The Green Sheet 053

GreenSheet K e e p in g

YOU

In fo r m e d

D ecem ber/January 2008/09

Issue 53

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

IDMi - FAQ's?

The Green Sheet name changeover

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Your ^ Next Issue 1 Will Be Titled

Classification: Two Article Special

Scanning Part 4: Continuing our major series of articles

LINPAC Storage: Bomb-proof Case Study

Focus On: Updates on major market sectors

www.greensheetmedia.com

Watch for the cover

Key Industry Reports

The Digrta' & Media A ss et^ n ag e m e n , Report 2008

The ShareP Report 20i

In line with our remit to Keeping You Informed, here are a few choice reports to do just that.

Compiled and written by industry experts, these reports will without doubt make a valuable addi­ tion to your arsenal of business information.

STORy

A Comprehensive Evalu SharePointin the Ente

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ComprehensivePrxxIuMe,.-,...

Digital & Media Asset Management Report 2008

The Digital & Media Asset Management Report 2008

The Digital & Media Asset Management Report 2008 provides an overview of leading DAM products and DAM best practices, including 7- to 15-page comparative evaluations of 10 DAM vendors, as well as 1-2 page summaries of 8 specialty and upand-coming vendors.

Published by CMS Watch, the report is ideal for organizations looking to develop a business-driven DAM or MAM strategy, or who are considering selecting a product and need unbiased technical assessments, or who simply need a clearly-written guide to this confusing, fast-changing landscape.

For more info visit: The SharePoint Report 2008

The SharePoint Report 2008 A Comprehensive Evaluation of

ShareHomtmthefcnterorise

Find out how SharePoint really works. SharePoint is very good at certain things, but very poor at others. Researched by the same CMS Watch team that has been providing buyers with unbiased advice for the past 7 years, The SharePoint Report 2008 will help your team decide whether and where and when to apply SharePoint to your information management problems.

J Who Should Consider This Report? Enterprises that realise the most value from SharePoint will have aligned business and IT teams to figure out a specific approach to this enigmatic platform a platform that seems so easy to use but so difficult to master.

For more info visit:

E-mail Archiving and Management Report 2008 Comrxehenew Pnxiuc* E^akeBons

The Email Archiving and Management Report 2008

HOW TO ORDER

Find out how the tools really work. The report will help your team make informed e-mail archiving and management technology strategy and buying decisions.

For pricing and licence options, please refer to: www.areensheetmedia.com/reDorts.htm

Providing an overview of leading EAM products and EAM best practices, including comparative evaluations of 14 EAM vendors, the report is ideal for organisations looking to develop an e-mail archiving strategy, or who are considering selecting a product and need unbiased technical assessments, or who simply need a clearly-written guide to this confusing, fast-changing landscape.

You can order by:

For more info visit:

(Credit Card or Pro-Forma Invoice)

The ECM Suites Report

Voice Hotline ....

0044 24 7638 2328

WEB: (Credit Card, PayPal, or via Email) www.areensheetmedia.com/reDorts.htm

PHONE:

The ECM Suites Report 2008

The report will help your team make informed enterprise content management technology strategies and buying decisions, by providing a comprehensive overview of ECM product suites and best practices. Including: 12x 20 page comparative evaluations of 10 ECM Suite vendors, 5x 6 page evaluations of 9 Mid-range vendors, and 1x page summaries of 13 Specialty vendors.

Ideal for organisations looking to develop a business-driven ECM strategy, or who are considering selecting a product suite and need unbiased technical assessments, or who simply need a clearly-written guide to a confusing, fast-changing landscape.

Fax Hotline ....

EMAIL: (Credit Card, or Pro-Forma Invoice) wendvmorrow@areensheetmedia cnm NOTE: Special Order Reference In all correspondence please quote the following: GSM52-CMS

For more info visit:

comment from the editors desk Well here we are already - the last magazine with the Green Sheet title. The changeover has been well publicised in the last six months, and regular readers will know that the next magazine, Issue 54 February/March, will be headed IDMi and not Green Sheet.

But Not Least....

The snappy acronym stands for Information & Document Management international. A title which, after much deliberation, we think much better reflects our place in the information management community. A community which ironically, is seriously starting to work towards the very green-ness our name currently sug­ gests, and one of the reasons for change.

There is a brief article on page 10, outlining the history of the Green Sheet, its roots in the microfilm industry, and the route it has taken.

Future Prospects As we hurtle towards 2009, Green Sheet contin­ ues to receive doom and gloom news from around the world about the state of the global economy. There seems to have been a drastic over-use of that dreaded word 'recession' of late. Green Sheet are, on the whole, very positive about the future, because this recession seems 'different'. It is almost as if every CEO in the world has decided that 'yes there is a recession, the media tell me so' and at the same time, 'it's not going to affect us the way the pundits portray'. Perhaps a case of 'we are not going through THAT again!' There also seems to be a very positive approach to the ’cur­ rent difficulties'. Companies and organisations are looking to IT and IM to help them through.

New systems are coming through, new ways of working etc., and it is all good for us as we are a vehicle for passing on that information to you.

As a magazine, we are (obviously) constantly on the hunt for means to pay for the high cost of gathering the information you read in print and online, producing the web site and hard­ copy tome, printing it, and to cover the everincreasing cost of distribution around the world.

We try various methods such as subscriptions (more please, thank you,) display advertising and other means such as media partnering to spread the word about what we do and to gain momentum within the industry, all to make it a worthwhile read for you all. It has come as a pleasant surprise that 2009 looks to be even more diverse and successful than 2008. We have increased interest in what we are doing, and it is coming from an increasingly diverse range of companies.

IM World: News from around the globe

Thfe* GrEEn ShEEt The G re e ^S h e e t has been K e e p in g 1You Inform ed' iin c c 200Z, but p rio r to that, its h is to ry stre tch e s lack to ttW moon landing year o f 1969

M"-' . ee A Brief History Of: Green Sheet, 'Keeping You Informed' since 1969

For 2009 you will see more divergence from us in terms of editorial detail. This will come from niche sectors such as banking, finance, CAD, CAM (and traditional manufacturing,) RFID and other areas.

Coupled with the convergence of many technologies, it all goes into the 'mix' that has become the new Green Sheet, and will be continued as IDMi. 2009 should prove to be an interesting time for us all.

40th Birthday Not for me (that is well past) but the magazine.

In September 2009, the production of the Green Sheet (in one form or another) will hit 40 years. With roots in the microfilm industry which were planted in the year when man first landed on the moon, we are proud to have taken the publication to its 40th year. I am privileged to be at the helm at this time, and to be able to continue to do that for you.

Scanning Update: Part 4 of the ongoing article on scanning

I hope I can continue to grow the business in all areas, building on the foundations my predecessors laid for me.

In Closing ....

I wish you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous 2009, Happy Holidays when they come, and regarding our advertisers (thank you to them for their support,) - please call them, they need us both!

Classification I: Bare Bones versus Digital Classifiaction

John Baker, Managing Editor iohnbaker@areensheetmedia.com I

ADVERTISERS A-Z

GREEN SHEET SPECIFIC

OTHER FEATURES

21 A+P international 02 CMS (Green Sheet) 07 Fujitsu 11,21,23 Genus Group 09 Kodak Microvue 32 nextscan 29 Upton Services 21 Westminster City Cncl.

31 Wicks & Wilson 23 Zeutschel

02 CMS Reports (GS Ad) 28 Diary Dates 2008 25 Subscriptions

13 Book Reviews

O X

11

www.greensheetmedia.com

GSM Guides: 15,16 - Documents to A3 17 - Microfilm Scanners 18 - Microfilm Writers 18 -Test Reports 04-08 IM World 29 It's Show Time 30 PENuitimate

Classification II: Do you have an effi­ cient mail room?

In Focus: 26 - Healthcare 27 - RFID Cover Image:

Test Reports: We have many interesting test reports lined up for 2009, and the boffins in the Test Lab are already work­ ing on them for you.

C om m ent.... from the editor's desk

'Winter Light', Holton, Suffolk, England ©Element903

GSM:053.03

' news in brief Canon 7090C Announced Canon U.S.A. have released the new imageFORMULA DR7090C Universal Production Scanner ideal for the government, legal, financial and education markets. The new scanner combines Canon’s renowned image quality and reliable paper handling with high-speed performance - up to 70 pagesper-minute (ppm) in color, B&W and grayscale - to provide a full-range archiving and scanning solution to endusers. In addition, the device is capable of one-pass duplex document scanning of up to 88 images-per-minute (ipm). www.usa.canon.com

Caplan 3.0 'The Future' Neptuny, a leading solution provider in performance optimization for IT, has recently released a new major release (3.0) of their product, named Caplan™, providing Capacity Management solutions for large data centres and networks. In reviewing their Technology Audit of this new version of Neptuny product, Butler Group deemed Caplan™ as “the future in capacity planning solutions”.

This view is also shared both by other major IT market analysts and by large enterprises which have already adopted Caplan™. wwvy.neptMPycom

iBac VIP VMware Backup ProDefence, a UK distributor of e-security products and services across the UK and Ireland, announced that they will be launching an enterprise backup solution for VMware virtual servers. iBac Virtual Infrastructure Proxy (iBac VIP) is designed and manufactured

by Idealstor, who provide removable disk-to-disk backup solutions. iBac offers an easy to use and affordable solution for backing up data in a VMware virtual server. www.prodefence.co.uk

Lighthouse WebSphere Lighthouse Computer Services has expanded its softwarerelated services and formed a new group devoted to IBM WebSphere application infrastructure and integration.

WebSphere Services Practice offers extensive capabilities surrounding application integration, service-oriented architecture (SOA), business process management and Web-enablement. ^ w w w.liqhthousecs.com GSM:053.04

IM World: News from around AIIM Research Shows Growth & Renewed Focus AIIM research shows increased growth and renewed focus for Business Process Management (BPM) in 2009 AIIM has found that 56% of organisations have already implemented departmental, cross-departmental or enterprise-wide BPM projects. The remaining 44% of respondents have not yet begun a significant BPM project, but plan to do so in the coming year - a definite indication that there is a growing focus on process improvement.

When asked which area of the business was the focus of their implementation, the largest segment cited back-office operations as the primary project, followed closely by IT, Human Resources and Customer Service. In relation to the type of processes that are BPM-enabled, 37% cited a balance between transactional and document-centric processes while 31% said their focus was on transactional processes and another 20% focused specifically on document-centric processes. When asked, “Who is responsible for defining the business process rules and logic?” 54% said responsibility lies either with the individual process owner or line of business manager.

Respondents feel the lack of interchange standards between process modelling and execution tools remains an issue, whilst exception handling and interfaces follow close behind. If offered the option of using an Open Source solution, 52% would consider it. Those who said they wouldn't, cite lack of support as the main reason.

The drive towards BPM is clear. More organisations are gaining a better understanding of BPM, are more capable of identifying areas where BPM will make

significant improvements and appreciate the potential benefits it has to offer. Reflecting this growth in the BPM market, AIIM has seen a significant increase in interest and enrolment on its internationally recognised Business Process Management (BPM) Certificate Training programmes.

