Digital Landfill

One of the things constantly on the mind of capture resellers is how end users are perceiving -- and using -- the scanning capabilities of multifunction devices (those big printer/copiers sitting around workrooms). Our most recent capture survey indicates that these devices are certainly on the radar screens of end users -- 2 out of 3 say they are using these devices for scanning. In addition, of those using these devices, 2 in 3 say they believe the scanning volume done on them will "increase" (46%) or "increase a lot" (22%) in 2007.

An obvious question is "what are end users actually doing with the images they scan on these devices?" The AIIM data suggests that MFDs are currently mostly being used for static, ad hoc scanning. Most end users say the destination of images scanned on these devices is FAX or e-mail or a network folder (as opposed to a content repository or an application). But that is likely to change as application hooks are built.

The PDF Reference Document that has been developed and controlled by Adobe until now is being brought to ISO to become a formal standard. This reference document is what the Adobe Acrobat product as well as 2,000 other PDF products (used to create and read PDF files) have been developed in accordance with. It is what makes it possible for users to create and read PDF files as well as exchange them.

Adobe has chosen AIIM to facilitate the transfer of the PDF Reference 1.7 (current version) and future versions to be developed to become ISO standards. They considered several other standards developers and chose AIIM given the experience they have had with AIIM in developing PDF/Archive, PDF/Engineering, PDF/Universal Access and PDF/Healthcare.

Back during the first Clinton run for the presidency, the campaign struggled with reamining on theme. James Carville reportedly constantly reminded everyone to stay on message by repeating the refrain, "It's the economy, stupid."

The new AIIM capture survey contains evidence of the need to simplify the messaging when it comes to capture and scanning technologies. End users overwhelmingly told us in response to the question, "What are the TWO primary reasons for your interest in capture and scanning technologies?" that "efficiency and productivity" is top of mind. So while compliance and risk reduction and business continuity are all important, it is important for solution providers to have a one-two punch in their messaging. Arguments about compliance and risk reduction and business continuity can often open doors in the executive suite to get an audience, but clearly articulated arguments and data about efficiency and productivity will be necessary to close the deal.

Take a look at ... among them ...
1. Google de-googles its appliance
2. AJAX UI backlash
3. Web managers embracing the delete key
4. Falling seat prices
5. Rediscovery of workflow
6. Portal platforms will diversify
and a lot more.../

Also on the predictions side, Toby Ward has a set as well...his include...
1. Microsoft crank-up the marketing of Sharepoint leading to more and more customers buying without seriously examining alternative solutions
2. Standalone portal products will continue to be considerably out-done by CMS solutions
3. More vendors delivering a complete all-in-one solution that includes robust content management, search and portal functionality
4. Continued market consolidation with many more CMS vendors being bought, merged or disappearing

Don't forget Russ Stalters' 7-part series on Sharepoint...

There's some excellent background on e-discovery at the "Information Governance Engagement Area." Also, don-t forget to sign up for the upcoming AIIM local events on e-discovery, as they say in the movies, coming to your area.

One of the things that I get to see much more closely than I would advise for the faint-hearted is how companies spend their marketing dollars. (Two other areas that fit into this category of being careful if you really want to see them are: 1) making sausage and 2) passing legislation.)

A pair of comments made to me within 5 minutes at my first AIIM Show 10 years ago underscored the wide variety of expertise in vendor marketing efforts. As I walked down the aisle, an executive from one company grabbed me to tell me what a fabulous show it was. 5 minutes later and a little further down the aisle, another executive from a company in the exact same part of the industry grabbed me to tell me what a disaster the event was. All of this served to underscore that the standard deviation of marketing effectiveness is huge.

The new capture survey specifically highlights where end users get their information about scanning and capture technologies. The top 6 -- via magazines, via search, via the AIIM web site, via company-specific web sites, via webinars, and via vertical events -- provide a pretty good roadmap for marketing optimization. Any marketing plan needs to pay close attention to the way companies and products are positioned on the web. In addition, it's a good idea to look closely at how each of these areas interact -- e.g., how does a presence in the AIIM solution locator or in the industry-specific areas of the AIIM web site (see the government site, for example) increase the effective of search engine optimization, which translates into greater traffic on the company site? Companies also need to ask themselves whether their web sites are designed to meet internal marketing "customers" and demands or whether they are truly designed to serve the needs of current and prospective external customers.

