We seem to be becoming increasingly paranoid about photographers. People taking photographs are being frequently challenged by police. We have increasingly weird ideas of image rights and what permission is needed to take photographs in public spaces.

This is just the latest case.

It is often argued that people taking photographs of things some people don’t think are interesting should expect to have to justify themselves. This is a bad and small-minded argument, however it doesn’t even apply here. He was photographing a church. An actual architectural landmark. Surely that point could be appreciated by even the most unimaginative of idiots?

Apparently not.

Austin Mitchell MP raised an early day motion about police intimidation of photographers. It hasn’t seemed to work so following this case he has submitted a new one.

Petitions about photography on the Number 10 website have been met with the response that photography in public places is not illegal. This misses the point- it needs to be made clear to the police that it’s not illegal and a greater degree of suspicion is required before challenging people who photograph in public places. ACPO have in the past issued guidance on what the legal position of Police Officers challenging photographers is. The message appeared not to be getting through to the officers on the ground. Now worried by reports of misconduct in the press, ACPO are issuing their members with a warning. I hope it gets through to beat officers this time.

I’m wondering whether the mistrust of photographers is a problem with police culture, or one in society as a whole which is affecting some individual officers conduct. Either way- the paranoia must stop.

Being watchful and careful in public will make us safer as a nation. But this must be done calmly and intelligently. Fear, paranoia and mistrust do not make us safer.

Further reading:

For those of you who attended my breakout session at the NEXUS ECM Conference on automating business processes this topic will be familiar to you.  If you missed the session, this blog will provide a glimpse into the world of automating and optimizing business processes. 

There are many different ways to approach process automation and optimization and the purpose of this blog topic is to provide information based on my industry experience.  I will discuss identifying processes within an organization and then automating those processes utilizing a number of valuable implementation strategies.

Why Automate?

From my experience in the Enterprise Content Management industry, I have found the main reasons to automate or optimize a business process are as follows:

• Gain Process Efficiencies
• Process Quality Improvement
• Improve Reporting, Tracking & Auditing

Process Identification

Let’s take a look at identifying a business process that could be automated.  When looking at processes to automate or optimize, the starting point is to identify a process and then extensively research the process to get a clear understanding of the current state.  A good place to start with this research is to look at all of the inputs and outputs of the current process.  This can include documents, data and communication associated with accomplishing tasks in a process. 

Next, we will want to evaluate the identified process to determine what manual steps in the process can be automated.  From identifying the steps we then can determine which ones will provide the best return for the business and/or user.

The last key to identifying and evaluating business processes is the inclusion of the user community in the analysis of the current process to determine; 1) what is currently working well, 2) what could use improving, 3) what are the major deficiencies and 4) what is on the user’s wish list for the process.

By following these steps in identifying and evaluating a business process you will set yourself up for success when architecting and implementing a solution for automation or optimization.

Implementation Strategies

Now that we have discussed identifying business processes let’s take a look at some implementation strategies to assist you in automating/optimizing the process.

• Understand the Business Process: As discussed earlier in the post, it is critical to fully understand the process that you are automating.
  • Evaluate current bottlenecks
  • Determine the user interaction with the current process
• Require Ownership at All Levels: In order to get full acceptance of the solution you are implementing you should ensure that the entire team is on board and understands the benefits to them and the organization.  This includes:
  • Executive Level
  • Departmental Management
  • End Users
• Know what to Automate: Don’t automate every manual process for the sake of automation.  Determine the return value associated with the re-engineering of the process.  In some cases it will make more sense to keep the process manual.  For example, in a customer service organization, it may be more beneficial to provide human interaction to a customer instead of sending an automatically generated email.
• Educate Yourself on Existing Systems: Understanding the current infrastructure in place can be critical when determining the return on investment and initial cost of the process re-engineering. 
  • If there is already an Enterprise Content Management system in place, you should be able to leverage this for tasks associated with document capture, document management/archival, workflow, etc…
  • Line of Business systems (Oracle E-Business, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, MSFT Great Plains, etc…) can be leveraged for storing metadata associated with the documents you are capturing.   Using software like ILINX Integrate, these LOB systems can then be image enabled to retrieve documents directly from your document management system without ever leaving the LOB system.
• Promote Ongoing Analysis & Optimization: This strategy is key to creating and maintaining truly efficient and optimized processes within an organization.  Let’s take the following example:
  • A manual process is identified to automate
  • The process is automated with success using the above implementation strategies
  • Everyone is happy and uses the new and improved process
  • Now that the process has been improved it is common to call the project a success and never look back.  This may work for some time, but eventually the process will need to be evaluated again to determine if additional automation or optimization needs to take place.  Over time business processes evolve and technology changes, so this step can be imperative to keep your business process streamlined.

