Steve Bondy

Last week, after months of speculation, rumor and punditry, Apple released it’s latest effort at a tablet device, the iPad. In the days since, the fanboys have raved and the haters have flamed. The pundits have weighed in, calling this either the beginning of a new era, or the first step in the decline of the Apple Empire.  I don’t claim to be smart enough about the business forces at play, and the consumer mindset, to have any precognition regarding the ultimate success or failure of the iPad. But there are some niche areas where I think the iPad, or a similar device, has a definite upside.

In my professional life, I advise clients on document processing. This may involve document management systems (DMS), content management systems (CMS), web forms systems, and document capture and storage solutions. And in this niche, I see a place for an iPad - or a similar device.

One of the DMS products I work with, Autonomy’s Interwoven WorkSite, has for many years had a web based interface, enabling users to search for, retrieve and store documents in a repository with a web browser. This is a feature found in many modern DMS implementations. And while this web interface would be a natural for tablet devices like the iPad, as a practical measure it is not currently possible, since browser support is limited to Internet Explorer. But Autonomy is a smart company, and I would not be surprised to see them add support for some other browsers, such as Safari.

But that’s not the end of the story.  Last May Autonomy showed it’s iPhone client (iTunes link) for it’s WorkSite DMS. They previously had support for Blackberry devices through their Mobility Server add on, but with the iPhone client, they extended document access via Mobility Server to the iPhone.  Since the iPad runs iPhone apps natively, and Apple is touting the “easy” transition of iPhone apps to iPad’s bigger screen, I expect an iPad app from Autonomy relatively soon.

So what does this mean?  Imagine a corporate meeting where the participants, instead of using a three ring binder filled with paper documents, use iPads connected to the corporate DMS. After the meeting ends there are no stray paper copies to pick up, to shred, or otherwise worry about.  Or imagine a courtroom, where the litigators refer to documents on an iPad, instead of boxes filled with paper. (Note that there is a big use of laptops in this setting already, but it’s rather awkward to hand a laptop to a witness)

Still, both of these scenarios have gaping voids. Document annotation on an iPad is an unknown. Without annotation, the corporate meeting scenario would be limited to review only. Changes would be difficult. And since the iPad, like the iPhone, does not support multitasking, running a secondary app - even something as benign as a calendar, would be impossible. And the iPad lacks a stylus. This makes collecting a cursive signature impossible, and limits the ability of the iPad to process some web based forms.

In the end, though, the possibilities for future advances in document management that the iPad represents is inspiring. I’m optimistic that a few years from now, those of us working in the DMS space will look back on the introduction of the iPad as a seminal moment in the history of our business.

Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts.

In part 1 of this series, I introduced the basics of a document management system, sketched out the architecture, and showed some examples of application integration in a professional services environment. But while document management systems are important - and in many cases essential - to law firms and other services organizations, they also have a place in the enterprise. They can serve important functions in many areas but one of the biggest impacts of a DMS is in an organization’s accounting functions.

Accounting departments have always been document intensive - invoices, purchase orders, statements, expense reimbursement, payments, etc. And much of this is concentrated in accounts payable. In this environment, a document management system shines as a corporate record keeping tool. The architecture doesn’t vary substantially from what was illustrated in part 1 of this post, but application integration with office productivity applications such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel is probably not used. In fact, in many cases, the types of documents stored are limited to document images - either in the form of TIFF or PDF files.

On the surface, the accounts payable process, shown in figure 1, looks straightforward. All the incoming paper documents (invoices and their supporting documents) are converted to TIFF files in a scanning process. As part of that scanning process, the A/P clerk views the document, enters the index values for the document and stores the image into the document management system. In an A/P environment, these index values include such data as the invoice number, total amount, invoice date, vendor, etc. These indexes typically match, or relate to, the data used in the ERP system to track transactions.

Figure 1 - A DMS in an accounts payable environment

Once the invoice image is scanned, indexed and stored, the invoice can be processed for payment. And we’ve only scratched the surface of what is possible. Once the base system is in place, it can be extended with additional tools enabling higher levels of automation. But leaving automation aside for now, there are still huge benefits to the indexes used the store the documents.

With the index data, the accounting department can search for any A/P invoice. Taxonomies can be developed using the available index fields, by matching a document to vendor, vendor invoice number, date and so on. This can have a substantial benefit to audits, and to legal actions requiring document production. Instead of searching through paper records, or requesting boxes from offsite document storage facilities, these records can be retrieved from the DMS.

This ability to search for documents and produce them on demand is an incredible enabler for an enterprise in other areas too.

In human resources, a document management system provides the ability to store, index and retrieve personnel data including certificates, licenses, employee intake documentation such as W-4, and I-9, employee reviews, and so forth. Rather than a paper file, all this information can be collected in a DMS. To make this even more interesting, the DMS can be tied to a number of workflow engines, asuring that activities for employee intake, promotion, termination, etc. comply with both organizational policies and applicable employment law. Once again, legal actions show the benefit of DMS usage. All employee records can be produced quickly in that event, for delivery to corporate counsel.

