PDF = Portable Document Format

Most people today get what a PDF is.  Most people my not know that it stands for Portable Document Format.  A PFD is a product of Adobe.  This document format is easy to share because any computer user can get a free PDF reader from Adobe.  So yes Adobe has made it is easy to create, send, and open PDF documents.

The word portable is something of a perspective issue for me.  Seems I'm sitting in a chair when I create, send, or open a PDF document.

But now, in the age of the the "dying desk top", I am seeing more access and interact with documents over portable devices like laptops, iPads, and/or iPhones.  So yes documents are now portable while you are on the move as well.

There seems to be a shift in perspective that is user based, which is really pushing development. 

This brings me to portable users and products and/or applications for a user on the go.  "THE CLOUD"
"The Cloud" is a tech word for Internet or out in space.  Cloud applications are becoming more and more available.  I am seeing this "Cloud" taking over the way in which we interact with work, with files, with home, with family, and with government.  I am see a HUGE swing in mentality and system usage. 

Servers are going to be a thing of the past.  The expense, the maintenance, the IT department, the hardware, the back up, the security, firewalls, cabling, ftp, LMNOP.   NO MORE!  How much will that save you or your company?  HUGE MONEY!  Let me bring this to a user (you) level with this question.

Would you buy Microsoft Office off the shelf or have it installed on a new computer today?

If you said "yes" right away, you are not the category of customer that is pushing the "Cloud" revolution today.

If you said "no", your ARE the customer of today and tomorrow and the "cloud" is for you.  With products like Google Docs and OpenOffice, why would you pay for Microsoft Office?  These products are just right for you. 

Now let me give you a bigger point of view.
What if you had 100 computers in a company and you had to decide weather to buy software for each one?  Lets back up our point of view even more.  What type of computer would you buy today?  Desktop? Laptop? Maybe all laptops with wireless keyboards and mice.  Now would you buy software for each of them?
What is your plan for sharing corporate information? 

• SharePoint? NO WAY!  We are NOT buying a server and all of the stuff that goes with SharePoint so it can NOT work. 
• Email? Not very secure

I'll give you the "Cloud Answers" to these questions that will SAVE major money.  Send me an email and I'll send you my answers.
jon@mountain-scanners.com


If you like what you read, and would like more information like this.
Please follow this blog and I'll keep it coming or visit our website at
http://www.mountain-scanners.com/

Newton's First Law of "Business"?

Newton had it right. Outside forces change the direction of a business.
Companies that don't evaluate themselves internally until outside forces act upon the company are doomed.
If you were to just look at company investments, I use this a bit loosely, personnel, computers, and print/fax/scan machines, you have all of the components needed to increase productivity and accuracy. Most companies just don't know how, and are very caught up in the day-to-day that they can’t even see the need.
IT departments know how to fix and network computers, but they are not aware of the software available to help the company do their business better. Owners and CEOs evaluate the company and suggest cutting expenses. #1 being payroll, but that does not attack the issue of how to run the business better. Seems to me like they are doing business harder.
I have only seen a few progressive companies use their CIO and ask them to evaluate the business and have it run smarter. If the company does not have a CIO then the use of a consultant comes into play, and worth every penny.
There are plenty of helpful software products out there that help the business run smarter. A little time and financial investment and training here WILL affect the bottom line and may even effect their competitive advantage. Especially today when most companies are running their business harder. Their gaps in their business processes get larger and their company suffers. The writing for that company is on the wall.
Companies that are still using paper in any of their business processes are losing money to their bottom line daily.

Companies that are prepared for today and for the future WILL run their business smarter.
I have plenty of case studies and white papers if you need any references for any industry.

Technology is now very helpful and now affordable. OCR engines are more accurate and scanners are very user friendly. There are plenty of options out there for the home office to the enterprise wide solutions. Most good softwares are including or have a workflow module. Workflow is very useful.

To get techy SharePoint is not your silver bullet. It is a cog in the wheel, but a very good tool. ECM in another important cog as well.

