Enterprise Content Management
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About Me
Laserfiche-Rio is Enterprise Content Management Software (ECM) for Document Management, Collaboration, Knowledge Management and Business Process Management - enterprise class business management software.for more details visit our site: http://www.laserfiche.com/rio
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Secure, anywhere access to businesscontent supports productivity of mobile workforce
Laserfichetoday announced the immediate availability of Laserfiche Mobile for iPad, anapp that makes it easy for employees to securely view and act uponmission-critical enterprise content managementfrom wherever they are, while also ensuring that mobile content resides withinthe organization’s IT governance structure.
“TheiPad is revolutionizing the way people interact with business content,” saidTom Wayman, Vice President of Product Strategy at Laserfiche. “The LaserficheMobile iPad app enables employees—whether onsite or offsite, executive or fieldemployee—to stay connected to mission-critical content and business processesfrom anywhere in the world.” As part of the Laserfiche suite, ECMMobile for iPad:
- Provides secure, anywhere access todocuments, metadata and audio-visual files stored in the Laserfiche repository.
- Enables users to create and uploadnew electronic documents.
- Tracks and audits all mobileactivity occurring in Laserfiche.
- Prevents bottlenecks in businessprocesses by giving mobile employees the ability to participate in workflows.
Enablespeople to configure custom views of the Laserfiche repository on their iPads. LaserficheMobile for iPad, which includes a built-in demonstration, is available for freedownload from the Apple App Store. Laserfiche Mobile for iPad operates withLaserfiche Web Access as a part of Laserfiche Avante and Laserfiche Riosystems. To accept connections from Laserfiche Mobile for iPad, Laserficheusers can download the free add-on, Laserfiche Mobile for iPad Add-On, fromthe Laserfiche Support Site.
AboutLaserfiche
Since1987, Laserfiche has usedits Run Smarter® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise contentmanagement (ECM) solutions. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide—includingfederal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies—useLaserfiche® software to streamline document, records and business processmanagement.
TheLaserfiche ECM system is designed to give IT managers central control overtheir information infrastructure while still offering business units theflexibility to react quickly to changing conditions. The Laserfiche productsuite is built on top of Microsoft® technologies to simplify systemadministration, supports the Microsoft SQL platform and features a seamlessintegration with Microsoft Office® applications and a two-way integration withSharePoint®.
Laserfichedistributes its software through a worldwide network of value-added resellers(VARs), who tailor solutions to clients’ individual needs. The Laserfiche VARprogram has received the Five-Star Rating from Computer Reseller News/VARBusiness magazine.
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Learn how Oklahoma Christian University saved $31,000 and facilitated shared services in under two years through an innovative ECM approach. Oklahoma Christian University’s modest size offers big innovation: the private liberal arts college with 2,200 students and more than 60 degree programs is a visionary leader in advanced teaching and learning methods. Each incoming student receives a laptop and an iPhone for integrated activities in classroom instruction, and Oklahoma Christian (OC) consistently ranks as one of the top colleges in the West. This prestige has driven a greater enrollment rate at OC in recent years. However, the influx of students strained the school’s technology infrastructure as many departments str***led to maintain back-end processes related to student services, such as billing, financial aid award processing and records retention. Paper-based processes across campus seemed almost sophomoric compared to the school’s reputation as a high-tech university. “The irony is that we’ve been a pioneer in educational technology, but our business operations were behind the curve,” says John Hermes, OC’s Vice President for Information Technology. “We are a very digital campus, yet very analog in our administrative processes.” Historically, Hermes’ IT department controlled new technology projects to address campus infrastructure needs. Although Hermes had explored enterprise content management (enterprise content management) systems in the past, investing in a new technology system was a hard sell to an administration looking to consolidate IT costs. “I watched the paper records and operational inefficiencies conflate on campus, but we had no way to manage these problems without ECM,” notes Hermes. Scripting an ECM Syllabus When the university’s President visited the offices of BMI Systems, OC’s copier dealer, the company’s impressive paperless environment convinced him that enterprise content management (ECM) could optimize OC’s resources, too. With the President’s support, Hermes began developing criteria for a solution that could provide: - A quick, easy learning curve for administrators and students.