According to Bob Larrivee, AIIM Director and Industry Advisor, “The AIIM Market IQ report confirms that BPM has taken centre stage to meet the needs of most businesses, and that the establishment of BPM environrhents and practices continues to provide great benefits in relation to operational efficiency.” He continues, “Forty-five percent of respondents cited ‘lack of knowledge or training among internal staff as the biggest implementation issue after ‘underestimated process and organisational issues’. The AIIM BPM Certificate programme helps organisations learn how to structure, identify, map and improve business processes using best practice examples.

Attendees who successfully complete these programmes earn the designation of BPM Practitioner in understanding the fundamentals and concepts of BPM, BPM Specialist in understanding the implementation process of a BPM project, and BPM Master for demonstrating an applied understanding of the concepts and process against an actual case study.” ■ AIIM’s Training Programmes w w w.aiim .ora.uk/trainina For a copy o f the AIIM Market IQ report Business Process Management (BPM): Leveraging Competencies and Stream lining Processes to Achieve Operational Excellence, email info@ aiim .orq.uk.

NC Checks With AMP All My Papers (AMP), a developer and distributor of software products that address critical interoperability and data integrity issues for the financial industry, announced it has been awarded bid number 07-IT8006 by the State of North Carolina for Check 21 Processing. Products from the All My Papers suite of software for Image Cash Letters will be used by the State of North Carolina for its Check 21 Processing.

The AMP software suite, which includes the

X9 VIEWER, X9 LIB and X9 QUALIFIER, is now joined by X9 RETURNS, an inclearing/returns software solution from AMP especially for non- depository institutions. X9 RETURNS provides a solution for handling Check 21 format files from exchange partners such as the Federal Reserve Bank, and then interfaces with existing core banking and/or imaging systems. X9 RETURNS can also serve as a turnkey Image Cash Letter archive. ■ www.allmvpapers.com

Don't miss out. Subscribe to IDMi today!

IM World: News from around the globe

www.greensheetmedia.com

I

( NEWS IN BRIEF

the globe 88% Agree Right Software Vital The findings of a survey by document management software company, Version One, has revealed that 88% of senior finance and IT professionals believe it is important to have the right software systems in place if businesses are to prosper in the current economic climate. 60% of these stated that having the right software systems is “vital”.

Version One carried out the research with 160 senior finance and IT professionals (finance directors, financial controllers and IT managers) across a range of public and private sector organisations.

Of the remaining 12% of respondents, 10% believe it is “fairly important” to have the right software systems in place whilst the remaining 2% stated they did not know whether software systems were important to helping a business prosper or not. One of the “don’t know” respondents, a financial controller from a food manufacturing company, said, “The key to our business is customer contact, not how we operate internally”.

The survey also highlights a number of measures that organisations have introduced to ensure they succeed in the current climate.

These range from an increased focus on cash collection, cutting overheads and capital expenditure to ‘best value’ procurement.

Lynne Munns, General Manager of Version One, says, “This research demonstrates that organisations recognise how vital it is to have the right software systems in place to enable them to not only survive during these turbulent times but also to flourish. Software systems such as document management enable organisations to streamline their

processes, cut costs and have greater financial transparency which are obviously key in the current climate. Organisations that fail to carefully consider their software needs are often running an inefficient and wasteful operation which can prove particularly damagingduring challenging economic times.”

37% of those surveyed stated that they are interestedin implementing document management technology, in some part, due to the current market conditions, highlighting that the economic climate is now a key driver behind organisations' software procurement needs.

Munns comments, “It’s understandable that businesses are considering document management in part due to the economic downturn as these systems deliver significant cost and time savings whilst improving cash flow, enabling a lean and efficiently-run operation.”

In total, 62% of the survey’s 160 respondents feel that if UK businesses are to flourish at this time, they need to streamline their internal processes AND invest in the right software systems. 23% stated that improving internal processes alone would be sufficient while 7% thought that just investing in software systems is the answer. The remaining 8% put forward some alternative suggestions to how organisations can prosper in the current climate. These include “reducing staff overheads”, “investing in training” and “improving customer satisfaction levels”. ■ www.versionone.co.uk

CNN MyClick Logo Recognition CNN International in conjunction with MyClick® has announced the launch of CNN MyClick®, an application that allows users to directly connect to CNN's free* mobile news site at cnnmobile.com utilizing camera mobile devices. Users can now take a picture of a CNN logo and within seconds connect to CNN's mobile news site to access the latest news headlines, stories and more.

The technology has been designed so that it recognizes the official CNN logo anywhere it is in print form which can include magazines, leaflets, brochures, billboards etc. or even when the image is captured from www.greensheetmedia.com

the television screen.

Ringo Chan, Vice President of Wireless, Interactive Content, Development and Distribution, Turner International Asia Pacific said: “Integrating the MyClick® technology serves to reinforce our leading position in offering innovative mobile solutions to users across the region. We want to seamlessly connect them to CNNmobile.com so they can stay informed about the world around them. It is about engaging users in a unique experience anytime and anywhere.” ■ WWW cnn.com /international www.myplipk.com.hk IM World: News from around the globe

A

Finjan Warning Finjan, a leader in secure web gateway products, has warned Internet users to be on their guard, following an apparent compromised web page on one of the sub-domains on the CBS.com portal. “The cybercriminals, who compromised one of the subdomains under CBS.com, appear to have added a malicious obfuscated script to the infected page. The injected script then dynamically injects an Frame that pulls malware from a remote server locating in Russia.” said Yuval BenItzhak, Finjan's CTO. Fortunately for CBS site visitors, Finjan reports actions were already taken to turn that Russian server offline. www.finian.com

UK Land Registry StreamLines With Version One Land Registry, the government department that records who owns land and buildings in England and Wales, is centralising and streamlining its purchase-to-pay processes with the implementation of Version One's document management and imaging systems. These new systems, which will be made available to up to 100 authorised Land Registry staff across 26 different sites, are expected to go live by the end of 2008. www.vprsiononp.po.qk

WideTEK 36 Increased Efficiency Named 'the world’s fastest and most innovative large format scanner' by the independent testing laboratory Bertl, the WideTEK 36 now provides even higher production efficiency. The high resolution device scans 36 inch wide documents at 12.4 inches per second (18.9 m/minute) in a resolution of 200 dpi in 24 bit color. At 400 dpi resolution, scanning at 6.2 ips (9.4 m/minute) enables optimal throughput and image quality even at higher resolutions. www.impgpappess.de

Good Year For COA UK business applications software provider, COA Solutions Ltd., has reported strong profitable growth for its half-year results ending 30 September 2008. Turnover has increased by 16% to £29.6m with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increasing by 27% to £5.1m. ^vyww.ppasplgtipnsppm GSM:053.05

' news in brief Core Impact Pro 7.6 Core Security Technologies has announced a significant milestone, delivering version 7.6 of its flagship product, CORE IMPACT Pro, as well as its newest offering, CORE IMPACT Essential, to the EU market. Both solutions enable enterprises to rapidly assess their information security posture and ensure that they maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS). www.coresecuritv.com Toshiba Thermals TOSHIBA TEC have added the B-EV4 entry-level desktop label printer to its range of thermal printers. Two models are currently available; namely, the direct thermal B-EV4D and the thermal transfer B-EV4T. www.toshibatec-eu.co.uk Search Now Demystifed Enterprise search technology is no longer such a secret, according to new research from CMS Watch, an independent analyst firm that evaluates content technologies. The componentized nature of modern search offerings, combined with the availability of improved administrative tools and APIs, has had the effect of demystifying what was once a rather obscure technology. www.cmswatch.com HP Trim Viewer With Saffron Snowbound Software, a pioneering leader of document viewing and conversion technology, have announced that VersaPAC, an industry leader in the provision of Electronic Records Management Systems and distributor of HP TRIM, has chosen VirtualViewer as the viewer for Saffron. Saffron is VersaPAC’s zero footprint web client for HP TRIM. By integrating VirtualViewer with Saffron, VersaPAC now offers a solution that allows HP Trim users to access and manage records through a web-based interface for not only Windows but also Macintosh and Linux environments. www.snowbound.com Remember the next issue will be called ID M i....

Information & Document Management international

\ _________ _______ J GSM:053.06

IM World:

continued _ _ Panasonic Training Centre Opens Panasonic has opened a new European Operations Training Centre in South Wales.

This brand new, purpose built, multimedia facility is located at the heart of the Panasonic European Manufacturing Plant in Newport, Wales. The centre is designed to provide training courses for a range of Panasonic Products.

Mr Ueki, Senior Managing Director and CMO (Chief Manufacturing Officer) of Panasonic Communications Company officially opened the new facility.

Alan Reeve, General Manager of Panasonic Communications Solutions Europe says, “This new training operations centre will allow us to meet the expanding demand for both Sales and Technical training courses for our European Sales Companies. This new centre will be manned by Panasonic certified instructors, providing classroom based lectures and hands-on training in support of its growing sales channels. “ The Launch event was attended by a number of representatives from Panasonic Solutions

Europe, and the feedback from the day has been extremely positive.

Delegates commented on the high standard of the facilities, its ease of access via air, rail and motorway links, and the impressive line up of courses available. The new facilities will offer courses for a range of Panasonic Solutions products, including digital systems, network communications platforms, applications, and document solutions.

“We are very pleased to be part of this new training centre for our Document( Solutions, and we are already considering expanding to include other products in the future” says Brennan Peyton, Senior Manager, Panasonic Document Solutions.

The New training centre, located in Newport, Wales, just off junction 28 of the M4, provides delegates with ease of access from anywhere within Europe, with two airports near by. As many of the multi-day courses will include a large number of visitors within the UK, a full range of Hotel facilities are readily available. ■ www.panasonic.co.uk

West Yorkshire Police Clear Mountain Of Invoices The West Yorkshire Police (WYP) have turned to I.R.I.S., a market leader in Intelligent Document Management and Optical Character Recognition to find a solution that could efficiently scan, digitise and archive over 80,000 invoices received each year. IRISCapture Pro for Invoices 8.5 detects and extracts all key financial information from the invoices. The invoices can then be matched against orders in the procurement system and, if approved, processed for payment. IRISCapture Pro 8.5 for Invoices saves time compared to the previous manual methods employed, and frees up office space.

80,000 invoices equates to three full filing cabinets!

The invoices are archived digitally and stored within a Data Management System (DMS). Users can enter key words to pull up requested information in a matter of seconds. The WYP finance department is now able to respond to enquiries promptly as without mountains of paper to search through, retrieving a document is virtually instantaneous. The IM World: News from around the globe

DMS is also integrated within the police force accounting system, matching invoice data to accounting records.

IRISCapture Pro 8.5 for Invoices creates fully searchable and editable documents which are imported to any accounting, ERP of workflow package. The user is able make any adjustments or amendments, add in missed information, or correct mistakes which may have otherwise been missed.

Bruno Gnagnarella, the UK account manager for I.R.I.S., stated, "The West Yorkshire Police have been so pleased with IRISCapture Pro for invoices that they are hoping to extend OCR capabilities to other applications withinFinance, including various handwritten 'form s which are currently completed manually". ■ www.irislink.com [IDMi hopes to bring you a review and/or test report on the I.R.I.S. software during 2009. Ed.] www.greensheetmedia.com

PRODUCTION SCANNERS

ASSURANCE PROGRAMME <

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WORKGROUP SCANNERS fi-5530C2

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ScanSnap S300M ScanSnap S300

What makes a good family?