If you want any other information, just send me an email and I'll it get it to you same day.

Jon Zalinski

Check our our web site http://www.mountain-scanners.com/

Document Management + Process Management = Enterprise Content Management

By Jon Zalinski / Mountain Scanners

I wanted to shed some light on Enterprise Content Management.  I hope to answer a few questions like...What is it?  What does it do?  Why should I consider it?  and How can I justify that purchase?

I'd like to start with a sample company.  Let's say this company has downsized recently because business is a bit slower.

Most companies today have computers that help them run their business.  They use applications for specific purposes.  There happens to be a software product for almost every job duty out there.  I am sure you could name at least 5 applications that are used within a typical company.

Word
Excel
Some sort of email app
Quickbooks
Maybe a point of sale
Or a reservation application
How about a design app
I guess you can add what you use.

Traditionally the investment to purchase computers is a no brainer.  I guess you can see the value in that investment.

Now this company would like to start producing money.  How does this process begin and where does it end?  There are departments that are involved with their tasks and personnel trying to be productive enough to keep up with task demands.  After downsizing, task demands have grown and personnel are now trying to do more.

Picture Painted?  Good.

Now let's pick apart the company into components. 

Personnel
Computers
Documents
Processes to complete
Deliver services or goods
Keep existing customers
Attract new customers

Let me know if I have missed anything.

If you were to put a stress on one of these parts you may lose existing customers and you probably won't attract new ones.  This is a direction that a lot of companies have gone or are going, but this company is hanging on and pushing through.  So far, customer satisfaction is still good, and the level of competition has declined.

This is the point at which a company can really gain some competitive advantage if the company was able to meet the added stress demands.  This is where Enterprise Content Management comes into play.

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) software investments usually have a quick return on investment (ROI) because of the efficiency it adds to company internally.

I'll explain. 

One of your most expensive resources is personnel.  So how can you maximize that investment.  The second resource that is sitting in your company are the computers that you use everyday.

Now lets say that by utilizing your personnel and your computer infrastructure your personnel would be more productive, the business would run more efficiently, and the end result was a great customer experience. 
This is the point were a company then decides to work smarter rather than harder and gains high levels of customer satisfaction and jumps ahead of the competition.

Enterprise Content Management is a software strategy that includes Document Management, Workflow Management, Information Management, Business Process Management, Project Management, Data Management, and Electronic Document Management, to name a few, which provides the tools for this company to "Run Smarter".

If your duties at work involve finding paperwork, filing paperwork, doing key entries from documents,  producing orders, approving purchases,  printing, copying or faxing paperwork, paying invoices, looking through applications, and everything else your would do throughout your work day............
Remember this.  There is a way to do what you are doing...... smarter.

With a little investment that has a quick ROI......your have everything to gain.
You can't afford to do nothing because your competition is looking into using an Enterprise Content Management solution in their business.

Take the first step towards gaining your competitive advantage by learning more about ECM.

If you like what you have read or would like more information...
Visit our website at http://www.mountain-scanners.com/
Or call me at 970-945-7236.

5 Areas that will add VALUE to your company.

by Jon Zalinski at Mountain Scanners

1. Customer Service

2. Technology

3. Quality

4. Cost Management

5. Delivery

If you were to improve these 5 areas of your organization, you would gain a competitive advantage.  I would venture to say that customer satisfaction and sales would would go up. 

I will add some ideas to each of these 5 areas.

1. Customer Service- Ask your customers.  They will tell you.  For example,  I currently do business with my local bank, but every time I need a new service they make me fill out another application for that service.  It would be nice if the form was already filled in with my critical information so I can move on with my day.  I know that they have my critical information already.

I can buy something on Amazon with one click.  This should be easy to fix.
How about having a live person pick up the phone?
How about a follow up call from a supervisor just to make sure everything is OK with the service that was provided.

