Executive Editor, Green Sheet MEDIA

September/October 2007 Issue 46
The foremost authority on the Information Management industry, the Green Sheet provides news, views and technical reviews from around the world
★ MICROFILM FEATURE ★ EXHIBITION REVIEWS ★ CASE STUDIES ★ TRADE NEWS
Special Feature:
Information Storage
greensheetmedia.com

The secure storage of information is usually an
afterthought. Data protection and accessiblity are always
the first considerations, but without a good storage
system none of the above would be possible.
Tim Nixon - Editor
Information Storage, which is one of our
featured items this issue, covers a multitude
of media and, therefore, systems.
Clearly if your information is in digital format
it requires a totally different storage system
from if it is in analogue form.
Analogue
Analogue can, itself, be divided between
micrographics and paper based. There is
still, to this day, more information kept on
paper than on any other media type. So
much for the “paperless office” dream.
Cabinets are the obvious choice for the ‘inhouse’
storage of analogue data, with
manufacturers offering a wide selection of
prices, styles and sophistication. The
storage systems need to be able to boast
certain standards, which cover security,
protection, from both natural and maninduced
disasters, plus ease of accessibility
and retrieval.
The latest designs from the cabinet
manufacturers are all attempting to give as
much storage space as possible but with a
smaller footprint than ever, because office
space is at such a premium.
With this thought in mind many organisations
are now turning to their bureaux to,
not only to film or scan their documentation,
but also to store it for them. This is particularly
useful when the information is rarely
called for but has to be there “just in case”.
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(except where otherwise indicated)
A Question of Storage
The storage units usually take the shape of
warehouses, though there are some which
are utilising old salt mines, giving natural
protection from the elements.
Digital
On the digital front it is far less space
sensitive as, obviously, digital data takes up
far less space. Instant access and retrieval is
also possible if the right system is selected.
Disaster recovery should be less of a
problem too, as back-up is relatively easy
and economical to achieve - thus ensuring
that all your important company information
is kept at at least two different locations.
Many bureaux are now offering their clients
“on-line” storage. This way the customer
has only to log on to the relevant website,
identify themselves, give the agreed
password and have instant access to all of
their company files. Security clearly has to
be quite stringent if this approach is taken
as, otherwise, the customer’s confidential
data could be wide open to compromise.
Anyone wanting to learn more about
information storage in all its guises shoul
visit Dovcumation UK at Olympia, October
17-18, particularly as Storage Expo is
running alongside. Visitors will have the
opportunity to compare the most comprehensive
range of data storage solutions from
all leading suppliers. ■
Any comments: tim@greensheetmedia.com
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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX
Avanquest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
DICOM Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Fujitsu Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Genus Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5, 25
Inotec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
MicroVue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
nextScan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
4
10
12
18
19
22
in this issue
AUGUST 07
Micrographics
Compliance
Information Storage
GSM Interview
3 - Editor’s Comments
Case Studies
Look out for . . .
Trade News
24 - Intelligent Mailroom
26 - Documation Preview
26 - Storage Expo Preview
28 - Dates for your Diary
29 - ARMA Preview
29 - CeBIT 2008 Preview
30- Tailpiece
30- Advertising Rates & Data
OITUK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Scanning Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Solar Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
SunRise Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Wicks & Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Zeutschel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

4
Introduction
Whether we were in business or still at
school, most of us around today became
aware of microfilm from our first contact
with Ian Fleming's James Bond stories.
The tiny Minox* type camera was usually
the capture method, and somehow Q's
department always managed to get great
results despite apparent camera shake,
poor or non-existent lighting, bullets flying,
and the fact that 007 had to go through
Hell (and often High Water too) to get the
films back to base for processing. Then, of
course, there was the more specialist
microfilm called the microdot.
*Est. 1937 and owned by Leica since 1994.
These days microfilm is much easier to
work with. As a (very) mature industry that
is the way it should be. After all, microfilm
has a long, long history. In fact the concept
of military use predates Bond by many
years and goes back to the Siege of Paris.
First Military Use
The Siege of Paris took place during the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. The only
way for the provincial government in Tours
to communicate with Paris was by pigeon
post and, as the pigeons could not carry
paper dispatches, the Tours government
turned to microfilm.
Using a microphotography unit evacuated
from Paris before the siege, clerks in Tours
photographed paper dispatches and
compressed them to microfilm. This was
then carried by homing pigeons into Paris
and projected by magic lantern so clerks
could copy the dispatches onto paper.
The first recorded commercial example of
microfilm was in 1839, when a 160x
reduction Daguerrotype plate was created
by London born John Benjamin Dancer.
This innovation was only 4 years after
Britain’s William Henry Fox-Talbot had
perfected the first permanent image using
photography.
Although John H. Morrow opened the first
(American) commercial microfilm
laboratory in 1864, it was not until later
MICROGRAPHICS
MICROFILM - Revival or Survival
By John Baker - Executive Editor, Green Sheet MEDIA
that century that the commercial use of
microfilm really took of. It was further
developed (no pun intended. - Ed.) and
popularised by Kodak at the end of the
19th century, when in 1889, George
Eastman (founder of Kodak) began the
manufacture of nitrocellulose film.
SURVIVAL?
The Old Lady Microfilm is knocking on a
bit now. She has had a few nips and tucks,
a good few blood transfusions, and a lot of
plastic surgery on the way. However she
always gets up off the operating table with
a new lease of life and another decade or
so in view.
At the risk of a few of us coming over all
misty-eyed, some of the key microfilm
milestones over the past few decades
worth mentioning are:
THE WARS
Franco Prussian War and WWI
(1914 - 1918)
Microfilm was used to photograph letters
and documents which were then couriered
by pigeon and re-constituted at the other
end.
WWII
V-mail (presumably meaning Victory Mail)
used the same process as above.
1970's
COM
Computer Output Microfilm - COM. At that
time the output of computer-generated
information presented major problems,
printout involved slow line printers using
bulky continuous stationery (extra copies
were usually provided using multi-part sets
and the fourth copy was frequently
illegible).
Rapid COM printout to microfiche enabled
the production of unlimited copies and low
cost distribution. This resulted in the
almost universal replacement of paper for
parts and service information in the motor
and aviation industries and the distribution
of microfiche of customer account details
from central processing units to bank
branches.
CIM
Computer Input Microfilm or microfilm to
digital data. The exact date cannot be
verified, but GSM understands that the
original (experimental) concept was used
by the US Navy to send personnel records
to ships around the world from the
Pentagon. This was due to the long lead
time that they experienced when sailors
were transferred from one ship to another.
The microfilm contained data ready for
input into a computer which considerably
speeded up the process.
(These days I guess you would scan the
microfilm and OCR the results thus
avoiding keystroking.- Exec. Ed.)
1980's
Blip coding
A Blip is an optical mark read by a sensor
to tell the reader / reader-printer where it
was in the film, with the option of small,
medium or large blips to represent 'book',
'chapter' and 'page'.
Computer Aided Retrieval (CAR)
Where a PC was linked to a reader, and
once the user found the document details
in a database, and following a prompt to
place the correct film number into the
reader, the reader then transported the film
to the document position using the blip
described above.
1990's
Writing from digital file to film
This process involves transferring digital
document image files to microfilm media.
(But remember that COM was with us in
the 1970’s as an alternative to massive
printouts of alphanumeric data). This
method of long-term storage, being
independent from PC technology, has
given the IT industry a real kick in the
posterior, it has finally closed the gap in
the cradle-to-grave life cycle of
documents however they are created.
Sadly, microfilm is now being referred to by
some as a 'sunset industry', although
many companies are only now discovering
microfilm for the first time, and beginning
to use it after recognising its unique value
as a serious long term storage repository.
Another key aspect of microfilm is that it
has been acceptable as evidence in court
a lot longer than digital image files. It is
also less easily tampered with in
comparison to digital files.
REVIVAL?
The modern day revival of the microfilm
industry (Yes it IS a revival. Exec. Ed.) is
due partly to this closure of the gap in the
document life cycle and partly to the
potential longevity of storage without
image degeneration. Suddenly companies
have the ability to not only scan their
documents, but also to commit the digital
version of that document to microfilm
which is stated to be archivally permanent
from anything between 100 and 500 years.
On the subject of archival permanence, the
marketing data tells you that microfilm is
good for 500 years of archival
permanence. It is not such a bold
statement as you may think. The film
referred to has been certified by leading
manufacturers on the basis of solid
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esearch and not their marketing
executives. Obviously none of us will be
around to check if it fades after 500 years,
and there must be some form of artificial
aging process by which degradation of the
film can be measured.
With microfilm having been in commercial
production for over 100 years, the key film
manufacturers are sending out a clear
message to the digital document industry
around the world in declaring 500 years of
permanence. Computer manufacturers
could never agree that level of
permanence for their technology. At least
not at present. Perhaps once computing
as we know it is as old as microfilm, that
might change.
From the business perspective, the
thought process must be that microfilm is
a medium to be used alongside traditional
EDM solutions instead of being in
opposition to it as it has been in the past.