- Integrations with existing line-of-business applications.
- Methods for reducing paper records and incoming mail.
- The flexibility to manage data for many departments while still maintaining secure records.
Although the university considered other ECM solutions, it was Laserfiche’s scalable architecture and integrations with existing applications, like the school’s ERP software, that assured administrators the system could easily cut costs and build a platform for shared services on campus. More importantly, Laserfiche’s flexibility provided OC the opportunity to apply its innovative spirit to business process improvements. To implement ECM, Hermes led a new model of shared IT governance, a strategy that positions the IT department as a project consultant and gives individual departments autonomy over how they access documents with ECM technology. Using Laserfiche, OC aimed to catalyze new, efficient projects in diverse types of offices while at the same time establishing a university-wide standard for information management and security. “I didn’t want to take on another project within IT without support from others,” notes Hermes. “By distributing IT leadership among administrators, we could provide the overall IT cost savings required by business units along with the sensitivity to individual departmental needs.” |
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At Empower 2012, we unveiled the full functionality of the Laserfiche Solution Exchange, our newest resource for Laserfiche users! The Solution Exchange is a library of concrete, real-world examples that help the enterprise content management community justify, implement, configure and optimize their ECM systems. Contributed by ECM users, resellers and staff, each article provides detailed instructions for implementing practical solutions for improving your ECM system. What will I find on the Solution Exchange? The Solution Exchange is a comprehensive resource that provides takeaways that you can act upon immediately on topics ranging from ECM implementation to the Laserfiche upgrade process. You’ll find integration details and utilities for account conversion alongside best practices for configuring effective searching mechanisms—and much more—straight from the enterprise content management community. Every post is instruction-based and includes many visual elements, such as screenshots of folder, template and workflow structures, actual code snippets, scripts and ROI planning tables. With each post, you can also quickly access related resources, like technical white papers, guided help videos and development notes. Solutions are easily filtered by a number of categories, such as industry, business process, utilities and code, and best practices. By combining comprehensive ECM functionality with powerful business process management (BPM), security and auditing tools, Laserfiche Rio provides a solid ECM infrastructure that: · - Manages your content.
- · Integrates with your existing IT portfolio.
- · Supports intelligent decision-making enterprise-wide.
- · Grants the IT Department central control over standards, security and auditing.
- · Gives individual departments flexibility to customize their filing structures, views and workflows.
ECM is designed to give your organization central control over its information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while also offering individual departments, offices and business units local flexibility over content and business process management. This unique design creates value by providing a single system that meets the needs of all departments while improving compliance by implementing a central point of control over enterprise information assets.
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By combining comprehensive ECM functionality with powerful business process management, enterprise content management is able to provide an infrastructure that: - · Manages your content.
- · Integrates with your existing IT portfolio.
- · Supports intelligent decision-making enterprise-wide.
- · Grants the IT Department central control over standards, security and auditing.
- · Gives individual departments flexibility to customize their filing structures, views and workflows.
The new schedule starting rules are highly customizable, allowing you to run workflows at whatever times make sense for your business processes. In Workflow 8.3, you can now run workflows on a schedule, which means your workflows no longer need a starting event to run, giving you more flexibility when automating your business processes. The new schedule starting rules are highly customizable, allowing you to run workflows at whatever times make sense for your business processes. You can create schedules that run only certain months of the year, that run only on certain weeks or days, or that repeat throughout the day. Monthly If you select to have your workflow repeat monthly, you can choose which months you want the workflow to run (every month or only certain months), and you can select which day of the month you want to the workflow to run. When setting the day, you can set a calendar date, such as the fifteenth of each month, or a relative day, such as the last Friday of the month. Weekly With the weekly option, you can choose which day or days of the week you want your workflow to run. You can also specify if you want the workflow to run every week or every few weeks. Daily Workflows can be set to run on a daily schedule. For example, you can have a workflow run every day, every weekday, or every few days. Hourly Once you set a monthly, weekly or daily schedule, you can configure the schedule so that the workflow will repeat every few hours or minutes.
