Industry awards at KM Expo
An eye to solutions
By Jennifer McIntosh, IW Associate Editor
Innovative solution providers will be recognized at Knowledge Management Expo in The Industry Solution Awards for Document Management. Co-sponsored by Microsoft (Redmond, WA,http://www.microsoft.com/industry/docman) and IW (Camden, ME, http://www.iwmag.com), the contest showcases solutions developed using a Windows NT server within the categories of document management, imaging, structured workflow and unstructured workflow. Three finalists have been selected in each of the four categories, having received the highest ratings on the following criteria: business benefit, scalability, ease of adoption, integration with line-of-business (LOB) applications, relationship with customer, the solutions architecture used in development and technical challenges.
Finalists will be re-evaluated and winners selected by the following panel of industry experts: Ray Edwards of Apex Associates (Kansas City, MO), Tom Dale of Information Technologies (Santa Monica, CA, ), Linda Myers-Tierney of Myers-Tierney & Associates (Carlisle, MA), Jeetu Patel of Doculabs (Chicago), Elias Safdie of The Cordis Group (Chelmsford, MA) and Bruce Silver of Bruce Silver Associates (Aptos, CA). The winners will be announced at KM Expo on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8:30 a.m. in conjunction with John Mancini's keynote speech, "Beyond the Document--Knowledge."
Extending the enterprise
As integrated solutions emerge from disparate products, tangible benefits for the customer--namely streamlined business performance--become the focus. For the contest finalists, solutions and the goal of extending the enterprise are certainly at center stage. "The solutions I chose did a great job of blending people, processes and technologies into a solution set. They also had done their planning with regard to interfacing with other information systems and functional areas," said member of the judging panel Ray Edwards. Knowledge management achieves information sharing by moving beyond one-dimensional approaches. "It is about addressing the whole picture and crafting dynamic, multidimensional solutions to really solve and improve the business problem and/or environment. Several of the finalists I reviewed are on that path and that's very exciting," continued Edwards.
Document management finalists
Supporting the management of multiformat documents, offering a rich set of library services and including functions for check-in/check-out, versioning and access control are traits of a sound document management system. The processes of document creation, review, editing and approval for distribution are accommodated by such a system. Solutions offered by the finalists point to shifting business practices and a "new definition of the enterprise, which includes a geographically dispersed work force," said Linda Myers-Tierney.
FileNet The FileNet (Costa Mesa, CA, http://www.filenet.com) solution, FileNet Mezzanine Version 4.1, is implemented at NCR's (Dayton, OH, http://www.ncr.com) facilities. NCR uses the system to produce, store and distribute 1,500 technical manuals and other publications on internal Microsoft Windows NT servers and 400 on an external server. Customer service operations benefit from the ease of access to documents in Acrobat PDF format, which users can download using a Web browser.
Kainos Software Limited Kainos Software Limited (Belfast, Northern Ireland, http://www.kainos.com) offers an application for exposing the value of corporate information. Kainos Knowledge Version 1.0 is engineered around Web technologies to offer Internet and intranet access to data. The product runs on a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft SQL Server 6.5. The Chief & Assistant Chief Fire Officers Association (CACFOA) Research Limited (Tamworth, England) uses the solution to provide 500 users throughout the fire authorities and brigades with information management.
PC Docs Designed for use by Ernst & Young (Washington, http://www.ey.com) tax practice group, the Electronic Client File (ECF) from PC Docs (Burlington, MA, http://www.pcdocs.com) is built on Docs Open Version 3.0. Implemented on Microsoft NT SQL, the system enables the management of a regional set of tax practices as a single, unified national practice. About 3,500 users have access to a centralized repository of information relevant to the tax return preparation.
Imaging finalists
Automated capture, indexing, processing, storage and retrieval of digital image documents captured from paper is the goal of document imaging. A successful solution improves access to files and online processing in paper-intensive industries.