2. Technology- Use of technology can go a long way with your customers.  Can you answer a customer's question on the same phone call?  Can you automate an information path electronically? Maybe, improve speed with transactional business.  Are there ways to eliminate the number of key strokes in repetitive  data entry duties.  Maybe the use of technology would allow for collaboration across the company. Come to find out, that you have an expert in the wrong department, or you get more thorough input to help you make a vital company decision.
OK, how about one click to purchase something.
Or even better signing a contract on your smart phone.

3. Quality- There has been a big push to de-value products or services in price.  But the in doing so the have also de-valued their products or services.  An advantage would be to ADD to the quality of your products or services.  Here are some call out words that should make you think about your organization.  Testimonials, satisfaction guaranteed, try before you buy, years in business, here is our mission, on time, paperless, friendly, helpful, relationships, trust, on time, certified, and at your service.

4. Cost Management-  You have made your big cuts and you are now running as skinny and you think you can.  Where else could you streamline costs?  Spend on technology to save in payroll productivity and materials of paper and ink.  Manage your records digitally so you do not need to save the paper files in storage facilities. Spend a little more here to save a lot more there.  A robot that is purchased to help in a factory has and upfront cost but a long term reward.  These are the kind of cost management strategies I am thinking of.  Immediate cost management has passed.  So what is your strategy to manage your costs in the long term.  If you could streamline your internal fixed costs with a long term mentality and things do pick up Win Win for you.

5. Delivery- What if you could deliver something faster, or process something quicker.  How about being on time or even early.  If your competitors are delivering products or services can you beat them?  How about a bank that process your new service with just a signature...what if the signature came off of your smart phone.  How about automating the way you process your orders, no paper, all digital, and by doing so orders were entered and delivered earlier than your competitors?  This would also shorten the cycle of production to payment.

Well the purpose of this was to inspire you to think about your industry and how your company can gain a competitive advantage within your industry by adding VALUE.

I hope you also understand that this VALUE perception must be from the "point of view" of your customers.

Would you take the best WWII airplane into a combat mission today?

Kirk Tracy and Jon Zalinski
 OR   
Most would say, "No".  We have talked with several organizations and companies about how they do business today, and we have found that they are still using methods from the 1940s and 50s.  Ok, the typewriter is replaced with a computer, but their paper process is the same.  Look over our findings and see where you find yourself.

• 1) 50% have little or no idea and get by with the same Paper Record systems they have had for years.  they have information strategy.  They may not consider an email a corporate record or even a tweet.  Blogs and social media are not included in the realm of corporate information.
• 2) 40% have some idea, have done some scanning or even microfilming, they understand that business is happening on cell phones and laptops.  They understand that they should collect these forms of communication for the company.  They have an idea about the changing tools and technology that create records, and looking for ways to manage these records.  They understand that technology would help them run their company more efficiently and decrease costs.
• 3) 10% know enough to generate and issue Request for Information (RFI) or Request for Purchase (RFP)


Let's break this down a bit more.  These percentages are not official, just a composite what we observe working as a scanning service bureau that also sells digital document management solutions.

1)The first group needs education, not a definition of terms, but WHY they should even look at purchasing and using ECM software. I have heard speakers at Imaging Forums say “They don’t know what they don’t know…” Getting this type business to listen is difficult. We try to emphasize the proven and dramatic slash in overhead, most sources say a 40% reduction when implementation of ECM tools is successful. To me, the most persuasive testimony comes from users who say “we can’t do business without our “ECM” software.

2)This group understands why they need to bring the technology into their business, but are not sure which product or solution is right for them. They understand that this is a tool but still are trying to figure out the reality of using it.  This group is growing.  Once they adopt an ECM that works for them, they will have a competitive advantage over group #1.

3)This group knows what they want and will list specifications and desired tools. We like these because issuing an RFP means the client knows that they need this product or service, and has budget money to pay for the solution. They understand the benefits in such a way that the budgeted cost as "necessary cost of doing business BETTER", and that if they were to use it in its fullest capacity... it would not only have a very quick return on investment, but it would propel their company or organization.  We see a lot of governments and large corporations in this category.

I see group #2 growing because of the ECM product mixes available and the costs associated with these products are now very affordable for the small and medium sized businesses and organizations.

