Posted by Mark Brousseau
When it comes to eDiscovery readiness, getting involved in their organization’s SharePoint initiatives should be a top priority for records managers, Martin Tuip, senior technical product marketing manager, Iron Mountain Digital, said during a presentation today at the ARMA Annual Conference in San Francisco.
SharePoint broke the $1 billion revenue mark last year, and has continued to rise past that total this year, making it the hottest-selling server-side product ever for Microsoft, Tuip said, adding that many organizations are planning to deploy SharePoint 2010 or have already done so.
“But the problem at many organizations is that SharePoint initiatives are being driven by IT, without much involvement from records managers. IT and records managers need each other,” Tuip said. “All of the content in SharePoint might have to retained, depending on your business.”
“From a legal perspective, eventually you will have a matter that will require information out of SharePoint. Those lawsuits will eventually come,” Tuip predicted. “Export functionality is available in SharePoint, but in an extremely limited fashion.” Records managers need to be proactive about working with their IT team to prepare for these inevitable eDiscovery actions, Tuip explained.
“You know that this is coming down the line,” Tuip said.
The first step in implementing SharePoint governance, Tuip said, is to determine what is going to be a vital record for your organization. Then get IT involved in setting the governance standards and determining how to implement them. Organizations can leverage their existing infrastructure to provide for seamless retention of SharePoint content, or “pick a new product that can assist with all of your retention concerns,” Tuip said. He warned that, “eDiscovery is risky. The problem with eDiscovery is that content hides in multiple places. That’s why organizations need an eDiscovery application that provides comprehensive enterprise-wide search queries of the most requested ESI types. A proper eDiscovery application can significantly reduce the collection time associated with lawsuits.”
Tuip concluded: “I love SharePoint. I think that it’s a phenomenal solution. But records managers need to understand that it doesn’t have eDiscovery capabilities, and they’ll have to work with IT to determine how to deal with that.”
What do you think?
Showing posts with label document scanner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label document scanner. Show all posts
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Scanner Demonstration Video
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Below is a link to a brand new video demonstrating ibml's scanners.
http://www.ibml.com/demovideo.php
Below is a link to a brand new video demonstrating ibml's scanners.
http://www.ibml.com/demovideo.php
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Time for a Check Up?
Posted by Mark Brousseau
The care and feeding of your scanning operations requires regular audits. ibml President and CEO Derrick Murphy explains:
The television infomercial for a popular kitchen appliance tells viewers that they can, "Set it and forget it!" While that claim might work for rotisserie ovens, it's a bad idea for scanning operations.
Operations require constant monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the right technologies and processes are in place to meet the organization's needs.
Unfortunately, many organizations only take a hard look at their operations when problems become too large to ignore. By then, it's too late.
It's not that organizations are intentionally turning a blind eye to operations challenges. It's that most companies mistakenly believe that implementing state-of-the-art technology -- whether it's software or hardware -- will address their operations needs indefinitely. This thinking couldn't be farther from the truth. Like most things in business, operations requirements and dynamics always are in flux. Documents change. Staff turns over. New business rules are introduced. Technologies evolve.
For instance, there may be opportunities to add technology that has evolved since an initial install, assuming your current hardware and software supports it. You might also have an opportunity to re-engineer your operations based on technology advancements. If neither of these opportunities are available in your current systems environment, the new technology might provide the justification for an upgrade. What's more, as your documents change, you may find that your pre-configured job settings are no longer set for "peak" job performance, since they were designed for other work.
If an operation's infrastructure and processes don't adapt, its effectiveness will suffer.
Organizations must regularly analyze the technology and processes at work in their operations, to identify and correct inefficiencies that may not have existed during their last system implementation. With this information, organizations can be proactive about deploying remedies, ensuring that their business case stays on track, reducing cost, and heading off potential customer service issues.
Elizabeth Herrell, an analyst with Forrester Research, notes that "by evaluating all of the elements of their operations, organizations can identify gaps and recommend changes that will eliminate those gaps and help them better meet their goals." Companies that undertake a review of their processes and technology are better equipped to align their operations with their business objectives, she adds.
This operations review should focus on document preparation, operator proficiency, and scanner maintenance and performance -- the three areas where scanning operations most frequently falter.
Be Prepared
Document preparation is essential to the scanning process.
All staples, tape, paper clips, adhesives and other fastening devices must be removed from all documents prior to scanning. Adequate document preparation aids in keeping the scanners running with minimal downtime due to jams, skews, piggybacks, feeder errors or foreign items interfering with scanner functions. Documents must also be oriented correctly and batched in the right jobs.