Minolta Information Systems Minolta Information Systems (Mahwah, NJ, http://www.minoltausa.com) offers a MI3MS 3000 Plus Image and Information Management System Version 3.5 to West Virginia Division of Highways (WV DOH, Charleston, WV). The 30-user system, built on a Windows NT 3.51 network, is used for tracking and administering all highway construction projects. Components include compound-document architecture, an application generator, Minolta's Document P.A.T.H. and workflow technologies. Systronics Systronics' (Dubai, United Arab Emirates, http://www.systronics.com) solution, Credit Business Document Imaging Version 1.5, is implemented at MashreqBank (Dubai, United Arab Emirates). The 10-user application manages a database of borrowers' information and offers scanning, image processing, indexing and filing of documents into a hierarchical folder system. The product is integrated with Microsoft Exchange and servers.
TMSSequoia A high-speed medical forms processing system from TMSSequoia (Stillwater, OK, http://www.tmsinc.com) is streamlining operations at Kaiser Permanente, Scanning Services Division (Livermore, CA). The Kaiser Permanente Forms Processing System Version 1.0 is a Microsoft BackOffice-based system that enables the HMO to process forms for 25% of northern California's population, at a rate of 70,000 per day.
Structured workflow finalists
A production workflow solution is characterized by high throughput, high storage requirements and high degree of task similarity. A constant connection between the server and the client for simultaneous retrieval and an imaging component are required.
Action Technologies Action Technologies (Alameda, CA, http://www.actiontech.com) offers a solution based on the Microsoft BackOffice suite, Action Workflow Enterprise Series (Engineering Work Management Application) Version 3.0. Pacific Gas & Electric Company (San Francisco) uses the system to manage engineering drawings created at Diablo Canyon. Currently supporting 340 users and licensed to 510 licensed users, the solution addresses the complete workflow process--role definition, routes and business rules. One million engineering documents are stored in a Saros Mezzanine library system.
Altris Software University Hospital Birmingham (Birmingham, England) is using a solution from Altris Software (San Diego, http://www.altris.com) to manage financial information. Installed using a Microsoft NT and SQL server, the document management system allows users to view and print any document from the accounting system, received at the rate of 10,000 invoices and 20,000 supplier statements per month.
Success Technology Success Technology (Myaree, WA, Australia, http://www.ozemail.com.au/~grom) provides Athans & Taylor Chartered Accountants (A&T, Balcatta, WA, Australia), with ST Synergy Version 1.2. The client-centric electronic documents management solution enables multiple departments to manage all aspects of the customer relationship. Users can view and edit documents, attach documents and track the progress of a job using ST Synergy, which supports Windows 95 and NT Workstation platforms.
Unstructured workflow finalists
A collaborative/ad hoc workflow solution automates the flow of information to facilitate work delivery and compress cycle times in the cross-organizational business processes.
Action Technologies Baylor Health Care System (Dallas) has established a new online contract ratification process using Action Technologies' (Alameda, CA) ActionWorks Metro Version 3.0. Deployed to 21 users, with plans to develop intranet applications to accommodate 3,000 Baylor employees, the company expects to save $120,000 annually in pharmacy contract expenses. The solution runs on a Microsoft NT server and stores its workflow data in a Microsoft SQL Server database.
Tumbleweed Software Cooley, Godward LLP (San Francisco) uses Tumbleweed Software's (Redwood City, CA, http://www.tumbleweed.com) Posta Version 1.0 for document management over the Internet. Built on Web, E-mail and database technologies, the software is designed to integrate with existing applications. The Posta Server incorporates Windows NT 4.0 elements.
Ultimus The Ultimus (Raleigh, NC, http://www.ultimus1.com) Workflow Suite Version 3.0 is installed at Winbond Electronics (Hsinchu 300, Taiwan) to automate administrative business processes. The Web-based solution enables users at the semiconductor manufacturer to graphically design, test, simulate, install, execute and monitor processes. The 100-seat implementation is currently being expanded to accommodate 1,500 users. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft servers are components.
These solutions represent some of the latest and greatest technologies available, being used in innovative ways to promote information sharing and business performance redesign. Elias Safdie of The Cordis Group, for one, is pleased. "For years I've been railing about the need for companies to get a handle on all of their information and then use that information to acquire and manage the knowledge they need to capitalize on opportunities or remediate problems," he said. "Technology is finally starting to hint at the ability to do just that."