You can rely on every single member.

By partnering Fujitsu you are in safe hands and can rely on us and our product family members. With decades of experience, market and technology leadership", Fujitsu scanners are state-of-the-art.

Fujitsu has exactly the scanner that suits your specific needs.

r.m ilk-and-ho ney.de

How can reliability be even safer?

By having the right assurance. By partnering with Fujitsu you will have the opportunity to opt into our Assurance Programme, the manufacturer supported warranty and maintenance offering available on Fujitsu scanners. In addition to the standard warranty provision a series of warranty options and upgrades w ill be available as well as Out of Warranty cover for existing scanners. Simply said: A good family unit.

For further information on regional coverage and all AP products please visit http://emea.fujitsu.com/scanners * Infosource Scanner M arket Report Spring 2006

Fujitsu the

possibilities

are

infinite

All names, manufacturer names, brand and product designations are subject to special trademark rights and are manufacturer's trademarks and/or registered brands of their respective owners. All indications are non-binding. Technical data is subject to change without prior notification.

IM World:

NEWS IN BRIEF goDough Well Adopted Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions, has announced that goDough, its state-of-the-art mobile banking solution, has been adopted by 103 of its core financial institution clients. goDough is the browser-based solution developed internally by Jack Henry & Associates, introduced in November 2007, and now supporting subscribers of 34 mobile service carriers. www.iackhenrv.com

continued _ _ Michael Cunnie Joins Anydoc

CFO's Get Gladiator Gladiator Technology, the ProfitStars® solution that operates as a managed security services provider (MSSP) exclusively for financial institutions nationwide, has announced the release of its eSAT™ (Electronic Security Awareness Training) program enhancement designed exclusively for financial institutions’ boards of directors.

The program was originally designed to help financial institutions comply with the provisions of the GrammLeach-Bliley Act (GLBA) which require periodic information security training for bank per­ sonnel. www.aladiatortechnoloav.com

PLANT A TREE W ITH AVERY: How Can I Help?

AnyDoc Software, a leading provider of automated document, data capture, and classification solutions, has announced that Michael Cunnie is the latest addition to their Application Solutions Group as the Solutions Account Executive for the Eastern U.S. region.

“The idea is to aim for the home runs versus going after singles and doubles, and with Michael joining the ASG, I am confident that numerous enterprise opportunities will come to fruition from his experience and expertise,” Welan continued.

In this new role, Cunnie will seek out and respond to complex enterprise deals and target emerging markets such as insurance notice and mortgage loan processing. “We are confident that our reseller channel will continue to be a successful staple of our business, but our goal in the Application Solutions Group is to go above and beyond the deals our resellers have been focused on,” said Jeffrey Welan, vice president of the Application Solutions Group (ASG).

Cunnie has a solid sales background with more than 10 years’ experience in the enterprise content management (ECM) industry. Prior to AnyDoc, Cunnie serviced solutions including accounts payable and accounts receivable for Brainwarei and also has worked closely with AnyDoc resellers.

He also spent seven years with Scantron in the commercial sector where he was the top sales representative for multiple years. ■ vyvyw.anydPPgpftyvgre.cQm

Gartner 'Positive' For Crawford Crawford Technologies announced that Gartner, Inc., the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry, rated the company “positive” in its Marketscope for Automated Document Factory 2.0 Software report1.

CrawfordTech offers Automated Document Factory (ADF) solutions for both large and medium size production print environments.

CrawfordTech will be exhibiting its ADF solutions at the Vision Events Print & Imaging Summit, 3-5 December 2008 in Bonita Springs, FL.

“ADF systems have always suffered from interface and integration challenges, especially in organizations with mixed production hardware and software solutions.” said Stephen D. Poe, CrawfordTech VP of Product Management. “Our five product families’ ability to interface with each other and other vendors’ products, combined with our cross-platform competence, allow us to easily integrate into any organization’s existing ADF infrastructure, bringing new features and functions”. ■ 1 Gartner, Inc. ''M arketscope for Automated Document Factory 2.0 Software" by Peter

See 'Plant A Tree With Avery' on the right.

“CrawfordTech is proud to have been one of the vendors evaluated by Gartner for its ADF 2.0 Marketscope report and receive a “positive” Vendor Rating” said Ernie Crawford, President of CrawfordTech. ”

Simply look out for the unique voucher code in a wide range of promotional packs of Avery Eco-Friendly Laser Addressing Labels, Recycled Labels and various Laser ID Labels throughout 2009. Then redeem your code on the dedicated microsite: www.nature.averv.eu For every code you enter, Avery will ensure that a tree is planted in Kenya through the Green Belt Movement. Once you've redeemed your code, be sure to check out the ‘growth meter’ on the microsite, which will keep track of the number of new trees planted. ■ www.averv.co.uk

Plant A Tree With Avery Avery has joined forces with international environmental organisation the Green Belt Movement to give you the opportunity to help protect the planet by planting 100,000 new trees in Kenya.

zJ GSM:053.08

Basilliere and Ken Weilerstein, December 2, 2008.

www.crawfordtech.com www.qartner.com

Founded in 1977 by Wangari Maathai, the first environmentalist and the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, the Green Belt Movement has planted over 40 million trees, increasing forest coverage, conserving biodiversity and helping to provide income and sustenance to hundreds of thousands of Kenyan people. Now, you can contribute to natural history by working with Avery to ‘Help Us Plant 100,000 New Trees’, giving you the chance to better your IM World: News from around the globe

workplace, the environment and also help rural communities throughout Kenya.

Avery Eco-Friendly Labels also benefit from FSC-certification, as they are made with paper sourced from well-managed forests and are recyclable as part of your paper waste. With Recycled Labels made from 100% recycled material, Avery offers you an* even greater choice as these labels contain an environmentally-friendly, water-based adhesive and are bleached chlorine free. All this means that you reap the benefits of using innovative, premium-quality labels whilst also contributing to a better planet. ■ See box on left for how YOU can help! www.averv.co.uk www.greensheetmedia.com

Advertising Feature

KODAK ANNOUNCES: BUSINESS PROCESS SERVICES FOR EUROPE Our Capabilities • Multiple hub centers in China and Malysia • 24x7; 365 days non-stop service • Languages including English, Chinese and Japanese • Services including data entry, card printing and document warehousing

Security Is Our Priority • ISO accreditation ISO9001 : 2000 • Secured site design e.g. CCTV surveillance • Dedicated operation room design, with smart card access etc.

• Data encryption during data transmission • Firewall protection • Back-up server and power generator to ensure undisturbed operation

Kodak has for many years operated BPS (Business Process Services) centres located in the greater Asia region. Within the European region, Kodak continues to support this already well established infra­ structure, providing innovative technologies and products into this market segment.

Throughout that period Kodak has been a leading player for imaging innovation and range of products.

Today, Kodak has the most extensive array of imaging products available from any manufacturer.

Kodak is now further extending its offerings to include offshore BPS services. Offshore BPS is an opportunity for Kodak customers to take advantage of Kodak China's estab­ lished BPS centre, providing not only great value, but excellent quality adhering to all the Kodak image and index quality demands.

U : Current custom* from-image ratej ters per second curacy.

re enjoying key­ set 3 characan 99.6% ac- \

• Real-time productivity monitoring • Technology enabled tools e.g. OCR, ICR for productivity enhancement

Kodak BPS is a fully owned and operated Kodak facility, so you can rest easy on any employment issues sometimes associated with the Asia region.

The model is simple; the customers are yours, the paper management and scan­ ning is yours, but we ask you to consider Kodak when it comes to the indexing and manipulation of index and images once digit­ ised.

Key Applications

You name the process and Kodak will be able to provide or design it, using it's in house specialists.

• Credit card applications • Loan applications • Invoice processing • Airway-Bill processing • Births, Deaths & Marriages • Records digitisation • Claims processing • Membership/Credit cards • Image cleaning • Image cropping

Security is an obvious concern when consid­ ering offshore services. The Kodak facilities have secure data lines, keycard entry sys­ tems, constant CCTV coverage, and pro­ cesses that ensure all operators are free of any personal capture or similar devices.

Another concern in dealing with offshore ser­ vices is the time you or your organisation may need to spend managing each out- gj| source. Kodak has local UK account man­ agement, and excellent English speaking personnel in Asia, mostly based in Hong Kong.

Our China services so time differences s issue. / With the leveraging of its low cost infra­ structure and resources, Kodak BPS (China and Malaysia) are able to deliver a parallel, scalable, reliable and secured off­ shore outsourcing service - globally. Toge­ ther with our outsourcing networks in the Asia Pacific Region, including Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Japan, Kodak BPS is able to offer a variety of services tailored to your needs.

For more information please contact: David Brown Kodak EAMER Business Services Director Document Imaging J Tel: 07885 295 617 (Mobile) Email: david.J.Brown@kodak.com

Kodak

A Brief HkstdRB dt T h r Green Sheet The Green Sheet has been 'Keeping’ You Inform ed' since 2002, but prior to that, its history stretches back to the moon landing year of 1969 1969

1986

,

2002

iEgen Shi SI

Managing Editor John Baker looks back at the history of the publication. 2009 brings not only the change of name to IDMi, but also the opportun­ ity to celebrate 40 years of in­ formation management in­ dustry news coverage.

In The Beginning ....

It would be my guess that when Mitch Badler compiled and sent out the first trial edition of his Micrographics Newsletter (MN) way back in June 1969, he would have had no idea that the publication would survive various iterations, and STILL be a major publication within the information management industry some 40 years on.

I would like to pass on my thanks to Mitch for having the vision to create the newsletter in the first place. As you will read here, MN has contributed greatly to where our publication is today.

At a time when most Americans must have been focussing their attention on the forthcoming Apollo-11 launch, Mitch was hard at work preparing the trial issue of MN. The Green Sheet nickname came from the fact that the printer did a special deal for the newsletter, which resulted in it being printed on green paper. Over time therefore, it became known as 'The Green Sheet'.

GS 053.1 0

Over the years Green Sheet became accepted as THE information source for all things microfilm related, and as the industry changed, the magazine became more involved in document management news, and began to cover the upstart 'scanning'.

New Kid On The Block Jump forward to 1986 and another space milestone which saw 7 astronauts killed in the Challenger Disaster, Chernobyl blowing up and raising further concern about the safety of nucle­ ar power, and most importantly for me, the birth of my daughter Angela.

In the same year, the then managing director of the Microfilm Shop in central England,.(John Negus,) started a publication called Micrographics Marketplace (MM). This was not only to provide a marketing vehicle for his own range of microfilm consumables, but also to spread the word about microfilm in general.

Following a similar path to MN in the USA, MM, edited by Tim Nixon from its inception, went from strength to strength. Again following the transition from microfilm to electronic based systems, the UK publication also hosted shows and seminars.

Mergers & Acquisitions By 2002, electronic document management was the 'hot topic', and the two titles merged. As microfilm was no longer the main thrust of the editorial, the name Green Sheet was chosen as it presented a more neutral name, with no particular preference for technology.

The Green Sheet doubled its circulation with the merger, and it also took on a more global appeal, by going out to over 100 countries.

All Change Again When I took over running the Green Sheet in late 2 00 6,1 changed the editorial direction slightly, with a remit to cover the entire range of what we know as Information Management.

