Document Imaging Report [Lite]

Well.

Welcome back to “DIR Lite.” If you’re like me, you might be humming “Welcome back, To that same old place that you laughed about.” Hopefully you aren't rolling your eyes like Horshack is in the photo above [YouTube video embedded below.]

This third one (fingers crossed, it’s the charm) is . . . “slightly” tardy.

Given how long ago that was, here’s a reminder of what DIR Lite is:

What is this thing? As a subscription-supported newsletter, we can’t give away our content. HOWEVER we can share some of it – and hopefully entice a few of you (all of you!?!?!) into becoming full subscribers.

Single issue subscriptions are available by clicking this sentence. Complete list of subscription tiers, with links to purchase, are included in the first message below. Want a look at a complete issue? Contact me – Bryant Duhon, Editor-in-Chief, at?[email protected], leave a note below, or connect with me here on LinkedIn.

On with the issue!

There are a few new elements in this issue, including the “Industry Question,” industry updates, and links to articles I’ve found particularly interesting (and think you will too). Note that these aren’t included in DIR Lite.

• KnowledgeLake’s Ontario Release
• A Thin Scanning Update from TWAIN
• The Evolution of Infosource’s Capture and IDP Research
• Question: The IT Talent Crunch

KnowledgeLake Dives Into Another Lake – The Ontario Release

Every year or so – or “when we’re ready” – KnowledgeLake issues a new branded release of their cloud-based software. Ontario, released in February of this year, is their latest. I also only just realized they’re all lake names (Tahoe and Huron before), though, as Jason Burian , Vice President of Product Management at KnowledgeLake , said, “Superior” has been ruled out as sounding a bit pretentious.

KnowledgeLake has, of course, a long track record in enterprise content management (or content services as we say today). The Ontario release caught my eye with its focus on process and workflow.

Burian shared that this focus was driven by their work with financial services companies – the gigantic opportunity presented by all of the banks, credit unions, and wealth management companies outside of Chase, Wells Fargo, etc.

These companies almost always have small IT departments and a slew of point solutions like loan management, account systems, etc.

These companies also have an outdated perception that process automation – like workflow and RPA – is beyond their reach. The Ontario release is a response to this need in the market and expands on KnowledgeLake’s existing workflow capabilities, which, Burian admitted, had been fairly basic – step A to B to C.

A Thin Scanning Update from TWAIN

We spoke with Kevin Neal ? l, TWAIN Board member, on the latest from TWAIN Working Group .

Give us a quick explanation of thin computing for anyone reading about it for the first time and then why it’s useful.

Neal: Thin scanning is about no software installation. Some readers may recall Salesforce’s original marketing, which had a big logo of software with a big red X through it. You can now deploy scanning without any software installation – everything is Web-based.

As for why anyone should care, thin computing saves time because you don't have to install software. It saves costs on IT burden. You don't have to have a PC and operating system. You don't have to have antivirus software. Plus, you don’t have the maintenance time and cost of managing those things. Because the scanner is thin and it can connect to a thin client, you can have, literally, five-minute scanner deployments. With fully functional workflows running in 10 minutes, you get much better time to value.

The Evolution of Infosource’s Capture and IDP Research

Over the past three years, Infosource has taken the reins of the research done by Harvey Spencer Associates. In many ways,?the research conducted in the Software practice of Infosource?is similar. However, as with any product, Petra Beck and Ralph Gammon bring their own unique insights and ideas to the research.?

And, of course, this industry is in a continual state of?evolution,?so the research needs to reflect this. We all know the shifting terms used to describe this industry. Harvey Spencer had identified “Capture 2.0” as the next evolution of the industry. His conception of “Capture”?has always been?broader than other analyst firms,?encompassing the notion of Advanced Capture and connectivity to enterprise systems.???

Infosource has built on this concept; expanding the scope and the terminology to “Capture and IDP” to reflect?the?added focus on IDP offers from RPA and AI vendors.?

Over the previous year, we’ve been asked by a few clients/potential clients what we’re doing differently. When one or two people ask, that usually means there are at least a few more folks curious about any changes.?

To answer, we asked Petra about the current (and a bit about the future) state of Infosource’s IDP software research and analysis.?

Let’s start off with the basics, describe the Capture & IDP Software Services as they exist today and how clients can access those various services (raw data, reports/analysis, consultative/expert advice).

Beck: In the Software practice we offer a variety of market reports related to the Capture & IDP market. They range from annual “State of the Capture & IDP market” reports that provide a deep analysis and forecasting following a multitude of market metrics like use cases and geographies to a global Vertical market analysis and an annual vendor matrix and analysis. In addition to the comprehensive reports, we also offer key forecast data as a self-service in our database and we offer a vendor directory.

Most of our reports are issued annually, but we also provide quarterly market updates and issue research notes on news or important market dynamics.

In addition to our reports our analysts are available for inquiries, and we offer strategy sessions and workshops as part of our annual subscriptions.

All analyst services mentioned are available in an annual subscription to our Capture & IDP analyst services, but we are also open to offer more customized packages especially to startups and local vendors.?

DIR Question of the Issue: The IT Talent Crunch

How Is the IT talent crunch affecting your product development (or projects for integrators/consultants) and/or your customers’ implementation plans (and chances for success)?

In each issue, I’ll solicit feedback on an issue within the Capture/IDP space. I want to share a broad range of opinions and welcome feedback on future questions (and question suggestions!) from anyone reading this. If you’d like to submit a question and/or be on the mailing list of folks I’ll routinely ask for contributions, please drop me a line at [email protected].

From Digitech Systems, LLC ’s HK Bain: If your company is experiencing a talent crunch, it is a smart time to reevaluate your culture and team support. What is the company doing to retain existing talent? Are the company's benefits competitive and honoring of the caliber of your talent? How well are the company's values defined and integrated into the way people treat one another? Looking inward is not always easy, but it can lead us to changes that may have the most immediate impact on talent-based issues.

Yingchao "YZ" Zhang, Ph.D. , AYR : The IT talent crunch refers to the current shortage of skilled IT professionals in the job market. This shortage can have several impacts on product development, project implementation, and the success of customers' plans:

1.??????Slower product development: With a limited number of skilled IT professionals available, organizations may face challenges in finding the right talent to work on their product development projects. This can result in slower progress and longer time-to-market for new products and features.

For those of us who remember Welcome Back, Kotter and a very young John Travolta, here are the opening/closing credits. Which, for whatever reason, you have to click through to YouTube to watch.