 In summary, we have taken a quick look at the process of identifying business process to automate and optimize, as well as, some strategies for success when taking on the task of business process re-engineering.  Please feel free to post comments related to this information or your own experiences related to this topic. 

  

In any business environment and particularly in today’s climate, it is imperative that every dollar spent is done so ‘wisely’.   For a great deal of companies an EDMS or electronic document management system  is one of the most important factors that will keep their business running smoothly and cost effectively.

If you need a good reason to start seriously considering the use of an EDMS, then read on. A good EDMS should offer you the following:

• Immediate access to documents.  No long waiting periods while a file is retrieved from a remote location offsite
• Physical storage space and retrieval systems are no longer required
• Documents are secure against fire, theft, damage and ageing
• EDMS is a long term storage solution
• Secure against inappropriate use as the EDMS creates accessibility levels for all users
• Ability to assemble and categorise documents
• Ability to search on keywords for specific data.

An EDMS will not only allow its owner to store its documentation but to also electronically organise, retrieve and process all company documents. While many companies are reluctant to take the step toward an EDMS, they continue to rely on inadequate and inefficient paper-based document management systems. In the long term it will inevitably be easier, more reliable, highly efficient and necessary to use an EDMS.

This is where drawBRIDGE will prove itself to be the revolutionist in Electronic Document Management Systems.

drawBRIDGE is not a document storage system.  It is a standalone Electronic Document Management System.  drawBRIDGE will allow you to not only store documents, but to retrieve, manipulate, categorise and distribute all your company documentation from any site or branch worldwide.

Enterprise Content Management Solutions
– Remote and Mobile Employees

Many of today’s business discussions revolve around the fact that providing select employees with the ability to work from home, in a mobile environment, or otherwise more independently, is a positive factor towards fostering conservation and a “GREEN” initiative.  Considering the integrated component benefits of a well conceived and implemented Enterprise Content Management System (ECM), with the right employees selected for a remote work environment, this green initiative can also promote a highly efficient and productive business environment.

Employees that successfully work from home or on the road as much as they do in the office are likely characterized by desirable core competencies.  This is nothing new and these strong employee qualities have always been required of the person working independently from constant co-worker and management relationships and support. 

Successful remote employees are oriented towards achieving results, and as such, as a group they can be described as being self-motivated, self-disciplined, and as self-sufficient as their supporting infrastructure will allow them to be.   “Remote” employees very often maintain a strong client focus and spend a lot of time working at client sites, communicating with clients, and seeking new clients. 

In order to give the successful remote employee the best opportunity to be as productive as they can be, and promote an organization’s green initiative,  that organization can develop the information management and communications infrastructure that fosters collaboration and information self service.  This also prepares an organization to address the current business trend towards more remote employees.  This developed business structure can also support instances where employees are able to work, but have to do that work away from the office due to illness, convalescence, family emergency, transportation problems, etc.

In addition to the infrastructure, it is important to implement a training program so that these resources are known to the remote employees and they are well trained in making the most of them.

The following are among those driving guidelines that support effective mobile and remote employees:

• Digital information and content are increasingly pervasive and require well developed broadband technologies and services.  Remote employees must be provided with required independent information access and research needed for commercial, client, and business awareness.  ECM Benefits contributing towards a green initiative and remote employee support include:
  • ECM – Customer and business information access through web based document and image management
  • ECM – Research and document re-purposing through web based document management
  • ECM – Work and transaction processing continuation through web based workflow processing
• Group and teamwork oriented communications channels are instrumental to effective and collaboration between the remote employee, clients, co-workers, and management, and to providing effective remote presentation resources.  Integration of Collaboration Management and web based meeting services with compatible ECM systems provides a productive team environment contributing to a focused energy and natural resource conservation effort.
• Businesses (and individuals) must effectively communicate on the move and be supported by personal mobile communication technology and web services.  Personal mobile devices now provide a technology that not only communicates between people, but also communicates information to people using compatible web based Enterprise Content Management systems.
• Data submission and resolution tool resources allowing for information communication and independent problem solving must be provided to the remote employee dependent upon business type and objectives.  Digital Forms Processing and Management systems, a major component of many ECM systems, can provide effective solutions.

Neil W. Lindsey
Project Manager / Senior Business Analyst
ImageSource, Inc.