Without proper document preparation, operators must correct problems at scan time, significantly reducing throughput. What's more, poor document prep is likely to cause errors on the scanners. Similarly, if staples are not removed, chances are that documents will not be batched correctly.
By auditing its operations, one ibml user determined that scanning its small documents individually would significantly reduce its document preparation time, while increasing scanner throughput. The review also showed that the customer needed a person to back up the operator of its two scanners; the extra person, who removes documents before the feeder tray empties and conducts quick "eyeball" quality assurance tests, has helped eliminate the idle time that previously dogged the customer.
Do Your Best
Well trained and experienced operators also are vital to the scanning process.
An operator who has been running the scanner for a period of time can pick up short cuts that help to minimize downtime from jams, and decrease the amount of time changing from one job to another. For instance, in the event of a jam, experienced operators can identify the last item scanned and pocketed correctly, without having to use a jam recovery wizard. This speeds recovery times.
Conversely, it takes less experienced staff longer to recover from jams and more time to pick up and hand feed documents that need to be scanned. They are more tentative, which slows things down.
As a result of a comprehensive review of its operations, one ibml customer found that it needed to temporarily send someone from its seasoned day shift crew to its night shift to transfer knowledge.
Leave No Trace
Scanner maintenance is absolutely critical to the scanning process.
An operation can have perfectly prepped documents and well-seasoned operators, but if maintenance is not performed properly, and frequently, its scanner will not operate effectively. It is important that maintenance is performed prior to each shift. This includes cleaning the feed tires and reverse belts, making sure the ink jet cartridge is not gummed up and sprays properly, and seeing that all sensors are clear of dust and paper debris. Operators should also record when belts and tires are changed.
Less experienced operators may forget critical steps that seasoned staff know intuitively: how to put belts on the scanner's reverse-belt assemblies or how to put tire assemblies together, as examples.
Through an operations audit, an ibml customer found that operators were placing open drink containers on top of its scanners, where they could spill and damage the machines. The audit also determined that the customer should move trash cans that were placed near the scanner's pocket frame, to avoid accidentally tossing dropped documents -- a hazard to document integrity.
The Payoff
Conducting a regular operations audit can pay big dividends. In the case of one ibml user, a service bureau, the remedies it implemented after an audit resulted in a 60 percent increase in throughput and a 25 percent reduction in jams. Those cost-saving benefits can have a significant bottom line impact.
The key is remembering that your operations requirements won't stop changing just because you implemented new technology. In other words, don't believe everything you see on late-night TV.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
The care and feeding of your scanning operations requires regular audits. ibml President and CEO Derrick Murphy explains:
The television infomercial for a popular kitchen appliance tells viewers that they can, "Set it and forget it!" While that claim might work for rotisserie ovens, it's a bad idea for scanning operations.
Operations require constant monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the right technologies and processes are in place to meet the organization's needs.
Unfortunately, many organizations only take a hard look at their operations when problems become too large to ignore. By then, it's too late.
It's not that organizations are intentionally turning a blind eye to operations challenges. It's that most companies mistakenly believe that implementing state-of-the-art technology -- whether it's software or hardware -- will address their operations needs indefinitely. This thinking couldn't be farther from the truth. Like most things in business, operations requirements and dynamics always are in flux. Documents change. Staff turns over. New business rules are introduced. Technologies evolve.
For instance, there may be opportunities to add technology that has evolved since an initial install, assuming your current hardware and software supports it. You might also have an opportunity to re-engineer your operations based on technology advancements. If neither of these opportunities are available in your current systems environment, the new technology might provide the justification for an upgrade. What's more, as your documents change, you may find that your pre-configured job settings are no longer set for "peak" job performance, since they were designed for other work.
If an operation's infrastructure and processes don't adapt, its effectiveness will suffer.
Organizations must regularly analyze the technology and processes at work in their operations, to identify and correct inefficiencies that may not have existed during their last system implementation. With this information, organizations can be proactive about deploying remedies, ensuring that their business case stays on track, reducing cost, and heading off potential customer service issues.
Elizabeth Herrell, an analyst with Forrester Research, notes that "by evaluating all of the elements of their operations, organizations can identify gaps and recommend changes that will eliminate those gaps and help them better meet their goals." Companies that undertake a review of their processes and technology are better equipped to align their operations with their business objectives, she adds.
This operations review should focus on document preparation, operator proficiency, and scanner maintenance and performance -- the three areas where scanning operations most frequently falter.
Be Prepared
Document preparation is essential to the scanning process.
All staples, tape, paper clips, adhesives and other fastening devices must be removed from all documents prior to scanning. Adequate document preparation aids in keeping the scanners running with minimal downtime due to jams, skews, piggybacks, feeder errors or foreign items interfering with scanner functions. Documents must also be oriented correctly and batched in the right jobs.