Example: The city of Bedrock processes a large number of building permits. It wants to make the processed permits available to the public as quickly as possible while keeping its records updated. Instead of using Workflow to update its Website and sync with its database every time a permit is processed, it is more efficient if the city can upload and sync several permits at once. The city creates a scheduled workflow to run once an hour, Monday through Friday. The workflow copies the metadata from all the permits in the Processed folder and inserts that information into a database. The workflow also moves the permits into a folder that is publically accessible with WebLink. |
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 Laserfiche, running since 1987, has been using its Run Smarter philosophy to create simple and elegant solutions for content management. With a client list of more than 30000 organizations worldwide that includes federal, state, local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies, Laserfiche has been catering their need of software for streamlining documents, records and business process management. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) refers to the strategies, methods and tools that are used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver content documents related to organizational needs. ECM tools and strategies may allow managing an organization’s unstructured information. Keeping the organization’s needs in mind, Laserfiche has released Laserfiche 8.3, a content management tool. The product spans across various business verticals and helps organizations to improve information management and automated transaction processes such as accounts payable, case management, contract management and human resources. Laserfiche 8.3 has included new features such as 1. New Workflow. New Workflow may improve the productivity of enterprise content management by automating transactional processes as the workflow activities need to be dragged and dropped on a graphical canvas. 2. Database. This feature automates the information retrieval and updating process from third-party databases by simple integration. 3. PDF. It enables the Laserfiche administrators to add immediate value to product suite and import PDF forms into Laserfiche automatically. It also enables to retrieve information from PDF files and map them as per Laserfiche fields. 4. More than 60 in-built Workflow. This enterprise content management feature makes it easier to customize the product’s configuration to the needs of an organization and business vertical. 5. Digital signatures. In Laserfiche 8.3, the digital signatures are validated with the signing certificates on the server. Digital signatures may also prompt Workflow activities in guiding documents by approval process. 6. Web Administration Console. Web Administration Console in enterprise content management (ECM) enables an administrator to access the functions from anywhere, such as remote sites, client computers and mobile devices. In short, it makes the administration flexible.
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 New software release delivers immediate value to customers’ lines of business Delivering on its commitment to help customers grow the value of their enterprise content management (ECM) investment, Laserfiche today announced the immediate availability of Laserfiche 8.3. The new release spans various lines of business, helping organizations improve information governance and automate transactional processes such as accounts payable processing, case management, contract management and HR onboarding, among others. “We are committed to providing product enhancements that improve the way organizations do business. Over the past year, our customers have begun automating more and more complex business processes, and we developed Laserfiche 8.3 to respond to their needs,” said Tom Wayman, Vice President of Product Strategy at Laserfiche. Laserfiche 8.3 includes the following new and enhanced features: New Workflow activities that improve productivity. With enterprise content management, organizations quickly automate transactional processes by dragging and dropping pre-built workflow activities onto a graphical canvas. Database activities automate the process of retrieving and updating information from third-party databases, simplifying integration. PDF activities add immediate value to the product suite by enabling Laserfiche administrators to automatically import PDF forms into Laserfiche, retrieve information from PDF fields and map them to Laserfiche fields. More than 60 built-in workflow activities make it easier than ever to customize workflow configuration to the unique needs of each organization and line of business. Digital signatures that simplify information governance. Digital signatures in Laserfiche 8.3 are validated with signing certificates on the server, so users know that a signature is trustworthy. Digital signatures can also prompt Workflow activities that guide documents through the approval process. A new Web Administration Console that improves deployment flexibility. Laserfiche 8.3 offers an easy way for administrators to securely access the administrative functions of the repository from anywhere—including remote sites, client computers and even mobile devices—making administration more flexible than ever. “The advanced business process management capabilities and administration tools in Laserfiche 8.3 enable organizations of all sizes to rapidly implement a wide variety of transactional content management solutions,” said Wayman. “Laserfiche 8.3 is an infrastructure deployment that enables our customers to use Enterprise Content Management as a foundation for delivering shared services across the enterprise.” |