The major manufacturers are all keen to
continue their involvement with the
microfilm industry. Indeed there are
whispers in the industry that some
companies are poised with new
consumables and equipment to further
enhance the success of the microfilm
industry.
As a major part of the research for this
article, the author interviewed several
major companies involved in the
manufacturing sector of the microfilm
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industry, and asked them questions
regarding their plans for microfilm
involvement in the years to come. Kodak,
Agfa, Ilford and MicroVue all came back
with positive plans for the perpetuation of
products and materials.
THE FUTURE
There are many possible paths which
microfilm might follow. Historically
however, microfilm seems to work in the
exact opposite way to electricity in that it
usually follows the path of MOST
resistance.
But perhaps that is part of its secret. Not
only is microfilm by its very nature, a
robust and mature medium, but it does not
require sophisticated computer technology
to read it. This makes it extremely versatile
and durable. Certainly more versatile and
durable than any currently available hi-tech
‘long-term’ storage solution on the market.
Think about how technology has changed
since the IBM PC began to revolutionise
the corporate office in 1981, and almost
instantly followed in 1982 by start-up
upstart Compaq. With PC advances and
storage media capacity increases there is
always room for redundancy.
Remember PC Storage?
Remember we have progressed from 5.25"
floppies holding the operating system
(OS), to DVD-ROMS with over 8Gb of data
in 25 years.
Microfilm needs no OS, has standard
storage capacities dictated by the
reduction ratio of the recording medium,
and apart from that, has had few real
changes in technology apart from recently
where digital devices now convert image
files into conventional film.
Perhaps the future of microfilm might even
lie with organic computing combined with
high capacity disk storage. Offering parts
free processing linked to Terabyte capacity
storage, the computer of the future might
simply wrap itself around the microfilm
medium and perform all of the messy
processing and duplication tasks as well
as keeping digital records of documents
managed.
It's all very 'Arthur C Clarke', yet they
probably laughed at him when he spoke
about inventing the digital
communications satellite, and look where
that has progressed to in the 62 years
since he published the idea of
geostationery orbiting lumps of
electronics! ■
Comments, correspondence, emails
and general feedback welcome.
johnbaker@greensheetmedia.com
Credits: Thanks for assistance in compiling
and correcting this article go to: Gerald
Baker (GSM Directory Administrator) and
Laurie Varendorff (GSM Australian Editor)
MICROGRAPHICS
5

6
Microfilm is by far the best analogue
medium for the long-term storage of
different kinds of data. Nowadays, national
archives and libraries are the most
important customers for these products.
All kinds of documents from mediaeval
writings to yesterday’s newspaper are
recorded and copied onto film. As
microfilm archiving is warranted for
accuracy and permanence up to 500
years, it is a very cost effective and secure
way of storing source documents.
On top of that, microfilm is technologically
independent. These days, “short-term”
archives on digital media are also being
copied on to film for long-term storage
purposes, without the worry about future
compatible hard- and software.
Microfilm continues
to be a viable
archive medium
that is today
employed in a
number of vertical
disciplines,
including financial,
legal and government. As a medium it
offers economical, efficient and safe multi
decade storage that complements digital
systems for long term record retention.
Offering one of the broadest portfolios of
microfilm products available worldwide,
Kodak are committed to do what is right
for its business, in terms of participating in
markets that offer profitability and growth.
This is a duty they uphold to their
customers, and shareholders alike.
ILFORD microfilm has been used since
1967 in (as we say in the information
management industry) “analogue”
systems.
Now, with the new laser exposure devices
in the Eternity 105 or the Archive Laser
from MicroArchive Systems, as well as
with the OP 500 from Zeutschel, ILFORD
film can really demonstrate how well it
performs.
The low speed of the colour microfilm is no
longer an issue. In fact ILFORD also sees
MICROGRAPHICS
Comment from Agfa
Agfa are therefore convinced that, unless a
true alternative is found, there will probably
always be a demand for microfilm.
Although the volume of microfilm usage
has reduced considerably, Agfa see that
decline flattening out the industry levels to
what they call “the hard core of microfilm
users.”
At present Agfa are working on specific
microfilm related projects, (e.g. environmentally-friendly
products,) but unfortunately
our interview was too early for them
to commit to any specific information.
(Watch this space - Ed)
When Agfa was still producing photo film
(Agfa sold this activity at the end of 2004)
the production of microfilm and photo film
was organised completely independently.
The photo film was made in its Leverkusen
plant (Germany), whereas microfilm is still
being produced in the Belgian HQ at
Mortsel.
Comment from Kodak
For the future, they see opportunities in
making efforts to simplify the interface
between digital and film as being one of
the key developments. They also believe
that other vendors will continue to make it
easier to convert digital images to film and
to scan film back to digital.
As a measure of Kodak's commitment to
the microfilm industry, it is worth noting
that their microfilm film products are
currently produced in the newest and most
sophisticated coating facility that Kodak
operates.
What of the Future?
We asked Kodak to comment on how they
saw the future of microfilm panning out.
Their reply was “The issue of how digital
information is going to be preserved for
Comment from Ilford
the possibility that both photographers
and amateurs alike will save and store their
most important digital photos on ILFORD
film.
When asked about current projects, they
were keen to tell us that there are further
projects ongoing like “Bits on Film”. Which
means you can store pure digital data
(Bits) directly onto microfilm.
The Future of Microfilm
We also asked ILFORD what their view
was on the future of microfilm. They
replied, “ILFORD Micrographic film will see
a remarkable increase in sales throughout
the next few years, as this is the only easy
The Future of Microfilm
We asked Agfa what they thought the
future was for microfilm, particularly as
many consider the medium to be a dead
industry. Agfa replied, “People also said
that magnetic tape and vinyl records
would be dead with the introduction of
cassettes and CD's. And how long has it
been since we were told that the paperless
office was just round the corner?
Instead of classifying microfilm as ‘old
technology’ one should look at its specific
benefits, its cost competitiveness and its
longevity or durability. Each application
has its specific requirements and each
solution its own advantages (and
disadvantages for that matter). These are
the elements that should define which
technology is the most appropriate one to
use.” ■
For more information visit: www.agfa.com
future generations needs further
discussion throughout the industry.
Microfilm is recognised industry wide as
the one storage medium that does not
require “migration” as digital standards
change. As such, it is a viable product that
can complement digital information
systems. While digital systems offer great
features in areas of document retrieval and
distribution, some face challenges in
retaining digital documents in an
unalterable form for future reference. At
Kodak, we believe that technologies can
be married to offer the best customer
solution based on specific needs and
business processes." ■
For more information visit: www.kodak.com
to use, long-term stable, archiving media
in the market.”
They further commented, “Until an
alternative, easy to use, cheap, long-term
(up to 500 years) stable media has been
developed, we should see a great future
for colour microfilm for more than 10 years.
It is also worth noting that the film is cheap
and a one-time investment. With digital
storage, the constantly changing medium
(floppy disc, CD, DVD, flash memory etc.)
means that the files need to be migrated
every 5 years to preserve their integrity and
accessibility. Hence an ongoing cost that
is not necessary for microfilm." ■
For more information visit: www.ilford.com
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Micrographics – A Dying Industry??
The demise of micrographics may have
been predicted years ago. Many eulogized
this technology whose principles have
been known for over 150 years, calling it
outdated and old-fashioned. There were
those who offered to dig the graves, and
yet others that even volunteered to lie
down in them. Yet, micrographics has
refused to die.
Despite the wonders and the relevance of
digital storage, microfilm continues to be a
viable storage medium as it is dependable,
no matter what technological changes
have since occurred. Many governments
and companies are discovering that the
media being used to carry their precious
information into the future is turning out to
be far from eternal, and choose hybrid
solutions which also incorporate microfilm
as the safest, simplest and leastexpensive
method for long-term storage of
information. Libraries, archives and
research centres embrace microfilm to
assure that their legacies remain available
also for future generations.
MicroVue Products, a small company in a
small country, has refused to surrender!
While some manufacturers have discontinued
production of their microfilm
readers, MicroVue continues to
manufacture a full range of models, both
for 16mm and 35mm microfilm.
MicroVue’s range of XL-16 motorised
readers include the simplest model for
manual threading of open-spool film, as
well as models for automatic loading of 3M
cartridges or ANSI clips, with or without an
electronic blip counter.
The Gideon 1000
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MicroVue’s desktop RF-35 motorised
rollfilm viewer for 16mm/35mm film offers
a solution for libraries and engineering
applications, and its flagship reader, the
Gideon 1000 Library Researcher, has been
chosen time and time again as the
preferred reader in national and major
libraries and archives and can be found in
more than 40 countries throughout the
world. While originally manufactured both
at S-T Imaging in the US and at MicroVue
Products, the Gideon 1000 and the manual
version, the Gideon 900, are exclusively
manufactured and marketed today by
MicroVue Products.
