{"id":6605,"date":"2014-02-12T11:00:52","date_gmt":"2014-02-12T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=6605"},"modified":"2014-02-12T11:00:52","modified_gmt":"2014-02-12T16:00:52","slug":"enhancing-workflow-with-document-management-solutions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2014\/02\/enhancing-workflow-with-document-management-solutions\/","title":{"rendered":"Enhancing Workflow with Document Management Solutions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"doc<\/a>When it comes to helping customers enhancing their workflow, what better place to start than with a document management solution? Workflow and document management are practically synonymous and office technology and imaging solutions dealers have an array of choices to move customers from cumbersome manual processes to more efficient electronic processes. Even customers who have implemented some sort of digital process into their workflow have found there\u2019s sometimes a better way. To get a better idea of what organizations are looking to achieve with a workflow solution we spoke with workflow experts at two dealerships who shared their experiences selling, implementing, and servicing document management-based workflow solutions.<\/p>\n

Commonwealth Digital Office Solutions (COMDOS) in Sterling, VA has been selling Square9\u2019s SmartSearch and SmartCapture going on three years now. It\u2019s the ideal product for its customers, including various associations based in the DC area who are looking for ways to improve their workflows and routing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very flexible, user friendly, and doesn\u2019t require an engineering degree to set these workflows up,\u201d noted Robert Feinstein, senior solutions manager for COMDOS. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy on the customer side so they can set up their own workflow. We usually start it and they can often add on to it themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of COMDOS\u2019s customers was looking for a way to improve the way invoices were routed through the organization. After sitting down with the customer and getting a clear understanding of how they were doing it now, the solution was Square9. The invoices originated in the accounting department who then sent them off to each department head to get approved. Often, those approvals took as much as 30 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were able to automate that process and now they get those invoices back much faster and they no longer have to pay late fees,\u201d explained Feinstein. \u201cIt quickly paid for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

While ROI varies from customer to customer depending on what they\u2019re automating, Feinstein reported that some organizations see an ROI in as quickly as 90 days while others may have to wait 18 months. \u201cIt depends on the volume and what we\u2019re trying to solve for the customer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

COMDOS sells a few other document management programs and they\u2019re all different in how they do things. What he likes best about Square9 and its SmartCapture scanning solution, which he calls \u2018front-end capturing,\u2019 is that it includes many features out of the box such as OCR, barcode recognition, zonal OCR, capture workflow, and other advanced capture capabilities whereas competitive products are\u00a0 more open and require third-party products to provide the same features.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t have any third party products such as NSi AutoStore, Hyland OCR for AnhyDoc, or PSIGEN Capture, Square9 is perfect because it gives them everything they need, but if they\u2019re already using a third-party product, the other product fits in really well because it can tie into it that solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another customer, a large association, was having problems with its American Express bill. \u201cIt was over 50 pages and they line item everything out and it goes to all the different department heads and speakers that they use,\u201d noted Feinstein. \u201cNow, with the ability to pull the invoice in they can send it out to each of those departments and automatically index within Square9; \u00a0what used to take them months to do one bill is now taking less than a week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, he finds the knowledge of most customers regarding workflow solutions is modest at best. \u201cYou kind of have to teach people,\u201d said Feinstein. \u201cThey understand that there\u2019s software to do that, but they don\u2019t know where to look or what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most workflow implementations start with one process or one department and then grow into other departments. An implementation might begin in the accounting department and over time branch out into other departments such as HR or marketing.<\/p>\n

Impact Networking in Waukegan, IL has been a DocuWare dealer since 2005. That solution has been an excellent fit for Impact\u2019s core customers. \u201cIt\u2019s best of breed within that midsize document management space as far as functionality,\u201d opined Frank DeGeorge, general manager of Impact\u2019s Strategic Services Group. \u201cIt fits in small and midsize companies which is what we target.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dealership prefers to stay vertical independent with whatever it sells because as DeGeorge pointed out, Impact serves every vertical. Pinned down, however, he acknowledged that Impact has had good success in everything from distribution to various types of financial companies with the DocuWare solution.<\/p>\n

In the past Impact\u2019s customers hadn\u2019t considered document management as a way to improve their workflow although it\u2019s not unusual now for end users to be more aware that their business would be more efficient if their workflow processes were automated. And a document management solution such as DocuWare is a good jumping off point for automating that workflow. Plus it\u2019s a natural evolution for some organizations who have automated the workflow in other segments of the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve invested significantly in other types of systems such as ERP and accounting, warehouse management, but the way they\u2019ve moved the paper has pretty much stayed the same,\u201d acknowledged DeGeorge.<\/p>\n