Attend the following GREEN oriented sessions at
NEXUS 2009, November 2nd, 3rd, 2009, Bellevue,
Washington

Finding the PR Value in your Green ECM Technology
Reducing Your Organization’s Cost and Carbon
Footprint Through Inter-Office Scanning
Economical & Environmental Benefits of eForms

(Originally posted on InformationZen by George Parapadakis on June 10, 2009)

In response to my previous blog “Is it a Record, Who cares?” @DoD501502STD twitted: “Let’s just ignore the laws we don’t like??”. It’s a very valid question, but I think it slightly misses the point I was trying to make in my post: “Who Cares?” wasn’t a flippant remark, it was a literal question…

I want to be very clear: I am not at all disputing the need to manage records. My discussion point was on the issue of what constitutes a record that needs to be managed as the law prescribes. And I guess there are two points I’m trying to make here: (1) The distinction between a record and a non-record is becoming a moot point, and (2) that the paradigms we use today to manage records are no longer relevant. Let me explain…

Today, all electronic information is potentially discoverable, in the legal sense, regardless whether that information has been declared as a record or not. Today, the information relating to a business transaction (the “record”) will be spread across multiple media and formats – paper, electronic document, database entries, email, website interaction, instant messaging, telephone transaction, SMS text and potentially even Twitter. The current paradigms for records management, which would effectively require you to electronically “staple” all these bits of information together in order to archive them in a folder, in a volume, in a category of a fileplan, is using an outdated model that has been designed for the constraints of the paper archiving world and is no longer relevant.

Arguably, existing RM practices, are effectively constraining organisations in defining the most appropriate RM strategy by prescribing management paradigms which no longer align with today’s information management practices.

The WHY, which is the law requirement, is the secure preservation of information for a defined retention period, and the audited exercise of disposition schedules. HOW we go about implementing this today, is what I’m questioning here. Not the requirement to manage records, but what is a record and how we manage it.

So, to follow through from my previous blog, I would suggest that it is the desired behaviour and context of these information entities, that defines whether they are a record or not, and not their physical medium or simply their content.

So my suggestion would be: Focus on the WHY – The spirit of the law: The need to reliably, transparently and accountably protect all relevant information, for a given period of time. In today’s IT and social networking environment, designing an environment that delivers that capability may need alternative paradigms that are effective and efficient, but may be far removed from our current rigid definitions of records, fileplans or what an RM implementation is “supposed” to look like.

Your Thoughts?

If I have learned anything from my 38 years in the computer industry is that there is no shortage of acronyms. This sometimes raises an interesting dilemma when Solution Selling. Terms like ECM, EDMS, & CMS many times mean different things to different people. Even simple things like Document Imaging can have a different meaning depending on the audience or even the vendor, just talk with someone in the copier business. A survey conducted a couple of years ago among Executives clearly identified that one’s understanding of ECM, Workflow, Records Management, etc were all over the map. To make matters even more confusing, vendors pick up on clichés and phrases that are representative of their own products and don’t necessarily reflect the terminology of a competitive product or the industry. Recently I was asked to do a demo on E Discovery only to find out what I was really being asked was to do a demo of a Records Management Product. Bottom-line is you can’t ask enough questions when qualifying a new prospect and don’t assume because a certain terminology means something to you it means the same to the prospect.

Bob Garrido
Senior Account Executive
ImageSource, Inc.

For many functions in the organization the full text “Google” like search capability found in most document management systems may be useful.  For others, it’s not sufficient in providing the business value.  Here’s some situations that may help determine what is right for you.

A business professor once said “There are three core functions to any process… 1. Procurement of Materials 2. Conversion of Materials and 3. Distribution of those Materials.  All other functions only support these three”.  In translation, these three things can map to any function found in business for any department (Sales, HR, Information Technology etc.)  It seems that when analyzing any business process, this old adage always comes back and discussing search in the enterprise is no exception.

When looking at search it’s helpful to see both sides of these functions for document management.  Documents either “drive the process” as a core function, or documents are ”driven by the process” as in a supporting role.  The differences are not all that hard to see.  Document that drive the process are directly related to the three functions above 1. Procurement 2. Conversion and 3. Distribution.  Documents that are driven by the process may be everything else.

Vouchers, Invoices and Checks are all documents that drive Purchasing.  Service Orders and Proof of Delivery are documents that drive Operations.  Purchase Orders and Service Contracts drive sales. 

On the other side, Marketing Literature  is driven by Marketing.  Brochures are driven by Sales.  The company Calendar is driven by HR and Inventory Reports are driven by Operations.  These documents support the functions of their departments.

A less technical way to look at this dichotomy is ”gotta have that document now” and “gee, this looks like what I’m looking for”.  When designing a search architecture, this is one of the basic questions you can ask yourself.