The introduction of new developments and features during 2007 and 2008, have seen the publication grow further, to provide test reports, re­ views, and specialist focus on certain market sectors such as SharePoint and Healthcare.

The Directory Around 2004 the magazine owners bought the rights to the GG Baker Directory. Gerald Baker, well known for his regular in-depth publications analysing the microfilm industry, (the most famous of which was the 'Micrographics Yearbook',) transferred his directory to the

A Brief History of: The Green Sheet

Green Sheet. It has now progressed from being HTML based, to a more dynamic online database. Along with the magazine and web site, it is destined to grow further as we continue to explore new avenues to continue our credo of 'Keeping You Informed'.

The Future In 2009 Green Sheet sees a further change of name, and be­ comes IDMi, which means 'Information and Document Management international'. The reasons for the change will be well documented in our next is­ sue, (February/March,) but suffice to say that we are all looking forward to continuing our success into 2009, and also to celebrating 40 years in publica­ tion come September.

Thank you for your support through the years. It has been an exceptional journey from the days when a microfilm newsletter was 'one small step for one man, but one giant leap for information management', (as we knew it back then).

John Baker can be emailed at iohnbaker@ areensheetm edia.com

Back copies of Green Sheet and Micrographic Marketplace are available on request. www.greensheetmedia.com

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From Cold W ar

Doc S tore

Milton Keynes based storage specialist, LINPAC Storage System s, has recently com pleted an archive storage facility for Supporta Professional Services at Heyford Park in O x fo rd s h ire .....

The 9,200 sq.ft, unit is not the usual storage facility. Upper Heyford was established as a Royal Fighter Command aerodrome in 1915. The site then became an RAF bomber station in the 1920's and 30's.

Not long after WWII, the US Air Force (USAF) leased the air base from the Ministry Of Defence (MoD) as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) alliance.

By the mid-1970's the F-111E, "Aardvark" fighter bombers were stationed there and 56 ‘bomb proof shelters were built to house these planes.

The USAF closed its operation in 1994, at which time the site was returned to the MoD. Following a period of uncertainty when various usage options were considered, the site has been turned over to commercial enterprise.

Michael Watts, Head of GS:053.12

Operations for Supporta Professional Services takes up the story, “We wanted a secure facility to house the confidential archive documents of our clients and these Cold War aircraft shelters seemed ideal.

“There were a number of obstacles to overcome, not least the fact that these structures have significant historical value.

As a consequence, we have worked closely with English Heritage to preserve the integrity of the unit, whilst transforming it into a high security archive for our clients’ storage of documents.”

Initially, Supporta asked four racking and shelving companies to tender for the unusual project.

They chose LINPAC Storage Systems to work with for several reasons. Watts again, “Having a UK manufacturing operation based in Milton Keynes close to our site was very appealing. We

knew that one of the LINPAC team was always close by and throughout the duration of the project we were continually impressed by the communication from them.

“Through this close consultation we were able to increase the storage capacity in the unit from 59,000 to 66,000 standard boxes (41.0 x 35.0 x 26.5cm) - a 12% improvement. The storage equipment is a very snug fit within the structure and there is absolutely no wasted space. To ensure a good working environment for our staff we have thought very carefully about lighting.

“Whilst we weren’t allowed to remove the original lights, we have been able to install bright modern lighting and air conditioning to maintain a constant temperature and humidity in the building. This is vitally important to preserve the

Case Study: LINPAC & Supporta

condition of our clients’ material.

“The boxes are stored in a multi­ tier shelving system comprising of three levels. It is serviced by two pallet gates at the front of the structure which enable the fork lift truck to deliver bulk loads to the first and second levels.

LINPAC have done a remarkable job to maximise the roof space. The shelving structure follows the contour of the arched roof literally from wall to wall thanks to some bespoke engineering for the uprights.

“The new facility has become our flagship shelter and when we show it to our customers it is_ abundantly clear that they are impressed with not only the security, accessibility and efficiency of it, but also its unique nature." concludes Watts. ■

www.greensheetmedia.com

TITLE: Complete Idiot's Guide to Lean Six Sigma AUTHOR: Breakthrough Management Group with Neil DeCarlo PUBLISHER: Alpha Press YEAR: 2007 EDITION: 1 ISBN: 978-1-59257-594-7 PAGES: 378 ILLUS.: Graphics only WEB: www.idiotsauides.com REVIEW: Six Sigma is not a term that immediately comes to mind when thinking about or talking about business, and yet the very terms 'lean' and 'six sigma' underpin two of the most important skills used in the total improvement ethic that many compan­ ies employ today.

(Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Con­ trol,) and it appears that we all know more about Six Sigma than we realise.

"You have to pick the best ones [projects] first, and go from there."

'Lean is a body of knowledge and tools or­ With origins dating back to the skilled crafts­ ganisations use to .... remove all waste from their processes'. men of the nineteenth century, the first formal Six Sigma approach was utilised at Providing a fascinating journey through the Guiness Brewery by W.S. Gosset. By the process of analysis and reaction to analysing quality data, he formulated a problems, the aim is to improve to as high plan to further improve the companies a level as possible. Most project people quality and in turn, business processes. know that 90% of effort goes towards 99% of project success. With the techniques v^Part of the concept is based on DMAIC

A

. « iii

learned in Lean Six Sigma, you have enough at your disposal to take the project to 100% complete AND ensure that the system or process will run at optimum effi­ ciency, with minimum waste, and a maximised cost efficiency. ■ / --------------------------------------------------------N GS EDITORS VIEW Extremely well written, well thought out, and with the inherent ability to explain each step in the analysis process, and to guide the reader through not only the analysis, but the formulation of the solut­ ion too. This is an essential read for managers and project managers alike, with something for everyone to learn from. Essential skills for the future.

RATING: © © © © © 5/5 100%

TITLE: Teach Yourself Business Plans in 24 Hours AUTHOR: Michael Miller PUBLISHER: Alpha Press YEAR: 2002 EDITION: 2 ISBN: 0-02-864216-3 PAGES: 395 ILLUS.: Graphics only (minimal) WEB: www.idiotsguides.com REVIEW: 'Anyone can plan to fail, but only a fool will fail to plan.', as the saying goes. This book takes you through all that you need to know to produce an informative, accurate and easy to read and understand business plan.

Split into 24 chapters each taking about an hour to complete, you can see where the title comes from. Each step along the way takes you through various forms of business analysis, what the final business plan will include and how it will be laid out, through printing and presentation, and finally actually putting the plan to work.

With lending and investment so hard to

come by in these uncertain times, it does make sense to have a plan, even if yours is not a new venture.

"Every business needs a plan."

The terminology used throughout is couched in such terms that you do not need to be a chartered accountant or exper­ ienced CFO to understand it. Indeed the main thrust of the book is the myriad of other information you need to gather and present in order to produce the 'financials'.

Analysing your market and its potential is key to any business, as is the requirement to analyse your audience. (Bankers, in­ vestors, board members etc.)

How to actually write and present the plan is almost as important as the profit [Or loss. Ed.] figures. A poorly written and/or badly presented BP will lie at the bottom of the heap. As with a resume, you have to make a good first impression. ■ GS EDITORS VIEW Wow! I wish I had read this book years ago. I might have been much more suc­ cessful in my various ventures. It is an excellent step-by-step and no-nonsense guide to how to present what is prob­ ably the most important (business) doc­ ument you will ever write in your life.

You will undoubtedly impress the bank and investors/partners if you follow this.

RATING: © © © © © 5/5 100%

r

EMBASE QUOSA Partnership

Focugj Oin: i m _LJ I

I

1 « 1

UK Trust Speeds Up Invoice Processing ■Dorset County Hospital, one of the leading NHS Foundation Trusts in the UK, is implementing document management and imaging software from Version One to speed-up the processing of 50,000 purchase invoices each year and free-up document storage space. These new systems are expected to go-live to up to 150 users in early 2009.

By using Version One’s software tightly integrated into its Infor Smartstream accounting system, Dorset County Hospital will significantly reduce the time-consuming manual entry of purchase invoice data and will also be able to electronically store and retrieve purchase invoices directly from its Smartstream system.

In addition, using Version One’s Windows Document Capture Interface, Dorset will be able to capture any on-screen document and automatically store the document image to the Version One archive.

Kevin Goater, Acting Director Of Finance from Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust says, ‘‘We currently have to manually key-in data regarding our 5,000 suppliers which is very laborious, costly and prone to error. Document storage is also a problem as it is a statutory requirement for us to keep our paid invoices for five years which results in a tremendous amount of filing space being taken up. Version One’s software, which we selected due to its tight integration with Infor Smartstream and solid reputation, will reduce manual data entry by up to 75%, eliminate data entry errors and will allow us to free-up document storage space.”

Using a Kodak i160 scanner and Version One’s software, all purchase invoices and credit notes arriving into Dorset County Hospital will be scanned centrally, tagged to the appropriate record in the Infor Smartstream accounting system and electronically stored. Version One’s OCR technology will automatically capture purchase invoice data, significantly reducing manual data entry. In addition, with Smartstream’s workflow module used in conjunction with Version One’s DbArchive storage system, invoice approvers will be able to view and approve invoices directly from their PCs, further enhancing purchase-to-pay efficiency.

Goater comments, “Document Imaging technology is now an essential part of any accounts payable department. Once in place, we will no longer have to search through filing cabinets for invoices as we will be able to instantly retrieve them, within seconds, from the desktop. We will also enjoy faster payment processing, enabling us to pay our suppliers in a more timely fashion. In addition, Version One’s software will support our green agenda and help us to comply with any future environmental legislation.” ■ www.versionone.co.uk GSM:053.14

EMBASE®, Elsevier’s biomedical and pharmaceutical abstract and indexing database, has announced that it has partnered with QUOSA™ to enable mutual customers to download and manage the full text of EMBASE.com search results via a newly established EMBASE.com channel in QUOSA Information Manager.

QUOSA Information Manager boosts journal retrieval, search and management efficiency for individual users through post­ search automated full article retrieval, article organization and specialized full-text searching. It has proven an indispensable tool for extracting key information from full text quickly and more easily, for example, kinetic parameters, microarray data, adverse events and toxicity data. In combination with QUOSA Virtual Library, the partnership enables expert searches on EMBASE.com to be integrated into an easy-touse current awareness and literature access solution for larger groups.

Michael Rai, Director of Elsevier’s Pharmaceutical Development Group, comments, “The partnership between EMBASE.com and QUOSA opens up new possibilities and will no doubt help QUOSA users enhance their productivity and boost efficiency. It will now be much easier to navigate from the results of EMBASE.com searches to the full text, which is seen as one important step to integrate critical information into a user’s daily workflow.”

EMBASE.com combines EMBASE and MEDLINE on one platform, providing users with timely and comprehensive access to pharmacological and biomedical literature. It contains records from over 7.000 journals published in more than 70 countries. Over 19 million bibliographic records are included with more than 2.000 new records added every working day. Users can navigate from citations to full text from the world’s leading scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishers.