But MicroVue has not stopped there. With
their long-term relationship, MicroVue
Products has proven to S-T Imaging its
high quality standards and its noteworthy
customer service. In return, S-T Imaging
has transferred to MicroVue Products the
production of its UC-6E microfilm carriers
for Minolta and Canon reader, printer and
scanner systems as well as the carrier for
the ST200 Digital Microfilm Scanner. The
proprietors of MicroVue have also branched
out and opened a sister company, Sheletron
Ltd., that manufactures and markets digital
display systems using MicroVue’s vast
knowledge of electronics, production
abilities and quality management system.■
For further information visit:
www.microvue.co.il, www.sheletron.com
or www.stimaging.com
MICROGRAPHICS
7

The storage network is now of the utmost
importance to any enterprise; not only does it
hold essential data, the lifeblood of any
organisation, it also provides the capacity for
running business-critical applications and
services. Unfortunately this makes the storage
network a potential target for malicious attacks
from outside the organisation and also renders
it vulnerable to accidental damage from within
the company.
Storage security has never been more
important than at the present time, when
business and regulatory compliance demand
confidential data security. Yet while 72% of
EMEA companies acknowledge that
regulatory issues are an important driver in
their storage investment, the issues that result
from security breaches, such as financial loss
and brand damage, can be just as serious as
receiving a fine or legal action for noncompliance.
A carefully planned and well-executed security
strategy throughout the enterprise is essential,
so what should companies take into
consideration to reduce the risk of data
corruption and loss?
Don’t assume your data is secure
It is a common belief amongst business and
technical personnel alike that because the
storage network exists far from the many entry
points and is not on an Internet Protocol (IP)
network, that it doesn’t need additional
security. This assumption is often what makes
the storage network the weak link in the
security chain. While your average employee
may have little idea of how the storage
environment operates or how to access key
data, a malicious attacker will often take
advantage of this attitude to the storage
environment. Securing, hardening and
frequently monitoring the storage system is
crucial to prevent unauthorised individuals
obtaining and potentially misusing valuable
data.
Ensure your technical team
understands the storage network
Storage networks are often looked upon as
simple systems that merely provide data
storage. This can lead to misconfiguration of
the system making it vulnerable to accidental
security breaches. Those in charge of the
storage network need to understand how to
secure all parts of the environment in order to
prevent this. In a small or mid-sized business a
lack of technical knowledge or training can
result in perfectly adequate equipment
operating without proper protection because
one element has been left unsecured.
In larger enterprises it is also often the case
Are you covering your back end?
Tips on securing your storage network by Andrew Wilson, UK Sales and
Marketing Director, Hitachi Data Systems
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that one or two experts administer storage
security but a number of other technical
personnel have access to the storage
environment to carry out other tasks. There are
cases where otherwise well-secured storage
networks have been compromised by a
technical team member ‘borrowing’ a cable
from part of the storage network, having
assumed it was an insignificant test
environment, taking down part of the service
by accident and leaving the entire system
vulnerable. Implementing a company-wide
labelling system of cables and other vital
equipment will enable the relevant employees
to see what they are being used for and
whether or not they are safe to remove.
Secure the management network
The management network can serve as the
easiest point of attack within a storage system
as this is what allows control of the storage
network environment. Often it is a simple box
that acts as a bridge between the storage
network and the company IP Local Area
Network (LAN) and it is frequently improperly
secured at the IP end. The management
network should operate at the same security
level as other entry points, as well as utilising
controlled access management and
authentication procedures to make
unauthorised use as difficult as possible. This
will prevent an opportunistic attacker
exploiting this common weakness.
Segregate security domains properly
It is now standard practice to separate and
firewall the organisation’s network into
appropriate security domains, ensuring that
data can only be seen by authorised
personnel. Unfortunately in many cases the
storage system is connected in an
unprotected way to multiple networks
throughout the enterprise. This means that a
single attack on the storage system puts all
networks at risk.
The solution is to install different servers and
applications with different data sets and
ensure that the storage volumes at the back
end are protected from rogue applications and
servers. If this is done incorrectly, a new box
plugged into the network without the correct
security installed may try to take ownership of
the disks around it. This can potentially cause
problems with overwriting and loss of valuable
data.
Encrypt moving data
Encryption on disk storage is often a useful
tool but many organisations are wary of the
prospect of losing encryption keys and
rendering their data useless. In fact, 43% of
companies in EMEA admit they do not have a
data encryption policy at all . Yet the risks of
this are far outweighed by the benefits when
data is transferred to a portable device or tape.
The potential for portable data to be lost by the
carrier and get into the wrong hands is not
such a scary prospect if it is impossible for that
data to be viewed or used. Encrypting moving
data should be an essential component of any
organisation’s security strategy.
Align storage security with enterprise-wide
security strategy
An effective security strategy will cover people
and processes in addition to technology. Clear
policies and procedures that are regularly
enforced will encourage employees to realise
that data security is their responsibility also.
Only 53% of firms in EMEA report having an
internal policy for the security of data stored
on mobile devices . This is a surprising statistic
given recent reports of lost laptops, disks and
USB keys. Companies need to apply and
enforce security strategies which cover dataat-rest
as well as data stored on mobile
devices.
Advocate skills and knowledge sharing
Often storage administrators and the security
team exist as separate divisions within an
enterprise. This can mean the administrators
have little knowledge of security best-practice
and the security personnel do not have a
sufficiently in-depth knowledge of storage to
be able to see the weaknesses in the network.
This can be the result of a lack of training, a
territorial attitude or simply a lack of contact
with one another. Cross-pollination of skills
and knowledge is essential to prevent storage
being the weak link in the security chain and it
is important for companies to promote these
practices.
Electronic and logical security can be
extremely effective in preventing malicious or
accidental attacks on storage networks but
this is only part of the story. Physically
securing equipment is a frequently neglected
part of storage security and some
organisations have paid the price for this.
Regularly reviewing storage security practices
as part of the company’s overall strategy is
fundamental to preventing attacks. For a large
enterprise, include a review of how many
people have keys to the data centre and how
secure the room is; for a small or mid-sized
enterprise, check that the keys to the storage
rack haven’t been left in the lock. Taking time
to remind all employees that an attacker
doesn’t need to get through layers of
electronic security to get hold of data if he or
she can simply walk in and take it will pay
dividends.
Following these tips will help you protect one
of your most valuable assets: the data your
company relies on to complete its missioncritical
activities. Bear in mind that
implementing a set of policies that help all
employees in keeping company data secure is
just as important as ensuring your technical
team has taken the necessary steps to secure
the data electronically. ■
Hitachi Data Systems is exhibiting at Storage
Expo 2007 the UK's largest and most
important event dedicated to data storage.
Now in its 7th year, the show features a
comprehensive FREE education programme
and over 100 exhibitors at the National Hall,
Olympia, London from 17 - 18 October 2007
www.storage-expo.com
STORAGE
13

14
Before storing your information you must first decide in what form you want it -
Fingertip access to all company files is fast
becoming the norm for many businesses
as they increasingly move away from the
storage of paper files in favour of on-line
electronic scans accessible to all staff
members.
But is this type of document management
system really worth it? Inevitably, the larger
an organisation, the more it has to gain
from converting its paper documents to
electronic ones.
This article looks at the benefits driving
companies to invest in what are
sometimes large operations and then gives
advice on how to select the right scanning
service.
Accessibility to files
Scanned documents can be imported into
an Electronic Document Management
(EDM) system allowing staff access to
every file from any location.
This ease of access creates an instant
improvement in staff productivity as hours
previously spent trawling through filing
cabinets to locate documents or waiting
for files to be sent from other offices or
archive stores is immediately eliminated.
Cost-savings
Potential cost-savings can be made by
reducing the storage space required. Many
original files that companies need to retain
are still legally valid in electronic format, if
scanned correctly. Once scanning is
completed, a large proportion of paper
files can be destroyed, heavily reducing
storage requirements. Warehouses full of
paper can potentially be transformed into a
pile of CDs, DVDs or, preferably, readily
accessible and secure data on a server.
Security
Security requirements need careful
consideration when thinking about
document management. Paper
documents are always at risk from fire or
flood, while electronic versions with a
Disaster Recovery copy are much more
STORAGE
To scan or not to scan
By Pete O’Brien, Director of Capita Private Software Sector
easily secured. Electronic storage can also
have a positive impact on insurance
premiums.
So how do you scan everything?
Scanning on a company-wide scale is a
huge step up from the sort of scanning
most people would have undertaken in the
office or at home. It requires specialist
expertise, experience, meticulous
administrative processes and the highest
quality scanning equipment. All of this is
readily available in specialist scanning
bureaus, and is one of the primary reasons
why, as demand has increased, the
scanning bureau has evolved from a niche
operation into a mainstream business
service.
Large-scale scanning projects to convert
archives can take months to prepare and
execute. Generally, companies lack the
combination of skills, space and
equipment required to meet their
requirements for document conversion
and a scanning bureau is often the most
efficient way to get the best quality result.
In the case of documentation that is
considered highly confidential, bureau
services can be extended to run directly on
customer sites using dedicated teams to
scan all relevant documents.
