Spoiler alert! Get ready to hear this common phrase uttered by dealers in reference to their clients, when it comes to garnering time, process and margin benefits from optimized document and workflow process enhancements…
They don’t know what they don’t know.
Mention enterprise content management systems, and clients may respond with the slight, perplexed head turn of a puppy. Tell them you can automate their finance, sales, HR and operations processes, and they may nod respectfully. Process and workflow optimization references may sound good, but tell clients what they want and need to hear: they can save money, reallocate their resources, complete tasks in half the time that it currently takes, and rid themselves of paper-intensive processes.
And when it comes to software solutions, act as a Sherpa. Be that tablet of Anacin and offer pain relief. Show them how a short-term investment can result in long-term savings.
Function4
The wonders of document and workflow solutions begin with leveraging third-party software and ends with an integration rollout that meets—and even exceeds—expectations. The accompanying article provides solid examples of dealers who have helped clients do more with less, while saving a buck or two in the process. Here, we’ll examine the challenges customers face, and see what solutions dealers offer to introduce more automation into their operations.
Easy Integration
Function4, with headquarters in Houston, relies on a pair of go-to information management solutions, namely M-Files and ShareSync. According to Brad Yocum, market manager, M-Files has a robust and easily integrated workflow capability that allows them to tie into different databases and existing content management systems. This prevents clients from having to completely upload or convert their existing platforms.
The biggest thing we’ve seen is clients have information residing in multiple areas, whether it be their ERPs, accounting programs or an existing content management system.
Brad Yocum, Function4
Function4 turns to ShareSync for customers whose requirements are not as robust or have particular workflow needs. Yocum notes that smaller customers are more well-positioned for ShareSync. With M-Files, Function4 has set up multi-tenant cloud storage to provide clients with a more cost-effective solution.
While Function4 doesn’t necessarily cater to a given vertical, some of its largest client build-outs have been done for financial services, medical and manufacturing concerns. Those have been some of the more-intricate and involved systems that tie into pulling in database and electronic record information.
“The biggest thing we’ve seen is clients have information residing in multiple areas, whether it be their ERPs, accounting programs or an existing content management system,” Yocum noted. “It may be outdated and not as robust as they would like. We’re pulling all of that information together in a most cost-effective manner.”
Flex Technology Group
The Flex Technology Group (FTG) is an example of an industry consolidator that is seeking to unify its solutions offering. Consisting of a dozen enterprises, FTG onboarded firms that do not have solutions commonality across the platform, so it enlisted the services of Steve Behm—the former vice president of sales for DocuWare—to develop a unified portfolio.
Thus, it’s not surprising that Behm and FTG are relying on DocuWare for business process improvement. He notes that FTG has a partnership with HP for developing workflow automation apps at the device level that lead into other content management systems in the market, such as DocuWare and SharePoint.
The Guiding Light
Behm points out that several operating companies in the FTG chain have some vertical focus, such as large law firms on the enterprise side, while other dealers focus exclusively on SMB players. But one of the challenges many clients have in common is their need for guidance.
Many companies have problems, they realize there are bottlenecks all over THE place.
Steve Behm, Flex Technology Group
“A lot of clients ask, ‘Where do I start, what do I do?’” Behm remarked. “Many companies have problems, they realize there are bottlenecks all over the place. Unfortunately, they really don’t know who to turn to, what products are in the marketplace and how they can get started on addressing them. We provide that education to help them to get started.”
Imagine Technology Group
Imagine Technology Group (ITG) of Chandler, Arizona, taps DocuWare and Laserfiche as their go-to content management solutions. ITG favors DocuWare for its SMB clients and Laserfiche as a scalable product that fits well with enterprise organizations for its complex workflow and capture ability, according to Mark Lasinis, director of technology.
“The powerful workflow engine behind Laserfiche is so important,” he said. “I don’t want to have to log into the content management system to get my information. I want to be in my ERP space, have it show me all of the invoices for the last two weeks, and have them pop up in my screen right from the document management system. I want to be able to approve them on the document, have it send appropriate information to the ERP, and then send it to the next person. It’s not just a one-target interface.”