Focus On: Healthcare

“The integration of EMBASE.com as a channel for use with the QUOSA Information Manager and Virtual Library literature management application has been invaluable in our development of a Medical eLibrary Services group,” according to Amyas Huston, Senior Manager Medical Communications, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “The combined functionality allows our group to conduct searches against both the EMBASE and MEDLINE bibliographic databases, retrieve selected articles and provide a literature document repository for copyright-compliant webbased access of publications to internal colleagues.”

Used extensively by the pharmaceutical industry, EMBASE.com retrieves information to support such tasks as: new drug development and discovery of new applications for existing drugs, drug safety and pharmacovigilance procedures, legislative and regulatory compliance, clinical trial program management, Pl/Supplementary Protection Certificates and IB writing and regulatory filing documentation such as New Drug Applications (NDAs).

“We are very pleased to have added EMBASE.com to our supported channels, following on from our earlier support of Scopus,” says Malcolm MacKenzie, President of QUOSA. “EMBASE.com users can now benefit from the full power of our literature workflow solution, serving not only the information specialist’s own needs, but also providing superior current awareness and literature management for project teams and the wider organization.” ■ www.elsevier.com

HEALTHCARE NEWS, ARTICLES & CASE STUDIES WANTED

EMAIL NOW!

www.greensheetmedia.com

GSM Document Scanner Guide (Up To A3)

■S

|

B&W /

2

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GSM Document Scanner Guide (Up To A3) Continued

odak (continued)

kleindienst Microtek

Panasonic

p lu s te k

Ricoh

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B&W / Colour BW + C BW BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW -t- C BW BW + C BW + C BW + C BW BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW + C BW

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300 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 300 300 600 300 600 600 600 600 2400 4800 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 1200 1200 600 600 600 600 1200 600 1200 1200 1200 600 1600 600 600 600 600 400 600 400 300 400 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600

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All inform ation provided as a guide only. Please contact the suppliers / m anufacturers to verify data.

SPECIAL NOTICE All of the com parison guides will continue as normal when the Green Sheet m agazine title becomes IDMi (Inform ation and Docum ent M anagem ent international) as from the next issue. (February/M arch)

GSM Microfilm Writer Guide o

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O ptions Include: 300 dpi resolution. Stacker. Duplicator. Collator. Packager.

16 & 35mm roll Aw aiting Data Aw aiting Data MD

AD

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Inform ation Imaging N ew E n try

1219

905

660

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O ther Features: M etadata program choices, plus electronic indexing o f all data recorded on each roll of film .

1

O ptions Include: Kodak

16mm roll

i9600 Series

24X, 40X

1196

8 5 - 170 ipm

615

810 159

O ther Features: Accepts 2 film cassettes for sim ultaneous production o f two sets o f output with no reduction in speed. T ext file index can be merged into an enterprise database.

Options Include: Model 9610 with output speeds o f 85 ipm at 24X and 200 ipm at 40X. Model 9620 with output speeds o f 170 ipm at 2 4 X and 400 ipm at 40X. M icrobox

CADMIC

| Aperture C a rds!

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Microbox

35mm roll

Polycom M icroPrinter

1, 16 or 64 images per frame.

260

400dpi

350

630

36

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16 & 35mm roll Variable to record A5 to A2 input

Model 51

60 ipm

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1050

1200

900

80

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|

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|

|

|

11200 | 2000 j900 j 180

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Staude

|

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1320

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W icks & W ilson

35 cards/hr

400dpi

Via PC running W indows 98, NT or 2000.

650

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Options Include: Zeutschel OP 500 N ew E n try

16 & 35mm roll Variable to record AO o r up to 64 images per fram e

Up to 1200 fram es per hour

900dpi

N etwork com patible 1500

1280

780 190

O ther Features: Standard m icrofilm b&w or colour, film density 1.0, resolution more than 120lp/m m for all standard file form ats, autom atic fa d e in of meta data, up to 3-level-blip, autom atic page num bering system, variable m ask and film step, autom atic fade in o f file name, O ptions Include: Daylight cassette up to 300m fo r film loading and receiving, autom atic film cutting at the end o f the job, wide range o f autom atic im age processing tools for perfect im age and batch conversion All information provided as a guide only. Contact the suppliers / manufacturers to verify data.

GSM Test Reports & Reviews C ategory Hardware

D is trib u to r, P u b lish e r etc.

Wicks and Wilson Canon CubeByte

Software

Books E&OE

Canon windream Crisp Documents ABBYY MindJet Alpha Press Alpha Press

Item Aperture Card Scanner Scanner Security Lock Microfilm Scanner windream vPDF Fine Reader OCR 8.0 Mind Manager The Idiots Guide To Project Management The Idiots Guide To Knowledge Management

T est R e p o rt o r Review

Detail

Review

C-Drive X DR-2510C

Test Report Revievy

MS 800

Review Review Review Long Term Test Review

8.0 I

Review Review

Iss. 48 49 50

Rating (If A p p lica b le ) 8.5/10

52 48 48 51

8/10 10/10 6/10 9/10 8/10 N/A

52 52 52

TBA 8/10 8/10

Scanning Update: P art 4 Another instalment in the series on document and microfilm scanning and their commercial and archive applications Scanning Update: The Series Overview (Issues 50+51) Office Documents (52+53) Drawings (54) Microfilm Scanning (54) Microfilm Writing (55) Future Trends (55) Utopia (56)

In part 3 we were very tight for space despite running to 48 pages. In this issue we continue to discuss the scan­ ning of 'office documents'.

A Million Reasons To ....

Get it Right First Time Before going into the detail of 'what to do next', let's consider The series finishes with a spe­ some of the options the bureau cial article called 'Utopia' might have suggested to you. which follows a document in Let’s also throw in some detail from creation to de­ factors to help you avoid grief struction. ■ when the job is under way.

John Baker Managing Editor, GSM iohnbaker@ areensheetmedia.com

There can be light at the end of the tunnel.

Plan your scanning project well in advance!

Before embarking on this largescale back-scanning exercise, you, as the customer, need to drive the project.

Unless you have agreed a low scan rate per thousand on the basis that the bureau will do your work to 'fill in' when they are not busy, YOU need to set expectations of the bureau.

In selecting your appointed contractor you (or your contracts or purchasing department) should already have carried out some form of audit or due diligence on the contractor. (The subject of a future article.)

The response to your request for a quote may include terms covering: - preparation rates (such as per thousand or per hour) - scanning the reverse side of a document (and what to do if it is blank) - scan on receipt of a request to retrieve a document in storage awaiting scanning - amount of indexing data to be captured - final format of data to be presented back to you (as a deliverable) - overall service level expected once the job is under way - set-up fees - other terms In turn and in b rie f....

Preparation Rates: Normally per thousand documents or per hour. Watch for clever wording which lands you with prep 'per image'. The bureau handles the document once but charges for both sides!

Personally I would try to go for 'per thousand', based on a

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representative sample of the job.

Scanning Reverse Side: Is a bit of a grey area. Some documents will not need to be scanned on the reverse side, some will have relatively unimportant data such as hand­ written notes, and some will need scanned because it is important to prove there was, or was not anything printed or written on the reverse.

If documents are to be securely destroyed after scanning, it is an important consideration.

The bureau should be able to cater for any of the above situations.

If the reverse of a simple document is blank, the bureau can bulk-delete according to a simple formulae which determines if it is a scan of blank sheet, or a sheet with data on it. So-called 'threshold' deletion. Other combinations need to be discussed and agreed at an early stage.

Scan On Retrieve: Is when you need a document which is in storage awaiting scanning.

If your retrieval system is up and running and live, you can ask the bureau to scan within an agreed service level time and cost, and they only need to only send the electronic document back to you. Ready for import into your new system, this has the advantage that any corresponding workflow or additional documents in relation to the original, then come under the auspice of your electronic rather than manual filing system.

You set the rules according to your own requirements.

Indexing Data: This can be simple or complex, and will greatly depend on the complexity of your document retrieval system.

At its simplest, the unique identifier against the image file (or files) is all that is needed. At it most complex, you may require intelligent (machine readable) or other indexing to be pulled off of the document manually. The requirement will vary greatly according to what

Scanning Update: Part 4

you are scanning and what you are going to do with the document when it is scanned and in your system.

An adequate description of what the document actually is about should also be considered. (e.g.

Supplier, dates, items purchased etc.)

Unless you are able to tie the unique number back to another integrated database to retrieve additional data, you may be left with an incomplete picture of what the document consists of.

Final Data Format: Very important for bulk-loading or bulk-importing both data and image files into your retrieval system.

Again dependent on what the requirements are for your system, get the bureau to do a sample to be sure THEY understand what it is you need.

Overall Service Level: This should also be agreed up­ front. Typical questions to ask are if they (the bureau) can cope within their other production requirements, what happens in the evnet of equipment failure, staff shortages etc., etc. Get the bureau to agree at least minimum expectations with penalties if they seriously foulup your throughput.

Don't forget to specify how the job is to come back to you. (e.g.

CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, USB Drive, FTP, etc.)

Set-up Fees: I have seen these used as a means of extracting extra cash for low value or low profit jobs.

Caveat Emptor! Many bureaus work from templates and unless your job is a complex one - they probably already have the paperwork and their own systems set up.

Other Terms: More creative account managers will give you good value with extras which help you. Some will just serve to confuse.

If it were my job being scanned, I would be asking a bo ut: - insurance during ... ► GSM:053.19

Scanning Update: Part 4 (Continued) transportation - physical access and fire security during transport - integrity/security rating of staff - storage conditions such as physical access, temperature and humidity (depending on the type of job) Best Approach 1. Agree a SLA with a bullet list of all of the points of concern.

2. Ask for a reference from one or more existing (and current) customers too.

The Million Documents When people talk about the accuracy of computers, they actually mean the accuracy of the data the computer has to work with. The so-called GIGO principal applies. (Garbage In = Garbage Out).

Index information is key to the retrieval of any scanned image, or indeed, the consistent and accurate retrieval of any file held against that database, and regardless of whether or not it was scanned or originated as an electronic source document.

In our example scenario we are assuming that the million documents to be scanned are: - in sequence - not badly curled - reasonably easy to index - reasonably easy to prepare - batched for scanning In bullet point above the terms are innocuous, but in reality each in turn can seriously affect the efficiency and/or cost of the exercise. LEts briefly look at each of the points in turn.

In Sequence Most documents are received in random order, but filed in some form of order. If it were accounts payable it may be that there is a 'folio' number system in operation, accounts receivable would likely be by invoice number. Whatever your hard copy filing system comprises, there must be some semblance of order. (If not stop now and sort the documents out first. Remember GIGO.) This is a back-scanning GSM:053.20

project, so all/most of the documents will either be the same type, or if not, at least presented for scanning by document type, and in the order the hard copy filing system held them. If this were a scan on receipt project, the actual order in which the documents are scanned is less important, but obviously scanning like-withlike is much more efficient than scanning different document types. (And having to adjust settings or orientation between scans.)

'You can't stop people handling docum ents......â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Now we have established that our documents are in sequence, lets pick a document type to run through the rest of the steps. We will select accounts payable (or supplier) invoices, and for the sake of argument, lets also assume we are using a folio numbering system.