Magazines still rank highly in the eyes of end users. One thing I often tell resellers at partner events is that "magazine" visibility doesn't necessarily mean advertising (much as I encourage companies to advertise with AIIM E-Doc Magazine). It means documenting your end user successes and case studies and being aggressive and resourceful in promoting these successes with editors. The cost of which is mostly sweat equity, not hard dollars.

Lastly, the results highlight what many of us who do this blogging thing often forget...new media, which growing in importance by the day, is still very much in its infancy.

Well, I've been tagged by fellow ECM Blogger Russ Stalters (who incidentally writes a heck of a good blog) to name 5 things about me that are not commonly known...

1. I am a great fan of bebop era jazz, especially Miles Davis and John Coltrane, during the years before their music became incomprehensible to me. John Coltrane's Ballads album is awesome.

2. I was a history and economics major in college, thereby likely reinforcing those who may question my judgements about technology and the ECM industry. I am particularly interested in the Civil War. My wife's great grandfather was in the 24th Virginia Infantry (Company A) for the entire war and was in Pickett's Charge.

3. I am the author or a privately published children's book, , which is now #1,712,669 in the Amazon rankings.

4. I am a Washington Redskins fan. This is perhaps not so much a secret to people as much as it is a mystery given the past 15 years.

5. But my real sports passion is baseball. As a kid, I would play so many Strat-o-matic baseball games, keeping statistics for all of them, that I could calculate earned run averages (the multiplying by 9 always the challenge) and batting averages in my head.

Michael Knight has a good overview of ECM -- and multiple citations of AIIM research -- under the title "The Continued Emergence of Enterprise Content Management."

Also, make sure to note the continuing series of articles on the Microsoft RM Team Blog about the RM implications of e-mail management. See especially part III on e-mail retention.

Keep an eye on the 7-part series that Russ Stalters -- always with interesting perspectives on RM and ECM -- has started on the document management implications of Sharepoint. Part 1 focuses on metadata.

Cornwell Consulting -- which designed the AIIM Fundamentals program on Records Management -- has been awarded a 300,000 contract by the European Commission to develop MoReq2.

Many don't realize it, but AIIM Europe holds the secretariat for the DLM Forum in Europe, the most significant gathering of national archivists and others who determine the future of records management in the European Community.

Created by an initiative of the EC, the DLM Forum is a community of Public Archives and interested parties in archive, records and document and information lifecycle management throughout the EU.

It has a remit from the EC to to provide technology and knowledge transfer and information services, appropriate practice guidelines, benchmark indicators and information, educational, skills development and research opportunities.

To this end, the DLM was the lead body in producing the MoReq (Model Requirements) specification for Electronic Records Management Systems in 2001. This specification is currently being updated to MoReq2 which should become available in early 2008.

If you would like to know more about the DLM Forum and the membership, or the MoReq 2 project, please ring the secretariat on +44 (0)1905 727600.

We've launched a new web site for the DLM Forum. It's worth bookmarking. On the site, you'll also find a series of resources on standards and records management that will be very helpful.

Many us (with good cause) spend a lot of time trying to convince end users of the importance of embarking on a document strategy in order to avoid the consequences of NOT doing so. We talk a lot about compliance and e-discovery and risk reduction and business continuity.

End users clearly value these concerns, but they are also looking for more from capture technologies — they are looking for efficiency and productivity benefits as well.

The new 2007 AIIM Capture Survey asked 1000+ end users to consider the various reasons for their interest in capture and scanning technologies and pick the TWO most important (from a list of 8).

The results are revealing in terms of the one-two expectations that end users have from capture technologies...

74% = Improving efficiency and productivity
29% = Better customer service
27% = Risk management/business continuity
26% = Compliance
26% = Faster turnaround/improved response
25% = Reduce costs
11% = Increased profits/better performance
8% = Leadership, competitive advantage

At the Visioneer partner conference, analyst Harvey Spencer (the Godfather of all things capture) highlighted a couple of data points worth repeating ...

He sees the increasing "velocity" of business as a major driver for capture technologies ... specifically, the drive to e-commerce and increased competitive pressures are forcing organizations to determine how they can "move paper at e-speed" (good description). He also presented an estimate of the total size of the capture software market -- $1.07 billion -- and forecasted a 16.8% compounded annual growth rate through 2009.