As a last example, consider an environmental engineering department. I’ve done some consulting for an organization which operates gas stations, and is affected by environmental law. Every gas station must have a license or permit from the state in which it operates - in fact several permits. In Texas for example, there are air quality permits, storage tank permits, waste water permits, etc. If any systems are repaired or installed, all work orders, service invoices, etc. must be kept as part of the environmental records. The DMS enables the organization to store, index and retrieve these records, demonstrating compliance with regulations.

So there you have it. In two short posts, basic information on document management systems, how they work, and what they can do. And I’ve only scratched the surface. In future posts, I’ll be expanding on one some additional aspects of document management that make implementing a DMS even more compelling.

A DMS is probably in your organization’s future, if not already there.

I remember when I first heard about the paperless office, many years ago. At the time, I thought it was a great idea - organizations will eliminate their use of paper, more data will flow through computing devices, and a new era will dawn.

Ah, the naivete of youth.

I suppose that a day may come when we achieve a paperless office, but it won’t be soon. Why? I can think of several reasons.

First, we are too enmeshed in business processes that rely on the paper document. Want proof? Walk down to your accounting department, and watch all the A/P clerks at work. They are all processing invoices - paper invoices. Amazing when you think about it. Accounting systems have come a long way, but in the end, payables and receivables rely heavily on paper. The only way we get away from this in reengineering the business process globally. Make invoicing use a standard data transmission. Make that data a file if you like, and attach it to an e-mail. But make the data universal in format. We could do that right now using XML if all the accounting vendors could agree on some standard XML field names for data exchange. But you are going to have to get all the accounting vendors to agree, and craft an intake process for those data objects. Good luck on that.

But even if we convinced the ISVs to add these facilites to their accounting packages, there will always be the small business that uses a paper invoice. So on this count, paperless? No. Less paper? Yes.

Another prime example of an old model business process is anything having to do with a fax machine. Think about it - we still rely on a document transmission method that can trace it roots back over 160 years. That’s amazing. But it’s still getting used, in mailrooms all over the world, right now. I’ll admit there are advantages to fax - reliable, low bandwidth, uses readily available analog phone lines - but the receiving fax machine still frequently ties us to a piece of paper. Granted, faxes are now frequently processed as images but many start life as paper, and I’d bet a large majority of the received image faxes are printed and filed. And those images frequently have to be processed by OCR software, adding complexity and expense to this old school technology.

But like the accounting example, getting rid of fax is a tough prospect. E-mail has certainly reduced the need for fax, but I’m waiting for the day when someone asks me to set up a new network infrastructure and tells me they DON’T want fax. So no paperless here either. But faxes as images do mean less paper.

And for the trifecta, look at a business process that uses paper forms - any process. What an incredible model of inefficency in a world where everything is connected, and a good e-forms system can model a business process with a higher level of compliance and consistency than ever possible. Paper forms are a business dinosaur, and they should be extinct.

But in our world, the entire business environment is a Jurrasic Park. And again, there are those small businesses buying sales slip pads, “While you were out” pads, and countless others at the local office supply store. So again, not paperless, but maybe less paper.

The second reason paper stays is convenience. Right now, I can print a document, grab a pen and go anywhere and read, annotate, and edit that document. It’s cheap, it’s portable - and it’s a data security nightmare. I’d bet more organizations have lost sensitive data through dumpster diving for paper than have ever lost it through stolen laptops, or network security violations. Think about that next time your sitting outdoors at Starbucks and a quick breeze blows away a few pages of confidential financial data. But that darned convenience factor overrides all.

So what about the paperless office? To quote my Brooklyn friends, “Fugetaboutit”. Not going to happen. No matter what a vendor of a “paperless office” product tells you. But - and you knew the “but” was coming - we can move to a “less paper” office.

And it’s not really that hard. Three steps I’ve already outlined - eliminating paper invoices and fax machines, and implementing e-forms - not only reduce paper, but can have a real impact on operating expenses. For example, think of the man hours spent keying data from paper invoices, or validating that data from scanned images. Think of the risk (and printing cost) eliminated by modeling business processes with e-forms.

And there are more steps that can, and must, be done in parallel with these. One absolute requirement is a well implemented enterprise content management system. All the documents, document images, etc, must be managed and contained in repositories which are connected to the users who require them through the line of business application they use, whether it is Microsoft Excel or SAP. And think of the operating expense reduction we could all see by eliminating all those filing cabinets full of paper, and all those boxes stored offsite at your favorite document storage location.

But we’ll still want to print that file and read it on the plane, or while laying on the sofa, or sitting on the patio. And we’ll still jot notes on pads of paper. It’s just the way we are.

Disclaimer - the author is employed by a developer of middleware which connects document capture and enterprise content management systems to line of business applications. The opinions expressed are those of the author.