• No IT department?  No Problem
• Want it to just plug it into your network behind your firewall?  No Problem
• Want access 24/7?  No Problem
• Have a server with many applications running and would like to get answers from a single source?    No Problem
• Have multiple locations and need to share information in real time.  No Problem
• on and on

Where do you find yourself?  1  2  or  3

If you would like more info on what we do and how we can help, please visit us at http://www.mountain-scanners.com/.  Work Smarter.

Something NEAT!

There is a growing awareness what Mountain Scanners is able to do for medium to large scale companies. We are seeing a growing trend with companies trying to use technology to improve their productivity, and gain a competitive advantage in their market. 

Because our focus was on the medium to large business customers, we really didn't have a product that would help the small business until we teamed up with NEAT.

NEAT is a neat company.  Their products offer ways to organize your life. 

Most professional people are still collecting business cards, receipts from dinners, documents from car rentals, etc.  AAAH! What do you do with all of that?  Waste a day entering the info into QuickBooks, and then saving the paperwork for 7 years in your basement?

NEAT has worked hard on not only solving this issue, but packaging it into a box at an affordable price.

Still not convinced NEAT is for you?

What if the same product would organize your receipts?  I mean categorized your expenses automatically.
Ok, now what if you could tie this information to Quicken, QuickBooks, Turbo Tax, Excel, Outlook, and PDF?

No more boxes in your basement, either!

This product is so affordable that you will want one for your office AND your home.

Mountain Scanners is in the business of streamlining  and improving productivity for medium to large organizations.  We are amazed what NEAT is doing for our small business customers, and we are glad to to now meet their needs.  So they can be more productive.

Check out NEAT's products.  Get one today!

Works with Windows and Mac OS.

Paper to Digital to Archive to ECM

  Our company started by taking Customer paper records from closed transactions and converting the documents to microfilm images in the 1970's...in almost every case the suggested retention schedule for the records was 'permanent retention'-Court Cases or Orders signed by the Judge (SBJ), Medical Records, signed by the Physician, Human Resources personnel data-stuff that could not be thrown away, ever.  But the driving force then was not to become compliant, it was more to reclaim the space the old records were occupying.  We gave Clients more filing space to handle current paper transactions.  We also introduced the Microfilm Reader Printer into their fileroom as the method of researching Archives.
  It is ironic that this search to 'free up' space led to present day ECM systems.  I think there were several reasons for this, but one that sticks out is the difficulty of retreiving records from the microfilm, even if the client was using CAR tools, or Computer Assisted Retreival, where the user did a database look up to find Roll and Frame number to input into the Reader/Printer.  A tedious and uncertain task, harder then retreiving from paper in some instances.  So, when the first CD-ROM based image retreival systems came out, where scanned images could be retreived using simple metadata, it was a huge success.  Now research could be accomplished by everyone on their desktop instead of sending the request to the basement Mircofilm system.  It was a short step to go from Archival Search and Retreival to managing current and critical information and business processes's electronically.  All business activites could be managed electronically, and with the Internet, any time and any where.
  Now, forward thinking clients have converted all Archival paper documents-from storage sheds and closets and garages-to digtial documents.  Then, they replaced the analog business routines with workflow and e-forms.
  And, the size of the enterprise doen't restrict their acquisition of a workable ECM.  Small companies without IT departments can rent applications like Filebound as an SaaS or ASP solutions.  A monthly fee covers storage, usage, and maintenance-all the user needs is a browser.
  Larger companies, like a 90 bed Hospital and a town of 500,00, need a solution that can go onto their WAN yet still provide controlled publice access.  Laserfiche ECM software deployed with their SQL or Oracle databse provides solid platforms for these type companies.
  Business's who do not adobt digital techniques are suddenly more and more at risk, suffering conpliance issues and serious competitve disadvantageous.  Picture a Lawyer in Court with a File cabinet versus a Lawyer with the same data on his laptop, or a Bank responding to a request from a PC or a basement File Room.