Without proper document preparation, operators must correct problems at scan time, significantly reducing throughput. What's more, poor document prep is likely to cause errors on the scanners. Similarly, if staples are not removed, chances are that documents will not be batched correctly.
By auditing its operations, one ibml user determined that scanning its small documents individually would significantly reduce its document preparation time, while increasing scanner throughput. The review also showed that the customer needed a person to back up the operator of its two scanners; the extra person, who removes documents before the feeder tray empties and conducts quick "eyeball" quality assurance tests, has helped eliminate the idle time that previously dogged the customer.
Do Your Best
Well trained and experienced operators also are vital to the scanning process.
An operator who has been running the scanner for a period of time can pick up short cuts that help to minimize downtime from jams, and decrease the amount of time changing from one job to another. For instance, in the event of a jam, experienced operators can identify the last item scanned and pocketed correctly, without having to use a jam recovery wizard. This speeds recovery times.
Conversely, it takes less experienced staff longer to recover from jams and more time to pick up and hand feed documents that need to be scanned. They are more tentative, which slows things down.
As a result of a comprehensive review of its operations, one ibml customer found that it needed to temporarily send someone from its seasoned day shift crew to its night shift to transfer knowledge.
Leave No Trace
Scanner maintenance is absolutely critical to the scanning process.
An operation can have perfectly prepped documents and well-seasoned operators, but if maintenance is not performed properly, and frequently, its scanner will not operate effectively. It is important that maintenance is performed prior to each shift. This includes cleaning the feed tires and reverse belts, making sure the ink jet cartridge is not gummed up and sprays properly, and seeing that all sensors are clear of dust and paper debris. Operators should also record when belts and tires are changed.
Less experienced operators may forget critical steps that seasoned staff know intuitively: how to put belts on the scanner's reverse-belt assemblies or how to put tire assemblies together, as examples.
Through an operations audit, an ibml customer found that operators were placing open drink containers on top of its scanners, where they could spill and damage the machines. The audit also determined that the customer should move trash cans that were placed near the scanner's pocket frame, to avoid accidentally tossing dropped documents -- a hazard to document integrity.
The Payoff
Conducting a regular operations audit can pay big dividends. In the case of one ibml user, a service bureau, the remedies it implemented after an audit resulted in a 60 percent increase in throughput and a 25 percent reduction in jams. Those cost-saving benefits can have a significant bottom line impact.
The key is remembering that your operations requirements won't stop changing just because you implemented new technology. In other words, don't believe everything you see on late-night TV.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Money-Saving Strategies
By Mark Brousseau
During the interactive roundtable luncheon at the 2009 TAWPI Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. this week, attendees shared the best money-saving strategies they have implemented in the past year.
Below are some of the best ideas.
... Take good care of your scanner maintenance technician and they will reciprocate.
... Use of early tracking of customer replies to mailings in transit can help you avoid the cost associated with sending second notices
... Consolidate IT archive solutions; getting rid of outdated technology can save you big bucks
... Use slightly slower (and less expensive) disk storage in place of ultra high-speed archiving
... Enable internal and external end-users to access your archive to eliminate the need for dedicated back-office staff to handle all archive requests
... Ensure that personnel initiatives are team-based, not individual-based
... Take a hard look at open source technologies for IT back-office functions; they work fine and saved one end-user hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
... Educate your staff on the cost -- and potential impact -- of errors; other strategies for reducing errors: send errors back to the "team" that created them, have personnel who don't make mistakes mentor others, and don't be afraid to look at even small errors with relatively smaller savings
... Implement a program to recognize your best performers; symbolism helps
... Use a MICR database or other account lookup technology to reduce data entry requirements
... When shopping for an ECM solution, make sure its functionality is aligned with your business needs; you shouldn't buy features you don't plan to use
... Leverage the Internet to drive improvements in reject processing
... Move to image cash letters (ICLs) to eliminate daily trips to the bank branch
... Adjust your staffing to reduce the money you need to pay out for shift differentials
... Implement Lean Six Sigma
... Move to electronic signatures to save time and to reduce the number of documents required
... Adjust end-user pricing to further incentivize them to move to more efficient processing methods
... Consider remote keying with recognition technology
... Never pass up a free lunch -- definitely attend the interactive roundtable lunch each year
During the interactive roundtable luncheon at the 2009 TAWPI Forum & Expo in Washington, D.C. this week, attendees shared the best money-saving strategies they have implemented in the past year.
Below are some of the best ideas.
... Take good care of your scanner maintenance technician and they will reciprocate.