Documents that drive the business process tend to require a discrete index field search.  This is because the user is typically looking for the one document they need, and they need it quick.  A Sales Order for a customer service representative or an Invoice for a purchasing manager.  These documents also typically already have a structured meta-data component already designed for them before the document management system is in place.  A Sales Order Number field is always generated for Sales Orders and an Invoice Number Field always has an Invoice number.  This is true before or after a document management system exists.

Documents that are driven by the process are less structured in nature.  Marketing Literature, Progress Reports and the Employee Vacation schedule to name a few.  The user is typically looking for some information that could be in one, or many of these documents.  Could an employee figure out if Memorial Day is a company holiday by finding the wrong documents to their search?  Like last years vacation schedule?  Probably so.  If this is the case, a full text content search may prove successful.

Documents that “drive the process” answer questions to a search that only that one document can satisfy.  What items were billed for Invoice # 123456?  What date was Employee #78910 hired?  Who signed for Proof of Delivery #34567?  In these cases, a discrete index field search is required.

John Moffitt

Systems Engineer

ImageSource, Inc.

http://www.nexusecm.com/index.htm

www.imagesourceinc.com

www.ilinxcapture.com 

Enterprise Content Management implementation projects frequently require the formation of plans for, and execution of “Change Management” as a major part of the project components.  But what is Change Management?  In ECM Projects, participants have been known to describe Change Management using two very different definitions:

[1]  “Change Management (People)”- ECM projects sometimes include significant business process changes that require the user community to change the way they work.  This is especially true of solutions that involve transactional processes.  Process change situations can challenge the success of the project if the users are not involved and informed.  If major business process are major or widespread, the support of executive and middle management is crucial and needs to be effectively communicated to those users involved with the changes.

[2]  “Change Management (ITSM)”- Most ECM Projects, no matter how well planned and documented, will usually have situations arise where plan details should change.  Changes to the plan can be requested by the implementation team, the project sponsor, or a key organizational department.  The Project Manager(s) responsible for the success of the project must have a formal process to receive Change Requests, process, and then respond to them in light of their impact on the design, cost, and schedule of the project.

  

More information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000 – the entire history of civilization – and administering these documents has become a challenge for even the most advanced organizations and a key to success… This is at the heart of the activity of software & services company SIAV, specialized in management of electronic documents (EDMS- OCR -ADR). It has just set up the headquarters of it subsidiary SISTEMI DIGITALI France on the Côte d’Azur, which is in charge of developing business throughout France.

2 questions to Gérard Dimiglio Director SISTEMI DIGITALI France:

1. Your activity in a nutshell?
We offer a range of solutions used for managing electronic documents, which allows customers to store, search and retrieve digital versions of most any document – anytime, anywhere. Our complete range of modular solutions allows for a maximum of flexibility to adapt to the needs of different structures. More than 2,500 customers representing over 150.000 users are relying on SIAV software in Europe.

2. Your Côte d’Azur site?
To expand our business in France, we needed to be part of a strong high-tech/R&D environment, with leaders in sectors such as ITC and Biotech… all elements which we have found here. I must say that TEAM’s Christophe Perez was very efficient at convincing us and has been a real help in setting up here.

* EDMS : Enterprise Document Management System

More: www.siavsistemi.fr

made small changes about the category of items for FIAT and EDMS.
EDMS -> change the view of the data which is sort the data alphabetically. – done
FIATS  ->  change the fields that need to be inserted by user according to table COM_CATEGORY_REF. – done
currently -> trying to make a form to insert a new book n stationary. – in progress

updated by nani.

designing all database tables according to URS available

Would an MP care to table an EDM?

Jarrow Labour MP Stephen Hepburn is a publicity seeking buffoon who thinks that it’s OK to table an EDM calling for Sir Cyril Smith’s Knighthood to be removed. He does this on the basis that the former Lib-Dem heavyweight used a speech 27 years ago supplied by Turner and Newall, despite recognising the fact that Smith can no longer defend himself in the Houses of Parliament.

I think that some kind MP ought to table an Early Day Motion calling for Lord Don Dixon’s peerage to be removed on the basis that he used numerous speeches in the House of Commons part penned by trades union researchers (with a vested interest) in defence of the old Tyneside shipbuilding industries and their working practises. These were industries which risked the lives of thousands of men in Jarrow, Hebburn, and South Shields and boilermakers and riveters were often exposed to large amounts of asbestos, carcinogens, and other pollutants but it seems they needed “protection” when they were long past their sell by date. Mesothelioma killed 52 people in South Tyneside between 1981 and 2000 the fifth worst mortality rate in the UK.
I think you will find, Mr. Hepburn, that my idea is as much piffle as yours, but at least it highlights the problem.

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