Choosing the right scanning bureau
When choosing a quality and reliable
supplier, one of the most important
qualifications is to visit the suppliers on
your shortlist to get a detailed
understanding of the processes and a
first-hand view of the quality of the
premises. Next, you need to ask the right
questions. Here are a few fundamental
facts to check:
1. Does the company meet the BDP0008
standard – the British standard, which
ensures the legal admissibility of the
scanned documents? If not, your
electronic documents may not be valid
in a legal situation.
2. Does the supplier have sufficient liability
insurance?
3. Is there a meticulous logging system in
place that guarantees that at anytime, if
a client needs access to a file that is at
the bureau, it can be quickly located
and delivered to them?
4. Are there quality assurance checks at
every stage of the process?
5. Are the staff experienced and highly
trained in the preparation, scanning,
indexing and quality assurance?
6. Are there excellent security and fire
protection arrangements for the
premises, storage areas and delivery
vehicles?
7. Does the bureau use the best quality
equipment for clarity of results?
8. Are scanning speeds at least 120ppm?
9. Will the bureau provide a sample scan
so a client can ensure the scanned files
will upload into its EDM system?
10.Can they provide client contact details
for obtaining direct references?
Other features setting one supplier apart
from another include the flexibility to
provide more than just a standard
scanning service. This could be bespoke
options, such as, advanced security for
specialist/sensitive projects, on-site
scanning or the ability to carry out
weekend rush jobs, confidential and
certified waste disposal and ‘Off Shore’
indexing to help keep costs down. Finally,
and most importantly, before a project
starts make sure there is a detailed project
plan in place - you won’t regret it.
Does the bureau use the best quality
equipment for clarity of results?
Scanning doesn’t stop there
Companies who make the decision to
convert stores of paper files to electronic
ones continue scanning files on a daily or
weekly basis, as they accumulate. While a
few organisations opt to handle day-today
scanning in-house, the majority prefer
to continue outsourcing to their trusted
scanning bureau. Scanning bureaus may
also provide a post room function to scan,
log and distribute all incoming mail. In
certain cases, there will be a requirement
to scan and keep the original paper
documentation safely, your bureau should
also offer a cost efficient off site storage
facility to hold such documentation.
Organisations should bear in mind, that
even when a major scanning project is
complete, the scanning doesn’t ever stop
at that point. ■
Capita Total Document Solutions provides
Electronic Document Management
Solutions and Services incorporating its
established Scanning Bureau and its
Swordfish EDM system.
Visit www.capita-tds.co.uk for more
information
Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

Computer controlled storage for Paper Files
Automated document management solutions could help businesses stem the rising
operational costs of data storage
According to IBM, up to 80 percent of the
costs of storing digital data in businesses
is spent on operational staff salaries. While
the hardware costs of storing data are
falling, the operational costs for data
centres is increasing, and businesses
choosing advanced physical document
management systems for everyday and
critical documents could find their
operating costs dramatically reduced.
“Businesses making the move to digital
document storage are often drawn in by
the perceived low costs of hardware and
software, however the cost of staff
required to maintain, optimise, back-up,
secure, regulate and audit critical data
within the organisation can be higher than
the costs of managing paper documents
using smarter systems”, explains Clive
Williams, sales manager for document
management specialist Kardex.
Williams believes that automated
document management systems can ease
the burden on data centres and even
eliminate the need for costly and time
consuming scanning of paper documents
and related digital media.
One system that is helping businesses
cope with large quantities of paper
The Right Tone from Bisley for the
Royal Festival Hall
Bisley Office Furniture joins the many
international names that are involved in the
major transformation of one of the
country’s best loved buildings – the Royal
Festival Hall. Already complete as part of
the five-year building and refurbishment
programme is the New Building which has
been purpose-built to permanently house
the 180 strong team of office and technical
facilities staff. This relocation programme
has freed up 35% more public space
within the Royal Festival Hall for an
Education Centre, the opening up of the
original roof terraces and the extension of
the two Level 4 interval bars.
The New Building, designed by Royal
Festival Hall architects Allies and Morrison,
is a slim, glass-fronted building built
alongside the Hungerford rail bridge and
linking the new Golden Jubilee foot
bridges with Belvedere Road.
Not only were relocated office staff able to
take advantage of brand new facilities in a
bright modern working environment, they
were also provided with the latest work
station and storage solutions as part of the
office design scheme. Office furniture
specialists, Furniture for Business (FFB)
supplied all of the furniture on the project
Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory
documents is an automated vertical
carousel system called the DataStack.
The Kardex DataStack is a computercontrolled
storage and retrieval system
that features rotating shelves, housing files
in a high-density configuration. The
system stores the equivalent of sixteen
four-drawer filing cabinets and saves up to
80 percent of floor space while cutting
down document retrieval times by up to 66
percent compared to traditional solutions.
Since all files are stored inside the unit and
the system can be networked through
Kardex’s own PowerPick software,
searching and retrieving physical
documents becomes as easy and secure
as retrieving data documents on a
computer. Since the unit is completely
and worked together with office furniture
manufacturers Bisley to assess what the
storage requirements were and provide the
most cost-effective and work-efficient
solutions.
....provided the most cost-effective and
work-efficient solutions.
The scheme took advantage of Bisley’s
LateralFile storage systems which offer
numerous width, height and closure
options plus an extensive range of internal
fittings for real storage flexibility. Beech
coloured tops featured on grey LateralFiles
which were strategically positioned to
separate out work areas.
self-contained there are no costs
associated with hiring staff to manage
back ups, auditing and regulating the
system, all of which is automated or
controlled remotely.
“Businesses looking to expand their data
centres by creating networked digital
document reservoirs can use systems like
the DataStack to house physical
documents for hard copy backup or
regulatory purposes,” explains Williams.
“In addition to the cost, accountability and
security benefits, users benefit from a
more immediate document retrieval
experience that eliminates the constant
need to print digital documents.”
Kardex customers benefit from a comprehensive
range of additional services
including analysis of storage requirements,
assistance with equipment selection,
configuration and integration with digital
document storage systems. Flexible
support contracts ensure that Kardex
systems continue to operate at maximum
efficiency and they can be adapted and
upgraded as future needs change. ■
Kardex has operations in 30 countries and
employs more than 1000 people. For more
information visit www.kardex.co.uk
“Bisley LateralFiles have the advantage of
being totally practical as well as providing
a sleek modern look to an office scheme”
comments Helen Watson from FFB.
“This combines with their versatility to
compliment an office scheme by
designating break-out areas and
determining individual work areas”.
Bisley Pedestals provided the personal
storage facilities required by the office
design scheme. 178 were installed to
complement individual work stations.
Personal lockers were also integrated into
the scheme.
“This scheme reflects just how much filing
and storage requirements are evolving and
how necessary it is to accommodate these
changes within a design scheme,” says
Sarah Trown from Bisley. Personal storage
is now a major requirement and filing
cabinets can be used as part of a design
scheme – both factors placing filing and
storage much higher on the interior
designer’s agenda”. ■
Contact: Bisley Office Furniture, Queens
Road, Bisley, Woking, Surrey GU24 9BJ
Tel: +44 (0)1483 485600
or visit www.bisley.com
STORAGE
15

16
Link 51 Mobile Shelving enhances the role of
Historic London Archives
Records and documents covering the needs of
local government, 100 hospitals, schools,
businesses and the residents of 1,000
parishes in the heart of London are now
securely stored in a major Link 51 mobile
shelving facility. The Archive of the City of
London, London Metropolitan Archives, holds
a vast amount of material – dating back as far
as the 11th century – on more than 72kms of
mobile shelving. Through a new installation by
Link 51, based on the company’s latest
‘Stormor’ shelving design, an additional
13.5kms has been created compared to the
previous installation with, remarkably, only a
minimal increase in footprint requirements.
The vast majority of material held is contained
in boxes sized to meet the specific needs of
the archive store. Much of the shelving is thus
designed to specific dimensions to
accommodate the maximum number of boxes
and, alongside, larger material which is also
stored including maps and plans relating to
property ownership within the geographical
area covered. The scale of the operation is
demonstrated by the fact that some 3 million
photographs alone are held at the site.
“The recent refurbishment has enabled us to
expand the record holding dramatically,”
comments Technical Services Manager, Tim
Harris, “the vast majority of which is now fitted
with the Link 51 mobile shelving system. This
comprises a total of 120 back-to-back
shelving runs, each of which is between six
and twelve bays in length. In turn, twelve shelf
“There is an illusion being created that all the
world’s knowledge is on the web,” Edward L.
Ayers, dean of the College of Arts and
Sciences, University of Virginia, told The New
York Times, which earlier this year published a
detailed report covering the subject of archival
digitisation. Ayers and others said that illusion
is very far from being true and he also stated,
“we haven’t begun to glimpse what is out there
in local archives and libraries. Material that is
not digitised risks being neglected as it would
not have been in the past, and ultimately lost
to the great majority of end users".
Ayers’ comment focuses on a fact that is
disturbing more and more historians and
archivists. Where before the future of various
media was of concern to most users, now with
the assumption digitisation will take care of
everything, the media that are not digitised
may be forgotten and nothing done to protect
them. Literally thousands of years of historical
data could be lost in a few decades by neglect.