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RIA firms can save between $48,000 and $362,000 in annual operational costs with ECM SAN FRANCISCO, CA (Laserfiche)—November 1, 2011—Laserfiche (booth #335) today announced the availability of a white paper that explores the return on investment for RIA firms that leverage enterprise content management (ECM) software. Calculations are based on benchmark data from recent industry studies prepared by Nexus Strategy, Moss Adams, and the 2011 InvestmentNews RIA Technology Study. “With Laserfiche’s 25-year history and experience with over 30,000 installations worldwide, we were able to conservatively approximate the savings associated with using Enterprise Content Solutions to ‘go paperless’ and automate document-related processes,” said Tim Welsh, CFP, Senior Consultant at Laserfiche. “In total, firms that use ECM can increase profitability by 64.1% to 125.6%.” Table 1: Summary of Staff and Cost Savings by Firm Size Firm Size | Emerging ($500,000 in annual revenue) | Established ($1,000,000 in annual revenue) | Enterprise ($4,000,000 in annual revenue) | Technology Investment | 1.4% of revenues ($7,000) | 2% of revenues ($20,000) | 1% of revenues ($40,000) | Staff Savings | 1,000 hours (0.4 of a full-time employee) | 1,500 hours (0.6 of a full-time employee) | 11,000 hours (4.4 full-time employees) | Overhead Savings | 9.7% of revenues ($48,000) | 9.2% of revenues ($92,000) | 9.0% of revenues ($362,000) | Profit Increase | 125.6% | 74.8% | 64.1% | Business Value Increase | $242,000 | $644,000 | $3,616,000 |
In particular, firms that embrace ECM realize five major benefits: · Reduced paper storage costs. · Automation of back-office processes for increased efficiency. · Integration with CRM software for increased productivity. · Simplified compliance. · Increased business valuation. “For a relatively small investment in ECM software, RIAs can make a powerful improvement in today’s income as well as tomorrow’s long-term business value,” said Welsh. The paper, “ROI for RIAs,” is available for free at the Laserfiche booth (#335) and Website. About Laserfiche Since 1987, Laserfiche® has used its Run Smarter® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide—including federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies—use Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management. |
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When working in the ECM Laserfiche Client, users can customize the columns displayed for them within a particular folder in the repository in order to display exactly the information they need in that folder. When working in the ECM Laserfiche Client, users can customize the columns displayed for them within a particular folder in the repository in order to display exactly the information they need in that folder. For example, a user who frequently looks up customer information in the repository might configure a set of columns to display customer-related fields so that they can quickly scan for the correct documents, whereas an administrator who handles page generation, text generation and indexing tasks might want to display information such as the number of pages and whether they have been OCRed and indexed. In enterprise content management, Laserfiche 8, both users can configure the columns exactly as they want them, and both users can also configure different column displays for different folders to allow them to perform different tasks. Laserfiche 8.3 introduces a new feature to make working with column displays even easier: saved column profiles, which allow users to save their column layout and quickly apply it to a folder later. For example, a user who frequently looks up customer information might create a “Customer Info” column profile, which displays the “Customer Name,” “Company Name” and “Customer ID” fields. They could then quickly select this column profile for each relevant folder, rather than recreating the desired column layout by hand. This feature also allows users to quickly switch between column profiles. One user might need to both review customer information and administer page and text generation, sometimes in the same folders. That user could create profiles for “Customer Info” and “Page Info,” and then load each one as needed to quickly switch the column information that is displayed for the folder. 