Impact Networking starts a workflow conversation by helping customers understand that most business processes, even though all the data is electronic, are still triggered by hard copy documents. \u201cWe walk them through that conversation and try to understand what kind of challenges they have,\u201d explained DeGeorge.<\/p>\n

The challenge he says is getting them to accept that a change is in order, which isn\u2019t always easy because they\u2019ve been handling the workflow manually for so long. Impact\u2019s approach is to explain what they\u2019ve done for other companies and how it\u2019s affected those companies\u2019 bottom lines. \u201cRarely do we go into a company and say we want to automate the process and do it using workflow,\u201d stated DeGeorge<\/p>\n

Another challenge of implementing a workflow solution is getting the customer to understand that they can realize a significant improvement in their business processes. Impact backs that up with statistics from Gartner Dataquest, for example, while noting that the average person spends 20 percent of their time looking for information or the documents they use. \u201cWe like to hone in on their specific challenges, but it\u2019s mostly about educating them on what the return can be and making them feel comfortable that we can pull it off,\u201d said DeGeorge.<\/p>\n

He has found two types of workflow within an organization even though Impact only focuses on one from a document management perspective. The first is business process workflow, which is handled by an ERP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe focus on the documents that drive your typical business process,\u201d stated DeGeorge. \u201cDepending on the type of company, if it\u2019s a distributor where you\u2019re talking about that customer and owner process, customer service, where the documents come from, how it gets matched up, and the way that process is automated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impact prefers to focus on quick returns when selling a document management workflow application, which means they prefer to control the scope to fit the return while not over proposing a solution. A quick return for a purchase is 12-18 months while a lease yields an immediate return.<\/p>\n

Documation, an office technology dealership in Eau Claire, WI, offers clients an array of workflow solutions, including MaxxVault\u2019s Enterprise Edition, which they\u2019ve been selling for nearly six years now. We initially interviewed Documation\u2019s software director about MaxxVault, but he left the company shortly after our interview and we were unable to secure an interview with another Documation workflow expert or MaxxVault user before our deadline. What follows are his comments, which still remain valid about how MaxxVault Enterprise Edition has helped Documation enhance its customer\u2019s workflows.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaxxVault tends to be a nice backline for an organization,\u201d we were told. \u201cOn top of that you can add workflow functionality, meaning you can take an everyday mundane task and automate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the business world workflow within Documation\u2019s customer locations is affected by other platforms and solutions such as PaperCut, Planet Press and NSi Autostore, and it\u2019s important for those solutions and a document management workflow solution such as MaxxVault Enterprise to play nice together. That\u2019s important for Documation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very open ended, we can create complex solutions for the client, which looks like one solution; there\u2019s a myriad of products working together,\u201d noted Documation\u2019s former software director.<\/p>\n

The target market for MaxxVault Enterprise, at least when Documation is selling it are medium size businesses and certain verticals such as insurance, car dealerships, and technology firms.<\/p>\n

Documation\u2019s customers ask them about ways to improve their workflow almost every day. The majority are trying to figure out a way to be more efficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s budgets are cut and they\u2019re trying to figure out how to take the same amount of workload or more and not have to increase the workforce,\u201d stated the software director. \u201cWhen they talk workflow, they\u2019re trying to eliminate inefficiencies. There\u2019s everyday stuff they don\u2019t think about, they think about one process but don\u2019t realize that there are many other processes that can be automated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what he likes best about a document management workflow solution such as MaxxVault Enterprise, he cited its stability and how the company is customer centric. When customers make requests for certain capabilities, MaxxVault takes that feedback and often puts those capabilities into new releases of its product.\u201d<\/p>\n