While digitisation efforts of the last 10 years
have been prodigious and well publicised
(such as projects by Google, IBM and the
Mormon Church’s Genealogical Society), they
are far from complete. That holds true for
paper documents, microfilms, CDs, computer
tapes and other information originals.
levels are available for storage in most of the
facility – much of it kept ‘closed’ with only
specific access aisles opened as required. It is
this configuration that allows us to maximise
the capacity of the available space.”
The opening of each aisle is achieved with a
lightweight, easy to use, ergonomicallydesigned
hand wheel which moves shelving
runs along parallel tracks set into a raised floor.
Static shelving runs divide the facility into
smaller areas and also create further storage
at the end of the mobile layout.
A number of key issues were addressed by the
Link 51 design team as part of the installation
process. These included fitting the shelving
around roof support beams and also allowing
sufficient space for the internal sprinkler
system to be correctly located. Additionally,
Only 10% of documents digitised
The US Library of Congress, for example,
admits that despite its continuing and
ambitious digitisation efforts, perhaps only
10% of the 132 million objects held by the
Library will be digitised in the foreseeable
future. The big obstacle is cost, and it’s not the
cost of scanning alone. In fact, the cost of
scanning an object can be a relatively minor
part of the entire expense of digitising and
making an item accessible on-line. In addition,
for recently published information, copyrights
can present another major problem.
The Library of Congress isn’t alone in its
concern. At the US National Archives only a
small fraction of 9 billion documents are likely
to be digitised and put on-line. And at
thousands of smaller locations and information
sources around the US (as well as around the
world), the bulk of potentially-digitisable
materials are languishing on “old” media: i.e.,
paper, microfilm, LPs, CDs, computer tapes,
etc. “Languishing” is the key word. Most of
the meager funds available are going into
digitisation, NOT preservation.
“If researchers conclude that the only valuable
records they need are on-line, they will be
missing major parts of the story,” said James
the history of the building, which for many
years was home to heavy machinery and rolls
of paper as a printing works, presented
specific floor alignment issues which the Link
51 design has been able to accommodate.
“As a local authority operation, there was a
requirement for the London Metropolitan
Archives to enter into a competitive tendering
situation,” comments Link 51’s National Sales
Manager, Bob Murphy, “so we are delighted to
have won this highly prestigious contract.
"We believe it is an excellent demonstration of
our latest Stormor product which, because of
its slim uprights, can create additional space
that, across an installation of this size, can add
up to a significant amount. The customer can
also re-configure the system ‘in-house’ to suit
changes in requirements – a capability which
has already been used.”
With a constant stream of requirements from
users of the facility – including commercial,
local government and the general public – the
storage facility is now accessed continuously
by the Archive’s Production Team. Mobile
ladder access and an ‘Axxessor’ lift are used
where appropriate to gain access to the higher
levels. Overall, it is seen as an installation that
reflects its standing as a highly important
institution – both for the immediate London
area and also as a repository of records of
national significance. ■
Contact: Telephone 0800 169 5151
or visit www.link51.co.uk
An archival information dilemma
In a digital world, not everything is being digitised and some archival data is being lost forever.
STORAGE
J. Hastings, director of access programs at the
National Archives. “And in some cases they
will miss the story altogether.”
A paradox
As Hastings and others point out, the ultimate
fate of many tons of information highlights one
of the paradoxes of the digital age. While the
internet boom has made information more
accessible than ever before, that very fact also
threatens records that don’t lend themselves
easily to digitisation. In fact, they are more
likely to be ignored than in the past.
A new generation of researchers prefers to
seek information almost exclusively on-line.
That’s a trend that is hard to counter even
though so much material is not digitised either
because of cost or because the format of the
information doesn’t lend itself easily to digitisation.
Rather than seeking all information, many of the
new generation of researchers stay with what’s
available through their computer screens only.
Happily there are also still many researchers who
remember there is a wealth of vital information
still on paper, microfilm, CDs, magnetic tapes,
even on papyrus. ■
First published in the New York Times
Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory

DocuWare 5.1 certified for storage solutions
Network Appliance certifies DocuWare 5.1 for SnapLock Technology
Network Appliance and DocuWare are
cooperating and as part of this partnership,
the specialist for Unified Storage Solutions
has certified the seamless integration of the
document management system with
NetApp SnapLock storage technology.
Companies are increasingly confronted with
strict legal regulations regarding the storage
of documents. One way, for example, to
archive documents, e-mails and files over
many years is provided by optical media
such as CD and DVD.
Another route is offered by storage
specialist Network Appliance and its
SnapLock technology which generates
WORM volumes on hard disks. With
DocuWare 5.1 and NetApp SnapLock,
users have a low-cost solution for the longterm
storage of critical company data. It
combines the advantages of document
Hewlett-Packard has thoroughly tested and
certified the integration of its storage
management solution, HP StorageWorks
File System Extender, in DocuWare 5.1. This
integrated solution manages automatic
storage – even of large quantities of data –
in central storage systems.
The volume of documentation in companies
is growing explosively. Systems for secure,
long-term archiving that are also easy to
install and administer are in high demand. A
big advantage of the DocuWare document
management system is its simple
integration thanks to standardised
interfaces for a wide variety of applications.
Now Hewlett-Packard has successfully
management - such as the archiving of all
kinds of documents from a variety of
sources in one central document pool - with
the high access speed provided by a hard
disk, further enhanced by the security of a
WORM medium.
Easily meeting Compliance Rules
“Retaining and securing data for audit and
compliance regulations have become
necessary parts of business operations
around the world. The ability to secure that
data – and find it again in seconds – is
critical to protecting information assets,
achieving regulatory compliance, and
meeting eDiscovery requests,” said Patrick
Rogers, vice president of Solutions
Marketing at NetApp. “DocuWare eases the
task of pooling and managing all document
types. This certification means customers
will benefit from saving time, administration,
tested and certified the integration of its
storage management solution, HP
StorageWorks File System Extender, in
DocuWare 5.1.
With HP StorageWorks File System
Extender (FSE) Version 3.4, Hewlett-
Packard is providing software for storage
management that is both easy to use and
reasonably priced. This back-end solution
supports both disk and tape storage media
as well as the most popular backup and
recovery programmes.
It can handle up to several hundred million
files. Data can be automatically copied from
hard disk to hard disk; even parallel copying
is possible. In conjunction with the
and infrastructure expenses – with the
confidence that their data is tamper-proof.”
Stefan Schindler, Director of DocuWare
Limited welcomes the partnership: “For
many customers, the seamless integration
of a Document Management Solution within
other products is an important purchasing
criteria. The certification of DocuWare 5.1
by Network Appliance underscores once
again the integration abilities of this
integrated document management
software."
Network Appliance is a leading provider of
innovative data management solutions that
simplify the complexities of storing,
managing, protecting and retaining
enterprise data. Market leaders around the
world choose NetApp to help them reduce
cost, minimise risk, and adapt to change. ■
Visit www.netapp.com.
Hewlett-Packard certifies DocuWare 5.1 for HP Backend Solution
DocuWare document management system,
users get a solution for long-term archiving
that is strong enough to administer even
large quantities of data in central storage
systems.
Hewlett-Packard focuses on simplifying
technology experiences for all of its
customers – from individual consumers to
the largest businesses. With a portfolio that
spans printing, personal computing,
software, services and IT infrastructure, HP
is among the world’s largest IT companies,
with revenue totaling $97.1 billion for the
year ended April 30, 2007. ■
Visit www.hp.com.
For more information on DocuWare, visit our website at www.docuware.com
ATP announces the availability new Software
Award-Winning Software allows for E-mail and Contacts Synchronization between PCs
ATP, a leading manufacturer of flash media
solutions, announced that the award
winning Carry it Easy +Plus software will be
pre-installed as a 30 day trial version on the
new ATP ToughDrive Mini USB Drives. The
preloaded software will allow ToughDrive
Mini users to keep Outlook E-mail and
Contacts synchronized and portable
between PCs. Users will also be able to
carry their personal Internet Favourites
bookmarks with them.
“As with all other ATP flash memory
products, the new ToughDrive Mini offers
protection from water/moisture, dust, static
discharge, and extreme temperatures and is
the perfect tool to carry important data,
especially when it comes to confidential
work documents, due to its compact, robust
design. However, it is even more crucial to
have data always be updated and be
immediately available anytime you need it,”
Visit the GSM Directory at www.greensheetmedia.com/directory
said Danny Lin, ATP Executive Vice
President. “With Carry it Easy +Plus
software allowing for data synchronisation,
important work information such as Outlook
E-mail and Contacts has now become
dynamic. This is a significant advantage
especially for business professionals who
travel constantly and therefore cannot afford
having scattered data.”
“The ToughDrive mini together with our
award winning Carry it Easy +Plus software
give users a great combination of hard and
software. Keeping their data safe and in
sync. while on the road.” said Roman
Foeckl, Managing Director of CoSoSys
In addition to the freedom of having Outlook
E-mails and Contacts portable, Carry it Easy
+Plus also offers File, Folder and Desktop
synchronization feature that allows users to
keep their work files on different PCs always
up-to-date. The included compression
functionality adds extra capacity to the USB
Drive, allowing more data to be stored in
compressed form. Most importantly the
Carry it Easy +Plus software adds security
to the ToughDrive mini by password
protecting and partitioning the USB Drive.