Not Badly Curled Many back scanning projects suffer delays and extra cost because the original sample of documents submitted as a trial were not truly representative of the entire archive. Purchase invoices do tend to be retrieved frequently when first received, then that frequency reduces as the bill is paid, and ultimately the document lies dormant in a folder, file or box. Beware of 'the box' storage system. For some strange reason, some office workers have an aversion to filing. They would rather spend hours (or days!) looking for a badly stored document in any one of a large quantity of badly indexed/marked boxes, rather than spend a second of two placing the document into a file or folder, and THEN into a box. Further to that, some office workers think it quite normal to

roll documents up into a tight cylinder and then band the whole together.

Not good practice.

index might be: 080 (for a purchase invoice) 001 (for head office) 3462 (the folio number)

You can't stop people handling documents, but you can at least make sure the scanner operator has a sporting chance of the paper dropping out of the scanner in a straight line. (If at all!)

This is indexed in full as: 080001-3462

Scanning should almost be a case of 95% preparation, 5% perspiration, and not the other way around. No point in getting the best scanning price if you are going to blow the budget on unnecessary preparation to get the documents 'fit for purpose'.

[Scanning that is ] Preparation for scanning begins months or sometimes years before the document is scanned. It begins the minute the post is opened. Lay flat and keep flat, stays flat! Keep documents in folders or files BEFORE putting your valuable corporate asset into storage.

(And yes, even the humble invoice from Joe Bloggs The Plumber is an 'asset'. This asset will lessen your tax liability, and if indexed, stored and retrievable - saves the company money when it comes to the point of actually scanning the document.

'Consider the factors that determ ine the uniqueness of identifying a d o c u m e n t.'

Reasonably Easy To Index Many years ago I came across a term called 'Terminal Digit Indexing'. It worked on a similar principal to the Dewey (library) system, where there is a primary, secondary and 'terminal' sequence of digits.

For

example

Scanning Update: Part 4

the

document

All well and good, but only if you have the capacity to remember 999 (or more) primary classifications, plus a further 999 (or more) secondary classifications. We can't possibly remember all of that data, and wouldn't be expected to either. But the system has one great value computers can handle it, and what's more, it is a numeric sort which is much quicker than alpha, alpha-numeric, or numeric-alpha. [Easier to read and more accurate too. Ed.] OK you will get to know certain numbers if you retrieve or index them all of the time, and if your business or organisation is small enough, you might only need the folio part of the numbering to make the document unique.lt is this uniqueness that makes the document viable for indexing into the new system when the scanning work is on-going.

When deciding on the fitness for purpose of your existing indexing system, also consider the future. Your company or organisation might be quite small just now, but hopefully things will change expansion will occur. In future it might be decided to split (say) manufacturing and storage/logistics. This helps the accountants and managers manage the departmental figures more easily, but unless you allocate specific sets of folio numbers to a department the data will be mixed and separation made difficult if not^ impossible at a later stage.

Consider the factors that determine the uniqueness of identifying a document. Also consider that if you start indexing in advance of the scanning cycle, â&#x2013;ş www.greensheetmedia.com

Scanning Update: Part 4 (Continued) you will have information which you can pass on to the scanning bureau so they can in turn use the data not only for indexing into whatever the agreed format is, but also so they might use it for batch control and production planning or reporting.

Reasonably Easy To Prepare Preparation for scanning is not just about bureau staff sitting at tables removing staples and bands and orienting documents at your expense. (You did account for that part didn't you?)

Preparation can be planned and performed many years in advance of the actual need to scan.

When thinking about back scanning source documents it is worth considering the structure of the existing filing system, and its suitability (or otherwise,) for meaningful, speedy and

accurate indexing when the time comes to scan the documents. If your hard copy filing system is set up in a manner which will allow ease and speed of indexing so much the better. If not, start the change now so you are prepared. As with scanning you don't need to do it all at once, roll out the change gradually to minimise the impact on the system and the staff using it. By preparing for scanning well in advance, you will benefit immensely.

This form of what I like to call 'pre-preparation' is essential for large volumes, and is a distinctly different type of preparation to that which will be performed for you by the bureau.

Batched For Scanning This part of the preparation exercise will very much depend on how your filing is organised.

If you store remotely, you will need to retrieve blocks of box numbers to minimise the cost. If you store in-house you can possibly afford to retrieve smaller quantities of boxes. (We are again making large assumptions here: You are getting a bureau to scan the documents, and you are not preparing the documents inhouse.)

In passing 'batches' of documents to the bureau by whatever category you decide, you will not only make it easier for yourself, but also for the bureau. This is particularly important if there is the likelihood of documents having to be retrieved when in the custody of the bureau.

transportation to the bureau, preparation by the bureau and scanning, should be (relatively) straightforward. ■ We will finish documents and consider drawings in Issue 54 as IDMi. John Baker If you would like to comment on this article, please email me at: johnbaker@ greensheetm edia.com You can read the previous 3 parts if you subscribe send

you

the

now. (We will

back

issues

version.)

These articles will also be pub­ lished in e-book form during 2009

By following at least some of the preceding advice, the organisation of documents,

under the title: "Orac's Guide To: Docum ent and

Image Scanning.

Date TBA."

ARCHIVE DIGITISATION TENDER

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MYSTERY SOLVED!

Westminster City Council is seeking to appoint a supplier, through a European Union procurement, who will scan and digitise its archival records and make them available online.

Suitably qualified and interested parties are asked to initially send an email to Laura Hannan at lhannan@westminster.aov.uk by the ,th 12 January 2009, providing a company name, a contact name and an email address All organisations that have made contact by the above date will be emailed a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) which will need to be completed and returned by 12pm (GMT) on the 16th January 2009.

I < ;> * t (024) 7625 4955 www.genusit.com e: info@genusit.com

A&P

International t: (715) 262-5788 www.a-p-international.com e: apintl@centurytel.net

or

provide access to an electronic

Further details, including a copy of the EU Contract Notice can be found at: westminster.aov.uk/Business/Drocurement/

versus

Digitisation with Classification Digitisation is the process by which a hard or soft copy " image is converted into its constituent text and sub­ images (adverts, photographs etc.) and processed into a digital format, predominantly using an OCR engine with human intervention used to correct resultant errors.

exists higher up in the value ladder, and is a more complete proposition. This process takes off from the previous step and goes further to associate tags or meaning to various elements of a page.

For example, Articles, Chapters, Sections, Title, sub­ title, author, caption etc are first

Martin Dickson of O akdene talks us through the difference

would normally require an intellectual aspect to the manual part of this process which can be achieved with trained resources. The turnover time is longer and the process is relatively more expensive than just digitisation but this is an all-encompassing solution which is complete, and can be leveraged for higher revenue

An agreed accuracy can be maintained and the final ‘read’ digital text can be provided in many formats, PDF Image over Text being a popular and logical choice. This means that the image will contain the OCR’d text as an invisible layer underneath it.

This method allows for free text search across the entire page, but without any context. For instance, searching for “Tony Blair” would bring up all pages containing that phrase. It helps the user to the extent of being able to mine a subset of a usually large repository to a hopefully limited number of pages very quickly, within which the user can then discover and read the required context.

This is a first and very significant step towards electronic archiving of printed material and can result in millions of pages of printed material being stored on a few hard disk drives or DVDs and being free text searchable.

More importantly, this would be just the scale of project that early adopters of digitisation might consider undertaking, owing to its relatively quick turnaround time and relatively low cost.

Digitisation with GSM:053.22

Classification

strength of the OCR engine and a favourable print/paper/complexity composition as described below.

From an industrial engineering standpoint, every incremental increase in quality beyond this inflection point results in a disproportionate increase in time and cost.

Factors that affect the cost of Digitisation: 1.Paper quality of the source material 2. Print Quality and type-face 3. Number of Characters/lmages in a page 4. Text Layout Complexity 5. Quality of Scanning 6. Complexity and granularity of classification (if required) 7. Volume Binding 8.Size of the Order

identified from within the text previously OCR'd and corrected, all tagged as such and can then be searched with context.

For instance, it is now possible to search and retrieve all Articles, Chapters, etc where “Tony Blair” appears as an author, image caption or merely as a subject in any section in volumes between specified periods.

As is immediately apparent, this can enable powerful contextspecific searching and information retrieval, that is more specific in nature as compared to just digitisation.

Digitisation with classification

generation now and in the future using the advanced search capabilities that this would support.

The Time-Cost-Quality Connection Customisable digitisation is not just ‘nice to have’, it generates a greater return on investment.

For every component of digitisation, there is a Time (and consequently Cost) factor involved, and this is the main consideration when measuring the quality vs costeffectiveness of the process.

It is readily apparent that the combinations of all of the factors listed above determine the effort, time and type of human intervention required for a digitisation project, which in turn determines costs.

There is scope within the market for both alternatives, but the growing complexity of customer requirements and the continued movement away from hard copy archives would seem to indicate the growth of the classified digitisation offering. ■ Martin Dickson is a Technical Consultant for Oakdene International, one of the pioneers of the classified digitisation process. w w w.oakdeneinternational.com

It is usually possible to achieve an above 80% and sometime up to 95% quality purely on the

Classification

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SMA0/SM A1 AO and A1 Microfilm Cameras

Full SM A RANGE availab le SM A22 A2 Fragile Book/Document Colour Scanner

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SM A21 A1 and A2 Colour Scanner

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SM A32 A2 and A3 Colour Scanner

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— >I A

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

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

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

Cool Technology If you want to keep a cool head when securely archiving precious cultural artifacts and documents, talk to us. We have been provid­ ing state-of-the-art solutions since 1961, and offer complete digital and analog systems for scanning and microfilm technology.

Zeutschel, the future of the past.

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Distributed in United Kingdom by: Mr Brian Graham, BEST-TEC Ltd., Venture House, Arlington Square, Downshire Way. Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1WA, Great Britain.

Phone: 07000 - 785368 Fax: 020 - 7691 9661 lnfoObest-tec.ltd.uk www.best-tec.ltd.uk

ZEUTSCHEL Zeutschel GmbH • Heerweg 2 • D-72070 Tubingen Tel.: +49 (0) 70 71 97 06-0 • Fax: +49 (0) 70 71 97 06 44 infoO zeutsch«i.de • www.zeutschel.de

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Dr Matt Lees, VP Data Capture Division at Basware UK, looks at what separates truly efficient automated mailrooms from the Post rooms of yesterday Companies are often under the illusion that deploying a mailroom scanning solution will improve their business " efficiency. But that’s not the case.

Simply digitising documents is only pushing the paper images around, and doesn’t actually remove the real obstruction. If the right technology and controls are not in place the chances of losing documents are actually increased!

It’s what happens after the scanning phase that counts.

This critical second stage of processing where recognition and classification takes place before any OCR is attempted is the one that has the largest beneficial effect on mailroom efficiency.

So how does one deploy this key step in mailroom automation? And how can the relevant information be extracted from the paper documents as efficiently as possible to unblock the corporate workflow?

Full Marks For Intelligence The critical step is the quick classification of all scanned documents followed by the application of auto-indexing techniques via OCR or ICR technologies.

OCR/ICR is relatively expensive technology to deploy but in practice it’s only necessary to process on average 1.5 pages of each document in order to correctly classify and index it.

Approximately 80% of the information used by an organisation is in the form of unstructured paper documents and, until recently, automatic processing was limited to documents with a fixed structure.