It can be a challenge getting the client to see how a system can affect an entire company, not just a particular department.
Mark Lasinis, Imagine Technology Group
In breaking past the “don’t know what they don’t know” barrier, Lasinis believes dealers need to take the lead in helping customers forget about their unproductive processes. Dealers should offer a proof-of-concept demonstration to see the value of a new system.
Holistic Approach
Lasinis also takes a negative view of point solutions, especially those that have a document management workflow module built into it. He also believes they are quite limited and paint the end user into a corner when it wants to extend into an accounts-payable solution, for example.
“When you offer a system like Laserfiche or DocuWare, you can get customers to see the advantage,” he said. “It really requires either high-level involvement or cross-departmental involvement, so they can see how it works for both of them. They don’t have to buy two different systems to do two applications. They can buy one system that ties into both and serves a purpose for different departments. It can be a challenge getting them to see how a system can affect an entire company, not just a particular department.”
While Novatech of Nashville, Tennessee (with 14 locations in the southeast) caters to virtually all business verticals, it has found particular success in the office function of accounts payable, a particularly labor-intensive segment, by providing a fairly immediate return on investment. John Sutton, national director of sales, notes that by automating the processes of content end-date and approval, it allows customers to turn business around quickly and reap a more-consistent throughput in a shorter timeframe, lessening costs.
On the solutions side of the house, Novatech employs M-Files as a content management platform and PSIcapture from PSIGEN on the front end. Sutton feels M-Files offers several key value propositions. One is an Intelligent Metadata Layer (IML), which allows the product to search multiple repositories of content, whether it’s the product itself, other line-of-business applications or areas of content storage like email and folder structures. It gives users the ability to crawl all those sources and unify the content in one platform. Coupled with PSIcapture, it can streamline the process of content capture on the front end.
When you talk about using workflow to automate things, making information available on mobile devices and unifying their content strategy, they agree with the concepts but don’t always understand the truly positive impact until they see the result.
John Sutton, Novatech
Part of the challenge for end users is understanding the concept and how it impacts them logistically. “When you talk about using workflow to automate things, making information available on mobile devices and unifying their content strategy, they agree with the concepts but don’t always understand the truly positive impact until they see the result,” Sutton notes. “Another challenge is getting customers to understand what the redesign looks like. We always detail what the outcomes should be, but getting clients to mentally view that is sometimes a bit of a challenge. But we work through that.”
Education in Production
Taking a somewhat different tack than many dealers, Advanced Imaging Solutions (AIS) of Minnetonka, Minnesota, traffics in the workflow associated with production printing build-outs, particularly for large school districts. It integrates Papercut cost-recovery software and print management software from Rochester Software Associates.
AIS
Adding in-house production print services within a school district is no easy task. But bolstering productivity while providing cost savings is a conversation starter that AIS has enjoyed much success with in recent years. The flip side, according to Stephanie Keating Phillips, director of solutions for AIS, is overcoming the mindset of how teachers have operated for generations. It is here where training takes on added significance.
“These school districts have to feel confident that our team can come in and give their people the in-house training, provide videos and make it as easy as possible so that teachers can have that warm, fuzzy feeling of ‘we can do this,’” she said.
That comes with some caveats. Teachers are accustomed to waiting until the last minute to make their copies, and now in a production print environment, it requires planning. However, they can also place their print orders from the comfort of their living room couch at night, and be able to pick them up the following day.
Phillips noticed, particularly in the early days of implementing production systems, that the districts’ IT departments “didn’t want a lot to do with this project.” It only took a few installations for AIS to realize that their involvement was imperative.
These school districts have to feel confident that our team can come in and give their people the in-house training, provide videos and make it as easy as possible so that teachers can have that warm, fuzzy feeling of ‘we can do this.’
Stephanie Keating Phillips, AIS
“For one, we’re on the server, and we’re utilizing software, so it’s important that IT is intermixed in this conversation,” she said. “They have to understand the capabilities of the software. It is going to have some glitches and we’ll have to make changes. Plus, there’s going to be times when you need to do updates. So it’s important that you’re on the same page with the IT staff.”