The ATP ToughDrive Mini is enhanced for
Windows ReadyBoost, serving as an
additional memory cache for an improved
system performance. The solid synthetic
polymer housing of ATP ToughDrive mini
resists water and provides shock
absorption. Users can also visit the ATP
website at flash@atpinc.com to download
the software. A license key to the full version
of Carry it Easy +Plus can be purchased by
ATP customers after an instant rebate of
US$10 for just US$14.95. ■
For more information on ATP memory
products, please email flash@atpinc.com or
visit http://www.atpinc.com
STORAGE
17

18
An interview with Paul Hunt of
Perceptive Software
Perceptive Software creates document
management, imaging and workflow software for
more than 60,000 users across 22 countries.
International Sales Director Paul Hunt tells Green
Sheet Editor, Tim Nixon, why Perceptive Software’s
flagship product, ImageNow, attracts clients as
diverse as The University of Cambridge, Lloyds TSB
and the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
Visit www.imagenow.com or Booth 210, Documation UK
GSM: Lets start with a brief company
history
PH: In the early 1990’s Perceptive
Software engineers in Kansas developed
the concept of scanning paper documents
and attaching the image to a related
transaction – and our flagship software,
ImageNow, was born. We quickly
established a solid reputation in the
domestic US market and the company
grew fast. Over the last six years we’ve
achieved a Compound Annual Growth
Rate of 47% (the average for the industry
is less than 10%.) The company growth
has been 100 percent organic – no
acquisitions. We now have satellite
headquarters in Bracknell where I’m
working to develop our position in EMEA.
GSM: What makes ImageNow different to
other document management suites?
PH: ImageNow provides a set of image
processing and workflow facilities that
permit any application to become
document enabled in a non-programmatic
way. Our aim is to give employees the
access they need in the context of familiar
business applications, making it quick to
learn and easy to use. We want our clients
to be self-sufficient. ImageNow software
operates very much behind the scenes
and doesn’t take over the desktop. The
fact that it works with any platform or
application means that it’s highly
adaptable, easily deployed and causes
minimum disruption to existing business
processes. Our average time for
integration and deployment is eight days,
making return on investment much faster.
Once the software is installed there is also
no need for an ongoing service
relationship – companies can manage
ImageNow without our help – which of
course cuts out a lot of expense.
GSM: Where does Perceptive Software sit
in the market?
PH: We’ve become an industry leader by
developing our business applications and
IMAGENOW INTERVIEW
alliances with other leading companies
including Canon, Fujitsu, HP, IBM and
Microsoft. Our customers are spread
across all industries, often in accounts and
HR departments, but our key vertical
markets are healthcare, financial services,
education, construction and the public
sector. In the US alone more than 800
hospitals rely on ImageNow, and more
than 260 higher education institutions use
it. We’ve recently started working with The
University of Cambridge in the UK and the
University of Cape town in South Africa.
GSM: Why is document management so
popular within the higher education
sector?
PH: Software like ours is perfect for
admissions systems, as well as accounts
payable and archiving. A lot of educational
organisations have paper-based admin
processes that can be inefficient and slow.
Document management software helps to
streamline systems, speed things up and
avoid mistakes. And because ImageNow
provides point and click integration,
training isn’t time consuming. Universities
like the fact that they can use it
independently once deployed, without
having to commit budgets to long-term
service costs.
GSM: What is your business development
strategy for Europe?
PH: In the UK our emphasis is on selling
directly to commercial and customers. We
are also looking to target public sector, but
it works differently in the UK, so that will be
a more gradual process. Direct sales tend
to work best for us. Our approach is
cooperative and collaborative – not a
traditional reseller model. But we do have
resellers in South America, India and
South Africa and we’re looking for other
partners in Europe that understand our key
markets. From a marketing perspective
we work very closely with enterprise
application vendors, such as Oracle,
Lawson, SAP and Microsoft.
GSM: How do you compete for business
with some of the biggest software
companies in the world?
PH: ImageNow’s primary competitive
advantage is its ability to deliver scalable,
enterprise document management and
workflow solutions in a fraction of the time
and at a fraction of the cost of our
competitors. We achieve this through our
patented integration technology, our focus
on software engineering and a tried-andtested
implementation methodology.
ImageNow 6.0 Sunflower is the latest
version, and it took more than 209,300
hours to design, develop and perfect. It
has more front office functionality, allowing
the user to view the document in the
context of the business process. Because
it’s so simple to use, our customers only
spend, on average, a fifth of license fees
on professional services, which definitely
gives us the edge on many of our
competitors.
GSM: Who creates your products?
Paul Hunt
PH: All our software is created in-house,
by a team at our Kansas headquarters.
GSM: Is ImageNow fully internationalised?
PH: Because ImageNow is an icon-driven
product, it’s still easy to deploy in non-
English speaking countries, but we are
about to launch Spanish, French and
German versions.
GSM: What does Perceptive Software
have coming up in the future?
PH: The next version is due to be launched
later this year. As I mentioned it will
support other languages; the ImageNow
Interact for Microsoft Office; the
ImageNow Interact for SharePoint and
pre-configured, vertical-specific solutions
for targeted industries, providing out-ofthe-box
functionality specific to the user.
GSM: Thanks, Paul, for your time and for
the excellent lunch. ■
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20
IMechE engineer an improved document
management process
IMechE is the United Kingdom’s qualifying body for Chartered and Incorporated mechanical
engineers and has been the home of mechanical engineers for over 150 years; over 80,000
engineers worldwide are members.
A decision to implement a document
management solution to handle
membership records within IMechE arose
following an evaluation of their filing
systems. A complex system existed, with
documents being stored in various places:
1. As a membership organisation, IMechE
use a specialist membership solution
from APT called Stratum. Many
member related documents, such as
letters, comments and records of
telephone calls, are created and stored
in this solution. However, documents
were only retrievable based on the
member and it was not possible to fully
search this document store.
2. Any incoming paper documents were
stored in filing cabinets across a
number of office locations around the
country.
3. The majority of incoming and outgoing
paper documents, including the original
membership application forms, were
stored as microfiche documents in an
office in Bury St Edmunds. This meant a
lot of duplication; outgoing paper
documents would be stored
electronically in Stratum and also on
microfiche.
Each member’s documents could
therefore be spread across various hard
copy office stores, held as microfiche and
stored electronically in Stratum. This led to
delays in processing member applications
and member enquiries, as locating the
correct document could be very time
consuming.
The situation was further impeded as the
three distinct groups of users which need
frequent access to the member
documents, were spread across the
country in different locations. As well as
CASE STUDY
the central London office, the membership
application processing is outsourced to a
team elsewhere in London and the
membership renewals process is
outsourced to a team in Telford. This made
quick accessibility of documents an
almost impossible task.
On top of this, a reorganisation meant that
the office in Bury St Edmunds, that housed
the microfiche records, was being closed.
IMechE was reluctant to move these
records to their main office, as this is
based in a central London location where
such space is highly expensive. The
obvious alternative was to find an
electronic solution to storing these
records.
Choosing a document management
solution
When selecting a vendor, IMechE spoke to
APT who supplied their membership
solution. APT have a partnership with
Documation, a document management
company. This relationship has led to a
seamless integration between APT’s
Stratum solution and Documation’s Enable
solution. This made Documation an
obvious choice for IMechE, as Nigel
Southwood, Director of Membership and
Information Services, elaborates: “The
integration between Documation Enable
and APT Stratum is extremely slick and
well designed, which gave us real flexibility
when implementing our solution.
Documation also established a thorough
understanding of our requirements, which
was key in our final vendor selection.”
The solution in practice
Three quarters of a million existing
documents, including the microfiche
records and the documents created in
Stratum, were imported into Enable
initially. The solution was then used to
manage the ongoing creation of approximately
10,000 new documents per month.
All electronic documents are now imported
into Enable from Stratum. Documents are
automatically saved as the relevant
document type, i.e. letter or comment, and
indexes are entered to allow full searching
capabilities. This is ideal when searching
for a specific document, within a specific
time period, for a specific member.
All paper documents, such as application
forms, receipts, payment slips, etc, are
scanned, indexed and stored in the Enable
system. When a member’s name is
entered during indexing, the system
automatically obtains their membership
number from Stratum and populates this
field in the Enable indexes. Not only does
this minimise data entry, but it ensures that
each document is linked to the correct
member’s record.
Any emails that are sent to members can
also be filed in Enable via a button on the
Microsoft Outlook toolbar. The user
indexed the emails as with scanned
documents, so they are retrieved with the
rest of that member’s documents.
Documents can be retrieved from Enable
but also directly from within the Stratum
system due to the tight integration. This
means users don’t need to exit Stratum to
search for and retrieve a document, saving
time and reducing training requirements.
This is particularly useful when a member
phones with a query, the users can
respond immediately without having to call
the member back as the documents are
instantly retrievable.