... Use of early tracking of customer replies to mailings in transit can help you avoid the cost associated with sending second notices
... Consolidate IT archive solutions; getting rid of outdated technology can save you big bucks
... Use slightly slower (and less expensive) disk storage in place of ultra high-speed archiving
... Enable internal and external end-users to access your archive to eliminate the need for dedicated back-office staff to handle all archive requests
... Ensure that personnel initiatives are team-based, not individual-based
... Take a hard look at open source technologies for IT back-office functions; they work fine and saved one end-user hundreds of thousands of dollars a year
... Educate your staff on the cost -- and potential impact -- of errors; other strategies for reducing errors: send errors back to the "team" that created them, have personnel who don't make mistakes mentor others, and don't be afraid to look at even small errors with relatively smaller savings
... Implement a program to recognize your best performers; symbolism helps
... Use a MICR database or other account lookup technology to reduce data entry requirements
... When shopping for an ECM solution, make sure its functionality is aligned with your business needs; you shouldn't buy features you don't plan to use
... Leverage the Internet to drive improvements in reject processing
... Move to image cash letters (ICLs) to eliminate daily trips to the bank branch
... Adjust your staffing to reduce the money you need to pay out for shift differentials
... Implement Lean Six Sigma
... Move to electronic signatures to save time and to reduce the number of documents required
... Adjust end-user pricing to further incentivize them to move to more efficient processing methods
... Consider remote keying with recognition technology
... Never pass up a free lunch -- definitely attend the interactive roundtable lunch each year
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Deposits Will Be Critical in 2009
By Mark Brousseau
There’s little question that we’ll see continued economic change and upheaval in 2009. But Michael Pratt, chief marketing officer, Panini North America, says remote deposit capture (RDC) solutions create an opportunity for financial institutions (FIs) to defend and even acquire the ever-important Demand Deposit Account (DDA) line of business.
With tightened credit markets and higher regulatory and market scrutiny, domestic deposits have become even more critical for FIs. McKinsey estimates that payments represented $235B in FI revenue in 2006, or 40-50 percent of an average bank’s revenue, Pratt notes. Revenue related to DDA is typically 45 percent of this base, or 18-22 percent of an average bank’s total revenue -- highlighting the significance of payments and deposits to a bank.
Economic conditions have increasingly made deposits the “benchmark” by which FI health is perceived in the market, Pratt says, and is the driver of their ability to continue to facilitate financial transactions. “We have already seen major acquisitions based primarily on access to domestic deposits, so the ability of FIs to capture deposits will be very instrumental to their success,” he explains.
“Deposit retention and acquisitions programs are central to the well being of DDA related income to all financial institutions, resulting in a renewed prioritization for remote deposit capture,” Pratt says. “Distributed capture, after all, is at its core a strategic means of acquiring deposits while lowering operational & processing costs.”
Banks that take maximum advantage of this opportunity to gain new deposits and solidify customer relationships via RDC stand to gain the high ground in the war for deposits, he concludes.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
There’s little question that we’ll see continued economic change and upheaval in 2009. But Michael Pratt, chief marketing officer, Panini North America, says remote deposit capture (RDC) solutions create an opportunity for financial institutions (FIs) to defend and even acquire the ever-important Demand Deposit Account (DDA) line of business.
With tightened credit markets and higher regulatory and market scrutiny, domestic deposits have become even more critical for FIs. McKinsey estimates that payments represented $235B in FI revenue in 2006, or 40-50 percent of an average bank’s revenue, Pratt notes. Revenue related to DDA is typically 45 percent of this base, or 18-22 percent of an average bank’s total revenue -- highlighting the significance of payments and deposits to a bank.
Economic conditions have increasingly made deposits the “benchmark” by which FI health is perceived in the market, Pratt says, and is the driver of their ability to continue to facilitate financial transactions. “We have already seen major acquisitions based primarily on access to domestic deposits, so the ability of FIs to capture deposits will be very instrumental to their success,” he explains.
“Deposit retention and acquisitions programs are central to the well being of DDA related income to all financial institutions, resulting in a renewed prioritization for remote deposit capture,” Pratt says. “Distributed capture, after all, is at its core a strategic means of acquiring deposits while lowering operational & processing costs.”
Banks that take maximum advantage of this opportunity to gain new deposits and solidify customer relationships via RDC stand to gain the high ground in the war for deposits, he concludes.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Canon Scanner Demo
Posted by Mark Brousseau
A short video demonstrating the Canon DR 7580C Document Scanner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6arVZqpXqL8
A short video demonstrating the Canon DR 7580C Document Scanner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6arVZqpXqL8
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