GSM:053.24

For organisations that scan and capture their documents, appropriate handling used to mean spending considerable time and effort sorting these documents prior to scanning, adding document separation sheets and manually classifying the document prior to data extraction - meaning a considerable amount of skilled sorting work both before and after scanning.

Auto-classification and recognition techniques further automate document handling by removing the need for intensive, manual post room sorting and document preparation tasks - all of which helps to take a significant bite out of overall processing costs.

The Work Process This type of intelligent automation software (such as Indicius and Xtrata from Kofax), provides advanced document classification, separation and extraction capabilities. Using OCR it can automatically extract machine printed or hand-printed text and printed data from scanned document images, removing the need for costly and timeconsuming manual keying.

The extracted data adds to the intelligence already gained about the document aiding, separation and process routing of the document to a workflow queue, facilitating the indexing of the document for storage in a document management system or sending it direct to a business process..

With recipient detail or an identifying case or account number extracted, the appropriate documents can be automatically routed to the right process destination: purchase

orders to the sales and manufacturing departments, invoices to the finance Invoice Processing system such as Basware and so on.

At the end of the scanning process, images and the extracted data are usually released to a document management system, Case Management system or image repository to ensure security, safe archiving and auditability.

This is vital to avoid lost documents. If the document management system links to core business systems such as ERP or CRM, this further automates and enhances processes.

So much for the theory: how does this work in practice?

Let’s take a look at a real-life case study.

Countrywide Automates Classification Countrywide Property Lawyers is one company who are benefiting from this classification technology. The legal firm deployed an advanced data capture and document processing solution to automate mailroom activity and the handling of the 25,000 legal documents received daily.

The solution automatically allocates 85% of incoming post, using Kofax capture modules, to the correct legal case. It also classifies 90% of post for staff, automatically identifying letters from lawyers, draft contracts and mortgage offers, helping to speed up business processes and ensure legal teams get essential legal documents by 10:30am on the day of receipt.

printed and hand-written documents, extracting key data and sending it along with an image of the mail to Aie case management system, which automatically routes the mail to the correct legal team for action.

Documents that cannot be auto-referenced are then sent as an image file to India, where they are eyeballed and manually categorised inside the Visual Files Case Management system and sent back to the UK to the relevant legal teams. As a result, only 5% of all incoming mail requires manual intervention in the UK - this has led to a 90% reduction in administration.

Don’t Be The Class Clown In conclusion, quick, automated classification underpins a successful mailroom automation solution for three good reasons.

First, it’s simply good business sense: it cuts transaction costs across the organisation by sorting the wheat from the chaff.

Second, it improves relationships with customers, by accelerating transactions and ensuring records are kept updated.

Finally, it also addresses expanding information management legislation, which specifies the need for companies to capture, track and control information especially financial information - as soon as it touches them.

There’s never been a better reason to start sorting the post more efficiently. ■ www.basware.co.uk

The automated mailroom handles all business-related

Classification

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A very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous 2009 to all our readers ky

Producing, printing and distributing a magazine is expensive.

THIS MAY BE YOUR LAST FREE COPY UNTIL 2010 We now have over 15,000 recipients, so you will miss out as we are unable to send complementary copies to everyone.

If you are a subscriber....

THANKYOU! If you are not a subscriber ....

YOU MIGHT LOSE OUT! [?â&#x2013; SUBSCRIPTION TIERS ARE NOW SIMPLER, AND EASIER TO ARRANGE

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Endoscope Management With RFID Mobile Aspects have announced the development of a pioneering new solution to improve the management, utilization and reprocessing of endoscope equipment for healthcare providers.

Called iRIScope™, this innovative solution leverages the unique attributes of Mobile Aspects’ patented RFID technology and expands their product portfolio to solve additional needs within surgical specialty care.

EU Funded RFID Report . GS1, the global not-for-profit supply chain standards and solutions organisation, today announced the launch of an EU funded report on the current state of global RFID-related standards. As part of the Global RFID Interoperability Forum for Standards (GRIFS) project, the comprehensive report demonstrates the broad scope of RFID standards globally and highlights the need for more co-ordination between key standards organisations. The GRIFS project aims to improve collaboration and maximise the global interoperability of RFID standards.

The GRIFS report, produced by GS1, ETSI and CEN, provides an inventory of global RFID standards and identifies all RFIDrelated standards organisations, the geographical and technical scope of their work, and the opportunities and risks of collaboration, including gap/overlap analysis. The scope of the report focuses on the use of RFID in the supply chain including the tracking and tracing of physical objects.

The report's conclusion highlights the need for a significantly greater amount of co-operation between RFID standards development organisations, particularly in the areas of universal identification, security and high frequency standards on products that use smart cards and mobile phones for transmission. The project participants also identify the need for better information about standards and their state of development and propose that it should be kept up to date through an online database. The maintenance of a database would allow the identification of potential overlaps, new standardisation areas and provide the application developers and RFID community with an accurate overview of all relevant RFID standards.

"This report gives an excellent overview of the RFID standards landscape and identifies areas of potential overlap where co­ operation between standards organisations is required. It will provide the basis for the GRIFS project to set up the processes required to ensure this co-operation happens effectively," says John Ketchell, New Opportunities and Pre-Standards Director at CEN. The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) organised the team that produced the report in collaboration with its GRIFS partners GS1 and ETSI, and the Coordination and Support Action for Global RFID-related Activities and Standardisation (CASAGRAS) project.

The issues identified in the report will be addressed in the next phase of the GRIFS project, which aims to create a collaborative forum to assist in the co-ordination and alignment of RFID standards development globally. ■ Report available at w w w .arifs-proiect.eu/index.php/downloads/en GSM:053.26

With the rapid growth of noninvasive procedures in areas such as gastroenterology, many healthcare facilities have invested heavily in the acquisition of endoscope equipment, often an investment exceeding a million dollars.

Unfortunately, in storing and utilizing this expensive equipment in busy, high-traffic areas, many instances of theft have been well documented. In addition, given its clinical application within the human body, stringent protocols are mandated for the disinfection and reprocessing of the equipment. With breakdowns in these reprocessing protocols, significant risks for cross-contamination of equipment and patient infection can emerge.

Through the development of iRIScope, Mobile Aspects has leveraged RFID technology along with workflow automation software to address these complex issues, and many more. The cabinetbased solution secures endoscopes and manages access to the instruments while tracking utilization, repair,

and compliance with disinfection protocols. In addition to managing the equipment, the system advances patient safety in a variety of ways, most notably allowing for the automatic association of individual patients to unique endoscopes and procedures. Lastly, through work stations that automate reprocessing documentation during high level disinfection, care providers can be assured they follow the necessary protocols to mitigate any risk for cross­ contamination or patient infection.

“The development of iRISc9 pe is another example of our ability to sustain our position as the leader in creating RFID enabled solutions for healthcare through innovative, leading edge technology to solve complex operational issues,” shared Suneil Mandava, President and CEO of Mobile Aspects. “More importantly, given today’s pressures on healthcare providers for care quality and economic performance, this solution delivers a clear return on investment and improved care quality to align with immediate financial and clinical imperatives within the hospital environment.”

In addition to other Mobile Aspects technologies such as iRISupply™, iRIScan™, iRISecure™, and VistaTrak™, iRIScope will continue to provide the clinical specialties such as cardiology, radiology, and perioperative services with a powerful set of solutions to improve performance. ■ www.mobileaspects.com

RT Tracking For Dutch Lab Atos Origin, the leading global management consulting and IT services firm specializing in business and technology integration, and GlobeRanger, provider of the industry-leading iMotion software platform for RFID, mobility and sensorbased solutions, has announced the successful launch of a real-time forensic tracking and tracing system for the Dutch Forensic Institute (NFI). The system tracks and traces the exact time, location, and movement of item-level criminal evidence during

Focus On: RFID

forensic analysis and processing at NFI. ■ More: www.atosoriain.com

RFID NEWS, ARTICLES & CASE STUDIES WANTED

EMAIL NOW!

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Microsoft Sharepoint Defined Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is a new [?] server program that is part of the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Your organization can use Office SharePoint Server 2007 to facilitate collaboration, provide content management features, implement business processes, and supply access to information that is essential to organizational goals and processes.

Focus On: Sharepoint

Source: www.microsoft.com You can quickly create

Isolated Sharepoint Testing

AutoCAD + Sharepoint • CADnection brings together Autodesk AutoCAD and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) to provide a powerful, yet cost effective Technical Data Management (TDM) solution. By combining the strengths of SharePoint and AutoCAD in a seamless and transparent integration, CADnection delivers a synergistic solution rivaling other standalone TDM applications.

AutoCAD users benefit immediately by inheriting SharePoint's content management and file integrity capabilities. This includes user access control, locking and unlocking drawings, version management and extensive collaboration and workflow capabilities. CADnection extends SharePoints file capabilities by including reference files management, where-used information, and vieweable file association. While in AutoCAD, users can quickly search and retrieve drawings based on its metadata and/or content leveraging the SharePoint search capabilities.

Drawings and reference files are saved and maintained as any other file or document in the SharePoint environment.

SharePoint users and administrators are able to leverage a common repository, content management conventions and policies, and collaboration and process activities. This can include for example, allowing users with appropriate access rights to edit title block characteristics, support versioning, and initiate change control processes and release operations.

IT organizations benefit by having a single repository and solution to manage, maintain and backup since drawings are now part of the SharePoint environment.

To facilitate this TDM solution capability, CADnection offers both off-the-shelf product functionality and complementary services.

These services are specifically designed to acheive productivity for your organization as quickly as possible. ■ Source: www.cadnection.com

Unisys Sharepoint Connector Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) has announced the Unisys Infolmage® Connector for Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007.

Unisys Infolmage Connector is a new solution developed by Unisys in collaboration with Microsoft that enables Unisys customers to seamlessly connect Microsoft Office www.greensheetmedia.com

Isolator for SharePoint is the only way developers working on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007-based applications can unit test their code without installing a SharePoint server. Isolator for SharePoint has the power and ease-of-use that had become Typemock's trademark, but is designed specifically for SharePoint developers.

Typemock Isolator uses an aspect-oriented programming design that creates a 'mock aspect'. Internally it uses the .NET framework profiler API to monitor an application's execution. When a method is called, the CLR notifies Isolator. The framework can then return mocked values and override the original code completely.

A powerful .Net software development tool that simplifies .Net unit testing and test driven development (TDD). This .Net Visual Studio add-in makes the software development process more efficient by reducing the time to market and cutting development costs.

The Typemock Isolator allows you to focus your energy on developing quality code. This unique technology isolates your code, so you don't have to refactor or restructure your code just to make it testable.

With Typemock Isolator,

SharePoint Server 2007 and Unisys Infolmage document imaging and workflow solutions.

implementing Agile practices for .NET unit testing such as Test-Driven Development (TDD), Aspect Oriented Programming (AOP) or Dependency Injection (Dl) is simple and easy.

Microsoft SharePoint 2007 is a browser based collaboration and document management platform for software and web development. Unit-testing SharePoint applications is only possible with Typemock Isolator. Isolator is the only tool that can ease unit testing large and complex applications like SharePoint. With the ability to fake recursively, and with easy collection simulation, Isolator is makes sure your SharePoint code runs correctly, is scalable and thus cuts your development costs.