As well as eliminating the need to store
paper documents and subsequently
freeing up expensive office space, the
solution offers an opportunity for disaster
recovery. Previously a fire at the Bury St
Edmund office would have entirely
destroyed the archive, but now all member
documents are fully backed up and
disaster recovery processes can be
applied to ensure full recoverability in the
event of a incident.
Not only does the solution meet IMechE’s
needs from a functional perspective, but
the relationship with Documation has
made the process of implementing and
managing the solution an easy one, as
Richard Jackson, Systems Analyst at
IMechE explains: “The original specification
for the Documation solution was
bullet-proof, which led to a very smooth
implementation. Since we have gone live,
the technical support has been excellent
and the team displays a real commitment
to our needs.”
IMechE are now investigating other paper
intensive processes across their organisation
where it could be possible to extend
the functionality of their Enable solution.
Documation is a software developer and
system integrator of document
management and workflow solutions.
Using over 15 years experience in the
document management business they
develop tailored solutions fitted to the
requirements of each individual business
from their headquarters in Eastleigh. ■
Visit www.documation.co.uk
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Forms-processing system facilitates research
at University of Reading
By using an AutoData forms-processing
system from Kendata Peripherals, the
School of Languages & European Studies
at the University of Reading has been able
to expand research activities that had
previously been constrained by the need
to use laborious manual data-entry
techniques.
The Centre for Applied Language Studies
(CALS) within the School of Languages &
European Studies runs short, intensive
courses on English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) for international students
who need language support before they
begin their full-time degree courses,
among other language-teaching activities.
At the end of the EAP course, students sit
an exam known as TEEP (Test of English
for Educational Purposes), which consists
of several sections in different formats,
including multiple-choice, short answers
and essays.
“Until recently, we marked the multiplechoice
section manually using a master
overlay,” said Bruce Howell, EAP lecturer
and test administrator. “Now, with the
AutoData system, the answer sheets are
simply fed into the scanner and the
marking process is completed in a fraction
of the time.”
While this time saving has clearly been
beneficial to CALS staff, it was not their
main motivation for investing in the
Top Image Systems Ltd. has announced
that Diageo, the world's leading premium
drinks business, chose eFLOW to process
its invoices and streamline the information
into its SAP system.
With over 20,000 people worldwide in
offices through 80 countries, Diageo has
an outstanding collection of spirits, wine
and beer brands.
These brands include: Smirnoff, Johnnie
Walker, Guinness, Baileys, J&B, Captain
Morgan, Cuervo, Tanqueray and Crown
Royal as well as Beaulieu Vineyard and
Sterling Vineyards wines.
Diageo was aiming to sharpen its invoice
circulation, review and approval, as well as
reduce the costs related to accounts
payable operations. A decision was taken
to replace their existing invoice processing
system with TIS's state-of-the-art solution,
eFLOW. The implementation of the system
was done in collaboration with DoqSys
Ltd., TIS's partner and a leading provider
in implementation and support of accounts
payable solutions in Hungary.
AutoData forms-processing system. “All
university departments aim to achieve a
good balance between teaching and
research,” continued Howell, “and as part
of our research efforts, we wanted to carry
out item analysis of the TEEP exams,
which means analysing each individual
question to see what percentages get it
right and wrong, whether it is working as
predicted, and whether improvements can
be made.
“...completed in a fraction
of the time”
“However, we deal with over 300 students
each year and producing the requisite
matrix of 1’s and 0’s with the old manual
data-entry method was extremely
laborious, so we decided to look for an
automated data-entry method instead.”
Having been tipped off that another
department at the University was already
using an AutoData system, CALS experimented
using it and, after this proved to be
successful, asked Kendata Peripherals to
Diageo also chose eFLOW Ability, the
module that integrates into SAP systems
for automated parking, approval and
posting of invoices. eFLOW Ability
provides Diageo with the most efficient
and accurate process across three
continents.
Incoming invoices are captured and
processed in Diageo's shared service
center in Budapest. Then, the information
is delivered to three different SAP R/3
systems in North America, Australia and
Europe, where it goes through a full
approval workflow.
With eFLOW, 4000 invoices are processed
on a daily basis while manual labour and
related cost are reduced to a minimum.
Even shortly after implementing eFLOW, a
significant reduction of resources was
achieved.
"We were looking for a solution to efficiently
process our invoices, completely integrate
with our SAP system, and be highly
operational across the world," said Judit
Pósán, Process Improvement Manager of
Diageo. "Greater transparency and traceability
quote for a second system. “Kendata
compared favourably with the competitive
quotes we obtained, so we placed the
order with them,” commented Howell.
“Their subsequent service and training
have been both friendly and efficient.”
Comprising a high-speed scanner, formsprocessing
software, Microsoft Word
templates and special TrueType fonts, the
AutoData system enables data to be
scanned from paper forms directly into an
Excel spreadsheet or Access database
without the need for cumbersome data
exporting procedures.
Because AutoData allows forms to be
designed in the familiar environment of
Word, it has a very short learning curve
and so CALS was quickly able to design its
own custom forms. As well as producing a
scannable answer sheet for candidates to
use in the multiple-choice section of the
TEEP exam, CALS also designed another
scannable form for staff to complete,
summarising the marks from the shortanswer
sections.
Bruce Howell again: “The data from these
forms has enabled us to produce the itemanalysis
matrix much more easily, so now
we can quickly generate the statistics we
need for research and reporting
purposes.”
For further information,
visit www.kendata.com. ■
Diageo updates Invoice Processing System
TIS replaces competitor's solution in $250,000 deal
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will speed our response to invoicing
inquiries, thus maximizing our service to
suppliers. We were also looking for a
global solution provider to offer the kind of
support that a major global enterprise
requires. We found the answer to all these
criteria in TIS."
Dr. Ido Schechter
"We are proud to have been selected by a
market leader like Diageo.” says Dr. Ido
Schechter, CEO of Top Image Systems.
“We look forward to working together with
Diageo to implement additional applications."
Contact: Top Image Systems Ltd., Israel
Tel: +972 545 330 537 ■
CASE STUDY
21

Truper 3600 Scanner wins approval of two
leading, independent test labs
Böwe Bell + Howell Scanners' fast and
durable low-volume production scanner,
the Truper 3600, won recognition from two
independent digital imaging and office
equipment testing companies. Part of the
company's Truper Series, the Truper 3600
earned the prestigious “Pick of the Year”
award from Buyers Laboratory Inc. (BLI)
and a Four Star, Highly Recommended
rating from BERTL Inc.
Ideal for the document imaging needs of
everyday business, Truper 3600 scans up
to 62 pages per minute (106 images per
minute) and 10,000 pages per day - the
highest daily duty cycle in its category. The
scanner hardware comes bundled with
Kofax's VirtualReScan® 4.1 image
enhancement technology (Basic or
Professional) as a standard feature. It also
ships with direct ISIS and TWAIN drivers
for easy installation.
“We are honoured that editors and
technicians at BLI and BERTL have given
their stamps of approval to the Truper 3600
- a scanner developed to bring a new level
of speed, durability and ease-of-use to
low-volume production scanning,” said
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Russell Hunt, president of Böwe Bell +
Howell Scanners..
Buyers Laboratory's “Pick of the Year”
Winner of BLI's Spring 2007 “Pick of the
Year” award in the low-volume production
category, the Truper 3600 was also the
fastest scanner that Buyers Laboratory has
tested to date.
“We chose the Truper 3600 as
‘Outstanding Low-Volume Production
Scanner’ for its speed, reliability and media
handling, and its pricing, which is lower
than the average for models in its class,”
said Lynn Nannariello, assistant managing
editor for BLI.
BLI is an independent office-equipment
testing lab and business consumer
advocate. Its coveted “Pick of the Year”
awards acknowledge the best products
tested in various categories. BLI bases its
evaluation of document scanners on
performance areas including reliability,
image processing features, ease of use,
productivity, file sizes, media handling and
value.
“Highly Recommended” by BERTL
The Truper 3600 also won a Four Star,
Highly Recommended rating from BERTL,
a market leader in independent analysis of
digital imaging devices and workflow
solutions.
According to the BERTL review committee,
“The Truper 3600 was liked from the
moment the box was opened to the
moment the device was packed again. The
device was not only easy to install but also
proved to be reliable across a wide range
of jobs, across a very wide range of media
types and sizes.”
BERTL undertakes its evaluation reports
and product ratings entirely at BERTL's
expense for the benefit of its worldwide
subscriber base. Its prestigious Four Star,
Highly Recommended rating is reserved
for devices that deliver a range of
business-critical features/functions that
are above average and provide potential
buyers with a good return on investment.
To learn more about Böwe Bell + Howell
Scanners and the Truper 3600, visit
www.bbhscanners.com
TRADE NEWS
23

24
The vision of a paperless office has been
with us now for over 30 years, since the
advent of the personal computer. However,
the reality is that the proliferation of
printers and photocopiers has made it
much easier to produce documents in bulk
and ubiquitous access to word processing
tools has allowed paper to flourish. While
paper is still important, it has become a
transitory medium, used for short term
capture and storage of information.
