Blogs

I know of a lot of people that have a need to create a document as an image. They first print the document then put the document into their scanner so they have an image. I don’t get it.

There are plenty of tools that can be used to create an image of your documents. You could use Adobe Acrobat, eCopy Desktop and a myriad of other tools. You could even use the Microsoft Document Image Writer that comes free with your computer. All you have to do is go to file and select print. Select the Microsoft Document Image Writer as your printer and then choose to save the file as an image that can be converted into a tiff image.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, one choice may be better than another. If you need help, let us know what you want to accomplish and we can give you a solution. You may already have all the technology you need to get it done and all we'll have to do is teach you how to do it.

It is estimated that less than 20% of all records that have traditionally been paper-based have been converted to electronic formats. For example, according to AdvancedMD, only 10% - 15% of medical records are handled electronically.

This tells me that the paperless office is a myth and just a vision… we have a long way to go before we get there.

I found a case study on how a law office in Illinois is moving to a paperless environment. We have helped a few law offices here in town with the same type of conversion. Take a look at the case study titled Lawyers win document case.”

By Daniel P. Dern

BOSTON—Quality color printing has historically cost too much for small and midsize businesses or branch offices to do in-house. Hewlett-Packard is out to turn that history on its head, announcing on March 4 that it is slashing costs for quality color multifunction printers capable of printing, copying, scanning and faxing.

HP made the announcement at the 2008 AIIM/OnDemand event taking place here between March 3-6.

HP's new color inkjet and laser MFPs range in cost from $100 to $600, aimed as they are at the SMB, SOHO and consumer markets. HP also announced related supplies, service and branding announcements.

If you are smart, you’ll prepare for the event that you might need to be ready for electronic data discovery.

I read an intereting post at Computer World. Robin Harris wrote a post called the Two-minute guide to Electronic Data Discovery. There is some pretty interesting points in there that I believe everyone responisble for data in a business should understand.

I think that this is a prime example of how IT and business managers really need to work together to be ready for eventualities in business especially when it comes to document management policies.

One thing that struck me was that it is not IT responsibility to define data retention or destruction strategies. She made three important points:

• Your company’s lawyers and record management folks are responsible for setting electronic data retention policy - not IT
• IT must take the lead, working with policy makers, in architecting an economic and effective infrastructure to ensure compliance
• IT needs a documented process whose ownership lies outside IT for unscheduled data destruction - such as when a VP wants all their emails to a client deleted - and staff must be trained on it.

You may think that your PDF or Excel Document is secure… but…

I lost a password for a PDF file and had to have it to make a quick edit. I did a search on Google and in about three minutes found a a little application that simply removes the password. No password, no problem.

I got to thinking a little about it and wondered if password protection on an Excel document is any better. Nope… same thing. I did a quick search on Google and found that I could crack that password just as free.

What is the solution?

Well, if document security is that important, you really need to look at a document management system that tracks versions and changes. Then, if the change occurs, you can track it. Moreover, users have to have access into the document management system in the first place to be able to even access the file in the first place.

By Jim Murphy

The enterprise content management (ECM) market is at a critical turning point where it must prove itself or be lost altogether. Over the last 20 years, widely disparate business demands for content management, the stubborn resistance of antiquated practices, widely different methods of handling content, technology growing pains, the slow maturation of standards, the whims of investment hype as money flits from document management to Web content management to Web 2.0, and conflicting definitions of what content management is, have led us to a rocky, complicated and still wildly dynamic vendor landscape.

No matter how loudly the vendors tout the notion of a unified ECM system, no matter how many vendors consume each other, the ECM market has defied complete consolidation. Having covered the market for eight years, I’ve kept a simple list of every content management-related vendor that has crossed my desk, noting when they emerge, when they’re acquired or when they disappear. At 316 as I write this, the list grows daily.

ECM or Electronic Content Management allow for the storage of images and information on your network. Byron Aulick at Datavault posted an introduction to ECM at the Datavault Blog.

Enterprise Content Management, by definition, is the ability to gather, organize, and distribute corporate information, regardless of its original format. The ECM industry is rapidly becoming the most highly sought after service for 'Corporate America'. Having said that, let's first understand that ECM has no ‘vertical' market. Simply stated, this means that there is no one type of business served better than any other. ECM can help a medical facility handle its knowledge base just as quickly and efficiently as it can help an attorney's office manage their legal documents.

Vince Ferraro of the HP Laser Jet Blog points us to the PC Magazine Review of monochrome laser printers.

Here is what Vince said in his blog post:

This week, PC Magazine featured a roundup of four affordably-priced monochrome laser printers best suited for SOHO use - two of which included HP LaserJet Printers. The roundup included the HP LaserJet P1006, the HP LaserJet P1505 Printer (an editor's choice pick from an earlier review), OKI Printing Solutions B4400, and the SamsungML-1630.

The review praised the HP models for their speed and small size, and reviewer David Stone said that while "the ML-1630, for example, offers a designer look, for those who care about such things, [...] the P1505 and B4400 are noticeably faster than the other two models. Any one of them could be your personal monochrome laser of choice."

There is a great deal of debate, in the industry, in terms of how fast the market (and users) will covert to color business printing. To be sure, the price and performance of color laser printers is declining - making them more affordable than ever. However, if you are not yet ready for color, mono laser printers in this price range offer surprisingly good value in terms of print quality, performance (usually faster than equivalently-priced color printers), and performance.

HP has released a new eBook for assisting companies with marketing. They are releasing a chapter per month and you might find it interesting.

From the HP landing page:

This book provides actionable marketing and sales information for business owners and marketing managers. Sponsored by HP, all chapters can be downloaded for free six months before the official publishing date (regular retail value is $39.95). Beautifully illustrated and chock full of check lists, worksheets, tips and tricks, the book provides you with updated information on

• Finding your business focus
• Getting more client appointments
• Optimizing your web activities for search engines
• Creating word of mouth through new media tools like blogs, wikis, optimized landing pages and much, much, more

You can click through to the HP Landing Page and download the first chapter right now. If you subscribe to this feed, we'll let you know when the next chapter is available.

"A document management system (DMS) is a computer system (or set of computer programs) used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. The term has some overlap with the concepts of Content Management Systems and is often viewed as a component of Enterprise Content Management Systems and related to Digital Asset Management, Document imaging, Workflow systems and Records Management systems."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_management