Monthly Archives: July 2018

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Shifting to a ‘paperless office’ marks an important jump in any organization’s journey towards the next level of performance. And more often than not, it is the DMS (Document Management System) that lies at the heart of this transition.

Amongst other things, the ‘operation’ involves digitising paper files by first scanning them, and subsequently storing them. The crucial consideration here is that they need to be stored in a format that is “search-friendly”(apart from being compact, convenient and editable), so that they can be retrieved with minimum fuss and in minimum time when needed.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is the technology that does this job. Typically, an OCR optimises scanned documents for search by turning printed matter into fully searchable digital assets that let you access and retrieve any word or phrase (across the document) instantaneously.

Before adding – or checking for – the OCR in your DMS, here are 3 important aspects you need to bear in mind.

The first is accuracy. In reality, digital scans can be far from perfect. And given the potential damage, the margin of error is zero. Go for an OCR with a sophisticated algorithm, a robust and reliable ‘engine’, and comprehensive support for your specific scenario.

Next, you must weigh in the conversion speed of the OCR engine. Choose an OCR that offers high speed processing with minimal system requirements in terms of CPU speed, RAM and others.

Thirdly, the output format that you need – PDF, text (word) file, image or any other – should play a deciding role in finalising the OCR specs.

In case your DMS software does not carry the required OCR features, there are various third party tools in the market that can help you upgrade easily with scalable OCRfeatures,including some variants which allow for integrating such third party OCR engines via a web API to your DMS. This kind of integration can help you leverage the benefits organisation-wide quickly and smoothly.

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A Cloud DMS carries a host of benefits for your business. If you don’t have a DMS Solution currently, or if you are managing documents using a simple file / folder structure on your existing file server, it may be worthwhile making the big switch to the Cloud. Before you do, however, here are a few vital things to keep in mind.

Cost

The cost of a Cloud DMS is influenced by a variety of complex features and performance, and needs to be scanned closely before-hand. Storage with low latency tends to cost more than one with high latency. Secondly, while archival storage comes at an affordable price-point, functions such as interactive and batch processing tend to command a mark-up. Data egress, copying data between data centres, frequent large transfers and automatic versioning will also attract a higher cost. Cost will perhaps not be a big deterrent when it comes to switching to the Cloud, not least because of the substantial savings it will deliver in the long run. You must nevertheless factor-in the full lifecycle of data to calculate the approximate costs, before taking that final decision.

Risk

Do a thorough risk assessment, touching upon aspects like security, backups & recovery, hardware failure, power disruptions and vendor disputes, to name some. On the topic of security, make sure you evaluate your potential Cloud DMS provider around server, encryptions, authentication & authorization controls, password policies, card building access, video monitoring, virus response, ‘intrusion/mal-function’ alerts and industry compliances. It is a sensible idea to minimize risks by choosing a Cloud DMS provider that has their infrastructure hosted on a High Availability, Redundant virtual cloud system with multiple network connectivity to mitigate against server or network failures.

Efficiencies

Check for speed and ease of core functions like document creation, storage, editing & retrieval, bandwidth for large files, versatility with all types of documents such as paper, electronic, fax, audio & video, compatibility with operating systems, frequently used applications, storage devices & emerging technologies, whether it integrates well with your business software (ERP and CRM, for instance) and whether it is accessible across devices including mobile.

Other

Other questions to consider are whether the Cloud DMS provider will allow you to use the ‘free trial offer’ before signing on the dotted line, is prompt & regular with upgrades (including sufficient testing time before implementation), has a well-developed training program to support your teams, possesses the infrastructure (bandwidth, servers, load balancers, servers, data warehouses, et all) to scale with you as your business grows and comes with both a robust financial base and positive references.

Finally

Go through the service contract with a fine toothed comb. Make sure it outlines every contingency and condition clearly. In particular, watch out for penalty clauses in case of unmet expectations, legal ownership of data (who ‘owns’ it), how quickly requests for data changes can be implemented and the process of getting your data back, when the service period expires.

A Cloud DMS can take your performance to the next level. Just make sure you get the basics in place, before subscribing to the services of your Cloud DMS provider.