Technology has brought huge advantages
in terms of capturing, retaining, storing,
retrieving and sharing electronic
information, but paper documents and
their contents still pose significant
problems for most companies. These
issues have been partially addressed by
installing scanners and document capture
systems in mailrooms and throughout the
organisation. The result is that a large
assortment of scanned documents of
various types - forms, questionnaires,
invoices, drawings, letters - are carefully
placed in a repository waiting for someone
to realise that they are there and ready to
be actioned.
The psychology of modern office working
is that people tend to avoid looking at
paper. Electronic communication today
takes priority and there is a growing
general assumption that if a document
arrives in the post then it is not urgent. This
emphasis on email to the detriment of
paper can have serious consequences for
the business. The vast majority of mail that
arrives is not being dealt with fast enough.
It’s important that paper communication is
taken care of and managed, rather than
left to pile up for several days, when it may
be too late to take the necessary action.
This can result in lost orders, missed billing
cycles and duplication of effort through
inefficiencies.
When feedback forms, drawings or legal
documents come into the company they
need to be actioned immediately and
intelligently. Post must receive the same
high level of attention as email. In order to
do this successfully, organisations need to
adopt the principles of the intelligent
mailroom; a system that will interact with
the document, understanding its
FEATURE
The Intelligent Mailroom
- Avoiding Paper Procrastination
By Trevor Cole, Commercial Director at Datum International
importance and then link it to the people,
processes and systems within the organisation
for whom it has relevance.
Scanning and capturing the contents of
the document electronically is just the first
step. Instead of placing the document
image in a repository, the intelligent
mailroom will capture the information,
index it, and then fire it into a workflow
process so that it can be judiciously linked
to the relevant knowledge worker and
actioned. In this way invoices and
purchase orders can be associated with
the finance system, while feedback forms
and questionnaires can be added to the
marketing database.
The intelligent mailroom will take paper
documents and turn them into electronic
ones, picking out the key words in order to
index and categorise the information for
future use. The content from scanned
forms - whether feedback sheets, exam
answer papers or questionnaires - can all
be captured and fed into databases for
further processing. Depending on the
clarity of the handwriting, even the
information and knowledge held within
handwritten documents can be captured
for future analysis.
Unstructured data contains a wealth of
information and knowledge that can only
be released if it can be captured, indexed
and then analysed, either on its own or
within the context of other data sets.
Capturing the document metadata - the
data about the data - facilitates the
understanding, use and management of
the contents of the document, making it
more valuable to the organisation.
Metadata tags speed up and enrich search
and retrieval operations as well as
removing the need to use more complex
manual filtering techniques. They can also
be used to describe how data items are
related and how these relations can be
evaluated automatically. The result is that
users can search for information by
context, whether held in electronic form or
originating within a document. For
example, when searching for information
on money laundering, an intelligent system
would recognise that “money laundering”
is a phrase that is often found in close
context with other words such as “risk”,
“illegal” or “terrorist activity”, and would
therefore offer a wider range of search
results that meet the context criteria.
As well as capturing the immense wealth
of data and information contained in items
of mail, the automation and processing of
the contents of the mailroom gives instant
action along with traceability and accountability
for each piece of mail. No longer
can important documents languish without
action in piles of post on people’s desks.
Once captured and integrated into a
workflow process, documents can receive
the necessary attention, reducing lost
business opportunities and increasing
productivity. Using the metadata, rules can
be applied to ensure that the document
reaches the right place in the company -
sending invoices and credit applications to
finance, orders and tender requests to the
sales department while artwork and
customer feedback forms may go to the
marketing group and engineering plans to
production.
Documents need to be linked to the
people, processes and applications that
they relate to, in order to become a valid
and useful part of the intellectual capital of
the company. Related information will
often reside across several departments
and needs to be collated and coordinated
to gain the maximum benefit. A central
electronic storage facility saves money
and allows company-wide access to a
comprehensive view of the customers,
products and services, as well as the
corporate capital and combined
knowledge of the company itself.
Using a collaborative knowledge and
content management application allows
companies to unlock the wealth of
knowledge that can become lost in
corporate documentation. Those organisations
who are acutely aware of the need
for effective management of both
electronic and paper based knowledge are
taking steps to integrate document,
knowledge and content management
technology into their business structure,
becoming more effective as an organisation
and gaining competitive advantage.
Visit www.datumplc.com ■
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In its infancy, automated data capture
(ADC) was heavily restricted to OMR
(Optical Mark Recognition) applications,
such as multiple choice questionnaires.
As time has passed, intelligent & optical
character recognition and imaging
solutions have enabled many styles of
information, from machine or hand print
through to tick-boxes, bubbles, signatures
and barcodes on pre-designed forms, to
be captured quickly, accurately and
securely. In addition, image clips such as
signatures can now be stored, and images
of complete forms can be electronically
filed for later retrieval. Now that solutions
like this can be fully integrated into an
organisation’s MIS, the opportunities are
almost endless.
Bureau services are also highly successful
in achieving data capture optimisation,
allowing organisations who prefer to
outsource this work to take advantage of
high speed data capture. Some are able to
offer the complete service from forms
design and production through to mail-out
and receipt and data capture. Especially
popular for organisations outsourcing
examination & answer sheets, application
forms and consumer surveys.
As businesses continue driving the
development of faster, more flexible and
inter-compliant technologies to facilitate
the secure and accurate capture of
information into the data management
cycle, hardware has become less
important and software increasingly so.
Highly sophisticated and flexible data
capture solutions, developed by experts in
Hyland Software will be showcasing
OnBase, the company’s enterprise content
management (ECM) software suite that
includes document imaging, workflow,
electronic document management,
COLD/ERM and records management.
Whether deployed as a hosted or
premises-based solution, OnBase allows
organisations to automate business
processes, reduce the time and cost of
performing important business functions,
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Picking the right tools for the
job
By Simon Day, Commercial Director, DRS
Simon Day, DRS’ Executive Commercial Director, will be
speaking about ‘Data Capture Optimisation’ at Documation
UK on 18th October at 1.45pm. DRS will also be exhibiting
at Documation UK – Stand 335. Here is a brief overview of
what he will be talking about.
the industry are reaching the marketplace
with classification techniques. Intelligent
Data Capture (IDC) techniques are able to
automatically identify a document type
upon scanning, and are able to perform
many sophisticated checks using look up
tables created from databases already
operational in a customer’s organisation –
thus removing the need for pre-designed
forms.
The internet too is having a major influence
on data capture requirements with a shift
towards compatibility and interoperability.
Nevertheless, and despite the concept of a
paperless office, there still remains a great
need for capturing data from paper
documents. Many businesses’ transfer to
online forms will inevitably remove some of
these requirements, but it is a long way
from eradicating it entirely. Take for
example the huge data capture element in
a census project. The current Ethiopia
Census is a highly complex operation
involving over 23 million printed booklets.
In the past it would have taken many years
to capture the data, however, using ADC
this time around, it will be processed in just
a few months.
At best, adopting a well designed ADC or
IDC solution will have an immediate
impact on a business by providing cost
and time savings from day one.
Experience proves that a business soon
sees a return on investment when striving
for data capture optimisation. The largest
formally constituted Local Authority
purchasing consortium in the UK,
Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation, for
improve organisational efficiency and
address the need for governance, risk and
compliance through the management and
control of content from virtually any
source. OnBase helps organisations
manage all digital content, including
scanned paper documents, e-mails, faxes,
print streams, application files, e-forms,
Web content and multi-media files.
Darren Boynton, Solution Strategist for
EMEA at Hyland Software, will also be
example, not only achieved payback in
less than 18 months after implementing an
electronic solution for processing its
customer orders, but it also halved its
resource responsible for capturing the
data, whilst still increasing processing
levels by 12%.
The decision on whether to select an
outsourced bureau solution to deal with
data capture needs as opposed to
purchasing OMR, ICR or Imaging
technologies for in-house use is often
determined by headline criteria such as:
★ Is the data capture requirement a ‘one
off’ or short-term limited project, or will
the requirement be regular and
ongoing?
★ Are a number of people regularly keying
data as part of their wider role?
The best way to understand which route to
follow is to engage with an organisation
that can offer all the tools available and the
expertise to identify the best solution to
suit specific needs.
While ADC and IDC technologies and
software are progressively sophisticated
and already facilitating the secure and
accurate capture of information into the
data management cycle, it is crucial that
suppliers continue to improve technology
inline with industry needs. Additionally
customers should continue to challenge
what tools are available to suit their
individual needs so that future
requirements play a big part in the
roadmap of services and solutions.
Find DRS on Stand number 335
Hyland’s OnBase on display
taking part in a panel discussion on “The
Business Case for Content Management:
What Works, What Doesn't” on 18th
October. Darren will be analysing the
different issues that are driving the
purchase and adoption of ECM software
from both the push (legislative and
regulatory) and pull point-of-view (better
efficiency, productivity, intelligence and
process management).
Find Hyland on Stand number: 510
DOCUMATION
27