As long as there are manual and inefficient digital workflow processes, there\u2019s going to be opportunities for improvement and that\u2019s a job that\u2019s well suited to a host of document management solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to helping customers enhancing their workflow, what better place to start than with a document management solution? Workflow and document management are practically synonymous and office technology and imaging solutions dealers have an array of choices to move customers from cumbersome manual processes to more efficient electronic processes. Even customers who have implemented some sort of digital process into their workflow have found there\u2019s sometimes a better way. To get a better idea of what organizations are looking to achieve with a workflow solution we spoke with workflow experts at two dealerships who shared their experiences selling, implementing, and servicing document management-based workflow solutions. Commonwealth Digital Office Solutions (COMDOS) in Sterling, VA has been selling Square9\u2019s SmartSearch and SmartCapture going on three years now. It\u2019s the ideal product for its customers, including various associations based in the DC area who are looking for ways to improve their workflows and routing. \u201cIt\u2019s very flexible, user friendly, and doesn\u2019t require an engineering degree to set these workflows up,\u201d noted Robert Feinstein, senior solutions manager for COMDOS. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy on the customer side so they can set up their own workflow. We usually start it and they can often add on to it themselves.\u201d One of COMDOS\u2019s customers was looking for a way to improve the way invoices were routed through the organization. After sitting down with the customer and getting a clear understanding of how they were doing it now, the solution was Square9. The invoices originated in the accounting department who then sent them off to each department head to get approved. Often, those approvals took as much as 30 days. \u201cWe were able to automate that process and now they get those invoices back much faster and they no longer have to pay late fees,\u201d explained Feinstein. \u201cIt quickly paid for itself.\u201d While ROI varies from customer to customer depending on what they\u2019re automating, Feinstein reported that some organizations see an ROI in as quickly as 90 days while others may have to wait 18 months. \u201cIt depends on the volume and what we\u2019re trying to solve for the customer,\u201d he said. COMDOS sells a few other document management programs and they\u2019re all different in how they do things. What he likes best about Square9 and its SmartCapture scanning solution, which he calls \u2018front-end capturing,\u2019 is that it includes many features out of the box such as OCR, barcode recognition, zonal OCR, capture workflow, and other advanced capture capabilities whereas competitive products are\u00a0 more open and require third-party products to provide the same features. \u201cIf they don\u2019t have any third party products such as NSi AutoStore, Hyland OCR for AnhyDoc, or PSIGEN Capture, Square9 is perfect because it gives them everything they need, but if they\u2019re already using a third-party product, the other product fits in really well because it can tie into it that solution.\u201d Another customer, a large association, was having problems with its American Express bill. \u201cIt was over 50 pages and they line item everything out and it goes to all the different department heads and speakers that they use,\u201d noted Feinstein. \u201cNow, with the ability to pull the invoice in they can send it out to each of those departments and automatically index within Square9; \u00a0what used to take them months to do one bill is now taking less than a week.\u201d Not surprisingly, he finds the knowledge of most customers regarding workflow solutions is modest at best. \u201cYou kind of have to teach people,\u201d said Feinstein. \u201cThey understand that there\u2019s software to do that, but they don\u2019t know where to look or what it is.\u201d Most workflow implementations start with one process or one department and then grow into other departments. An implementation might begin in the accounting department and over time branch out into other departments such as HR or marketing. Impact Networking in Waukegan, IL has been a DocuWare dealer since 2005. That solution has been an excellent fit for Impact\u2019s core customers. \u201cIt\u2019s best of breed within that midsize document management space as far as functionality,\u201d opined Frank DeGeorge, general manager of Impact\u2019s Strategic Services Group. \u201cIt fits in small and midsize companies which is what we target.\u201d The dealership prefers to stay vertical independent with whatever it sells because as DeGeorge pointed out, Impact serves every vertical. Pinned down, however, he acknowledged that Impact has had good success in everything from distribution to various types of financial companies with the DocuWare solution. In the past Impact\u2019s customers hadn\u2019t considered document management as a way to improve their workflow although it\u2019s not unusual now for end users to be more aware that their business would be more efficient if their workflow processes were automated. And a document management solution such as DocuWare is a good jumping off point for automating that workflow. Plus it\u2019s a natural evolution for some organizations who have automated the workflow in other segments of the business. \u201cThey\u2019ve invested significantly in other types of systems such as ERP and accounting, warehouse management, but the way they\u2019ve moved the paper has pretty much stayed the same,\u201d acknowledged DeGeorge. Impact Networking starts a workflow conversation by helping customers understand that most business processes, even though all the data is electronic, are still triggered by hard copy documents. \u201cWe walk them through that conversation and try to understand what kind of challenges they have,\u201d explained DeGeorge. The challenge he says is getting them to accept that a change is in order, which isn\u2019t always easy because they\u2019ve been handling the workflow manually for so long. Impact\u2019s approach is to explain what they\u2019ve done for other companies and how it\u2019s affected those companies\u2019 bottom lines. \u201cRarely do we go into a company and say we want to automate the process and do it using workflow,\u201d stated DeGeorge Another challenge of implementing a workflow solution is getting the customer to understand that they can realize a significant improvement in their business processes. Impact backs that up with statistics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[1184,1186,169,171,764,1185,1183,360],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6605"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6605"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6617,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6605\/revisions\/6617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}