Using Typemock Racer you can find deadlocks in your Parallel code. It solves a huge problem for developers working in Parallel Computing environments by detecting code that can result in deadlock or race conditions. It does this by providing a framework API which you can use in your tests (under NUnit for example), that allows you to execrise your code under test until it finds a deadlock or times out. Use Racer to find Deadlocks in your multi threaded code. ■ www.tvpemock.com

SHAREPOINT NEWS, ARTICLES & CASE STUDIES WANTED

Unisys Infolmage is used by financial services firms, government agencies, and other organizations. ■ More: www.unisvs.com

SharePoint sites that support specific content publishing, content management, records management, or business intelligence needs. You can also conduct effective searches for people, documents, and data, participate in forms-driven business processes, and access and analyze large amounts of business data. ■

EMAIL NOW! L

__

Focus On: Sharepoint

__ j GSM:053.26

MARCH March 3-8, CeBIT Location: Hanover, Germany Organised By: Deutsche Messe Web Site: www.cebit.de

SEPTEMBER September 16-18, Knowledge Society Location: TBA Organised By: Open Research Society Web Site: www.knowledge-summit.org

March 18-19, ITEX Expo Location: Las Vegas, USA Organised By: Web Site: www.itexshow.com

OCTOBER October 7-9, InfoSecurity Russia Location: Moscow, Russia Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosecuritymoscow.com

March 24-25, Business Continuity Location: London, UK Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.businesscontinuityexpo.co.uk March 25-26, Documation France Location: Paris, France Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.documation.fr March 25-26, InfoSecurity Belgium Location: Brussels, Belgium Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosecurity.be March 31 - April 2, AIIM Expo Location: Philadelphia, USA Organised By: AIIM Web Site: www.aiimexpo.com APRIL March 31 - April 2, AIIM Expo Location: Philadelphia, USA Organised By: AIIM Web Site: www.aiimexpo.com April 25-26, InfoSecurity Belgium Location: Brussels, Belgium Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosec.co.uk April 28-30, InfoSecurity UK Location: London, UK - Earls Court Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosec.co.uk

October 14-15, Storage Expo UK Location: London, UK Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.storage-expo.com October 15-18, ARM A Conference & Expo Location: Orlando, Florida Organised By: ARMA International Web Site: www.arma.org/conference NOVEMBER November 12-13, InfoSecurity Netherlands Location: Jaarbeurs, Netherlands Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosecurity.com.fr November 19-20, InfoSecurity France Location: Paris, France Organised By: Reed Exhibitions Web Site: www.infosecurity.com.fr DECEMBER Online Information Location: TBA Organised By: Incisive Media Web Site: www.online-information.co.uk IMS (Information Management Solutions) Location: TBA Organised By: Incisive Media Web Site: www.ims-show.co.uk

More information will be added as 2009 progresses.

JUNE June 1-5, AIIM Roadshow

Remember: Check with the organisers for date/venue changes.

Location: 1st - Edinburgh, 2nd - Leeds, 3rd - Birmingham, A"1- Bristol, 5th - London WEMBLEY (Not Novotel) Organised By: AIIM UK/Europe Web Site: www.aiimroadshow.org.uk

Green Sheet has been 'Keeping You Informed' SINCE 1969 â&#x2013;

GSM:053.28

Diary Dates

www.greensheetmedia.com

Show Time!

REVIEWS Storage Expo 2008 UK: 15th - 16th October Another huge success by all accounts. This years event was always set to be bigger and better than 2007, mainly as the Documation show has disappeared from view, and consequently did not take up any space as a co-hosted venue. Green Sheet had a media partnering arrangement with the show for the third year running, and 600 copies of the 48 page Issue 52 were gobbled up in their entirety.

At present this is the main event in the UK for information management professionals, with the AllM Roadshow coming in a close second. Despite the name of the show, there was plenty to see apart from storage devices and servers. Green Sheet believes that if Reed are maintain momentum with St­ orage Expo they do need to address the key areas of space and stand allocation, as well as who the key exhibitors are. Different colour carpet for different types of exhibitor would offer a low/no cost alternative to the mix-and-match arrangement currently in force. It would make life so much easier.

Previews and reviews of IM related events around the world

GROUP, Hitachi, Imation, InMage, ITPassion, Mimecast, ONStor, Overland Storage, Plasmon, SAND, Scan Optics, Smartways, SteelEye DataKeeper, Tarmin Technolo­ gies, Vector and Scalar Products and Westek.

What is interesting about the list is that apart from a few 'household' names, there is a wealth of new company names out there which can only be good for IM in gen­ eral.

ARMA USA: 20th-23rd October Las Vegas as a location promised to result in another great ARMA show. Although Green Sheet were unable to attend as it co­ incided with an editorial office move, we did have spies sent there on our behalf.

Over 3,200 visitors attended the show and conference, and this year ARMA hosted the

Also featured were an analysts discussion panel and a careers fair.

PREVIEWS Online Information co-hosted with IMS (Information Management Solutions) London: 2-4 December We miss out this year as our publication date exactly coincides with the event. (Too late for a preview, and too early for a re­ view) We hope to bring you both next year.

2008 Overview That about wraps up the show detail for 2008. We have had fun covering the shows for you and have made many new friends along the way. In all we have visited 3 coun­ tries, lived in 12 hotels, travelled countless miles by car, train, plane and even bus!!

And For 2009 ....

We are going to be covering many more shows next year are media partnering more than ever. It promises to be a busy year.

Remember we are always happy to place show, seminar, symposium or other event information both online, and here in the magazine. ■

Of Note ....

- The keynote sessions were as always, well attended. Many interesting and diverse presentations kept the attention span high.

- On the shop-floor there were over 120 exhibitors.

- With pre-ABC audit figures at just under 4,000 visitors from over 30 countries, that is an increase of 4% over 2007.

- Seminars well attended through both days

gm

SHOW FACTOID Did you k n o w ....

The Great Exhibition o f 1851 was: - in profit before its doors opened - attracted over SIX MILLION visitors - had 17,000 exhibitors - was a m anufacturing exhibition and the 'Crystal Palace' it was held in:

Many exhibitors took the opportunity to an­ nounce new products at Storage Expo, in­ cluding: A-Server, C2C, Cluster Mirror, CMS Products, Dell, IDSBOX, Double-Take Cargo, FalcomStor, Fordway, Fujitsu,

UPTON

first ever ARMA International Cobalt Award ceremony. This was won by the New York Life Insurance Company, who also hosted the roundtable discussions.

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PEtlultimate

Photo: Glenshee, Scotland, ©element903.com 2008

Being Scottish ....

Brings problems of its own, not least of which is the branding of all, (or at the very least - most,) Scottish people as 'mean'.

However the Scottish spirit pre­ vails, and overcomes most of the negatives. As a race, Scots are resilient, hard-working, tenacious and generally perceived as likeable.

Being mean however, is a trait which should stand many of us in good stead over the coming months (or years, or decades even,) as we dip into a 'global recession' the like of which is still being calculated, estimated, reported, pontificated on and otherwise guessed at.

Where better to find a true barometer of the likely depth of a recession than to ask a Scotsman? As my contacts over the years have included CEO's, CFO's and many other PWADT's (Persons With Acronym Defined Titles - see my column in Issue 52,) I have been asked on many occasions over the last few months what my take is on the recession. I usually look the questioner straight in the eye (unless of course the question has been couched in a letter or email,) and say "What recession?" This usually brings a look of incredulity from the ques­ tioner, or some facetious remark about being 'blind', as they must think I have been living underground for a year with no outside communication.

Perhaps being in charge of my own destiny (or density as my two former wives call it,) has moulded me into a person more resilient than most, but I think not. We all must realise that we are the ones in charge, not our employer, or the company we own, the marketplace, the mortgage company or the bank.

what that decision is, be it closing a branch (or company,) selling the house, getting a new job - whatever! Once the decision process is started, it opens up a myriad of opportunities - yes opportunities!

As in chess, there are a finite amount of moves for white when starting, but as each move takes place, a whole new and infinite strategy and complexity of moves opens up for both players. Even if you have never played chess, you can play a recession.

Necessity....

Is the mother of invention, and you do need to be inventive if affected by the recession. Apart from the obvious suggestion to look at your financial position to see what savings need to be, or can be made, there are other areas where you can help yourself. Look inwards for a start. What are your assets and personal capabilities? Do you use them to the full? Probably not. What about personal assets or company assets that can be pressed into service? That way you may well generate income for a small marketing cost rather than an outlay for more diverse equipment. Re-invent yourself too. Look critically at everything you do. Are you maximising what you can do, or are you still resting on the laurels of what you did do in the past?

but your circumstances are totally hopeless and without opportunity. Nonsense! Sorry but that really is nonsense. If you want to survive get up off your well-fed posterior and do something about it. There is always a buck to be made out of hardship. (How do you think criminal lawyers survive?) I am not suggesting you turn to illegal or less salubrious occupations to make ends meet - but if Madonna can reinvent herself four times a decade, surely you can too. All it takes is a bit of selfanalysis, a go-do attitude, and

the belief in yourself that you can do it.

On Another Note I read in the UK's Amateur Photo­ grapher magazine that Sony are manufacturing a CCD array of 12.5 million pixels for use in mo­ bile phone cameras.

My initial reaction was 'why?'

Then I realised that for a com­ pany such as Sony the 10 (or as it seems to be now - 5!) to 30 age group must represent the fu­ ture of converging technology in­ come for them. To me these Gad­ gets, gizmo's and goodies are the domain of the wealthy young, or simply stupidly rich.

(Sorry, I meant rich and stupid, re­ gardless of age.)

and feedback loop begins to kick in.

How often have we seen great inventions or ideas fail because they are totally impractical or ab­ surd in the real world. Sir Clive Sinclair's C5 vehicle being a classic case in point.

What did the world think of the first steam train for example?

Not a lot! The news probably did­ n't even reach the remote re­ gions of Earth until the invention was well surpassed. Some re­ gions possibly still don't know it has been invented.

My point is that I was in the right place at the right time to read the news about the new CCD array. Does it affect me - no! I will not go out and actively seek a mobile phone with a 12.5 megapixel camera. Why would I? I have recently invested thou­ sands of Eurobucks in a Nikon digital SLR with a range of lenses. Will I use a mobile with a 12.5 megapixel camera in the fu­ ture - yes - but only because come time I will not be able to buy a phone without one fitted.

Not only will I not be able to buy a mobile without an integrated high spec camera, but I will also have to contend with a mobile phone which also boasts Web 2.0 access, a high resolution screen, PDA, GPS, and a gizmo or widget which interrogates my fridge-freezer and tells me I need to buy something in for din­ ner on the way home. And all this for the cost of a single World Credit. (Introduced be­ cause there is only one bank left in the world, thus eliminating poverty due to poor exchange rates.)

And Finally For 2008 Despite the hardship of these troubled times, I wish you the reader, your family and loved ones a happy and peaceful There is always a way out of Early Adopters form a nucleous Festive Season, a prosperous difficulty! of actually-in-the-marketplace 2009, and may your God go with testers. Once a product is out in you.

Taking the first big decision on how to traverse a recession is You may think it is all well and the marketplace, it is only then the toughest one. Regardless of good my sitting here writing this, that the true market reasearch CRUSTY GS:053.30

PENultimate

www.greensheetmedia.com

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