceases to amaze me the number of people who feel the need to shout down a cell phone.

Shanks Pony No idea where the term originated from, but it means 'walking'. If you can walk to an event from home you are lucky, and the only major Air Travel problem you are likely to encounter This is without a doubt my personal is that of crossing the street. favourite mode of transport. In (Looking both ways of course, even on a one-way street.) Before leav­ ing home though, the queue for the bathroom goes without saying.

Therefore I thoroughly enjoy the take-off, the turbulence, the food and the landing all equally immensely. The booking principals are the same as trains - do it early and do it cheap.

As for the whole rigmarole sur­ rounding the journey itself, here is my particular modus operandum.

I always like to arrive at the airport way too early. I just could not stand to be one of those people who are banging on the door of the aircraft as it starts off down the runway shouting "Let me in!” I am writing this at Dublin airport on my way home after the AIIM Infolreland show (and very good it was too.)

Having enjoyed a leisurely break­ fast and some writing in my room at the Dublin Airport Hilton (namedropper!) I took an early shuttle bus even though I knew check-in would not open for 90 minutes once I got there. I am calm, cool, relaxed and in full flow. It does pay to plan ahead. When booking your flight, remember to consider also booking long term off-airport parking in

Bicycle / Motor-Cycle Again, if you are close enough to an event that you can get there on two wheels then good luck to you.

Remember your crash helmet.

Driving If you have to drive even part way to a venue, then here is where your real problems can begin. Sheer vol­ ume of traffic (anywhere in the world) can thwart even the most valiant attempt to arrive on time and in one piece. Watch out for those drivers who give themselves 30 minutes travel time to do a 60 minute journey. As a good friend of mine once said “Always try to avoid other people having their acci­ dents!"

terms of speed, safety and general all round fun, air travel takes some beating. I am not afraid of flying no matter what the elephants might throw at my metal tube as it careers through the sky at 35,000 miles an hour, and at a height of 500 feet.

Train (Or is it round the other way?)

My approach (no pun intended if Somehow I just know that I am not you are a fan of railway terminol­ going to die in a plane crash. ogy) is to find the cheapest online

TAILPIECE

advance. (If it is available.) Try to get parking close to the airport even if it is slightly dearer, that way you will not fall foul of traffic on a journey totally out of your control.

are early and queuing even for a big flight, you shouldn't have too long to wait to get your tickets. Get rid of as much baggage into the hold as you can. Not only is it a logistical nightmare, but a security risk for you too. (While you are busy watching your suitcase / bag, somebody else is eyeing up your laptop / camera bag.) Go immedi­ ately to security once you are checked in. These days security delays are inevitable for obvious reasons, but once into the (relative) calm and serenity of the 'air-side' shopping mall, you can begin to relax and enjoy the expense. Sorry!

- Experience.

Watch out for queue jumpers by the way. The airlines and airport authorities are often far too lax in setting up proper queuing systems.

Some people see a clerk at a check-in desk with nobody stand­ ing at it, and make a blind dash for it. I had such an instance in Edinburgh recently. Returning from the city after the Scotland v New Zealand World Cup match, not only did a party of 8-10 Kiwis try to skip 40 - 50 people in the queue, but I was pushed by the lead person (a woman I think!), verbally abused, and accused of being English!

Obviously she(?) did not know Scotland was a separate country. I took the insult in good humour, and after I realised there were no police in immediate hailing distance after the assault, calmed down and assumed my position with the other irate passengers. Fortunately the airline bounced the Kiwis to the rear of the queue, otherwise World War III might have broken out.

Hardly the attitude to adopt in a foreign country when you are a guest.

In the next issue I will pass through security and start my turbulence free flight with you, and we wiJJ also address a few more myths and phenomenons of flying with the general public. ■

On the day you get to the terminal, remember everyone else appears to be in a totally unnecessary hurry. Your intrepid reporter (Usually the exception being the JB International check-in and security staff.) If you johnbakerQgreensheetmedia. com

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