Saved column profiles provide a fast, straightforward and flexible way to specify which columns should be displayed, save them for later use, and switch between them when working in the repository. Note: This tip is a preview of a feature that will be available with Laserfiche 8.3. Please note that feature details may change between now and the release date. |
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 SAN DIEGO, CA September 15, 2011 — ECM Company Laserfiche (booth #807) today announced that it will share key results of the 2011 InvestmentNews RIA Technology Study at FPA Experience 2011. ECM Laserfiche will also be featured in a presentation by Rehmann Financial’s Senior Operations Manager titled, “New Technology Secrets of Top Performers.” The session will take place on Friday, September 16, at 7:30 am. Sponsored by Enterprise Content Management market leader Laserfiche, the 2011 InvestmentNews RIA Technology Study takes an in-depth look at the secrets that enable top performers to reap significantly higher rewards from their technology spend in terms of professional productivity and profit. Key findings include: · Investing in new technologies is the number-one strategy for top performers, with automation and integration figuring prominently in decisions about what kind of technology to deploy. · Investment in technology is driven by productivity gains. Automating routine, rules-based tasks allows staff at top-performing firms to spend more time serving clients. · Integrating CRM with document/content management is a top priority. Integrations tend to significantly improve a firm’s efficiency and productivity. “Together with Rehmann Financial, we’re delighted to share the technology secrets of top performing RIA firms, many of which use Laserfiche to open up new avenues for growth and profitability by creating efficient, scalable and robust back-office operations,” said Chris Wacker, Executive Vice President at Laserfiche. Amy Flourry, Senior Operations Manager at Rehmann Financial, said, “We’ve brought on four new advisors in the last year but we haven’t had to bring on any new administrative staff, so in that respect alone, we’ve realized our ROI on our ECM investment. Our executives may not care how easy the Laserfiche file structure is, but when you tell them your administrative staff can do something in 20 minutes that used to take four hours, they can appreciate that.” Laserfiche will be on hand at booth #807 to demonstrate its enterprise content management (ECM) software solutions and give out an overview of the 2011 InvestmentNews RIA Technology Study. Since 1987, Laserfiche has used its Run Smarter® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide—including federal, state and local government agencies and Fortune 1000 companies—use Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management. The Laserfiche ECM system gives financial advisors the ability to simplify regulatory compliance, improve profitability and limit exposure to civil and criminal liability. It allows advisors to prepare for audits more easily and ensure compliance with multiple state, SEC and FINRA regulations—all while accelerating business processes and making staff more efficient. |
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 Offers mobile workers a complete end-to-end solution to capture and control content Laserfiche today announced a new promotion designed to extend free mobile enterprise content management to new and existing users. Until September 30, Laserfiche is providing free Laserfiche Web Access—which includes Laserfiche Mobile, Laserfiche Web Access Light (designed for Blackberry, Opera and Safari mobile browsers) and the Laserfiche SharePoint integration—for new Laserfiche Avante customers, existing Laserfiche Avante customers who purchase five or more named users and current customers who upgrade to Laserfiche Avante systems. “More customers are using smartphones and tablets in the office, as well as for remote and mobile work,” said Tom Wayman, Laserfiche Vice President of Product Strategy. “Laserfiche Mobile provides a complete end-to-end solution that captures and controls mobile content—making it even simpler for users to get their jobs done, whether they’re in the office or the field.” ECM Web Access allows users to securely access, search and manage documents in their Laserfiche repository through a Web browser, from anywhere with Internet access. Laserfiche Mobile extends these remote access capabilities to the Apple iPhone, enabling users to: · Create and upload new content with the iPhone camera. · Automatically crop, straighten and enhance captured information, with full text recognition. · Copy, move, rename, download, e-mail, print or delete content. · Browse for documents in a folder structure or search the entire repository. · Participate in workflow automation processes by accessing metadata fields. Laserfiche Mobile, which includes a built-in demonstration, is available for free download from the Apple App Store. Users interested in the promotion can call a Laserfiche solutions specialist. AboutLaserficheSince 1987, Laserfiche® has used its Run Smarter® philosophy to create simple and elegant enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. More than 30,000 organizations worldwide use Laserfiche software to streamline document, records and business process management. The Laserfiche Enterprise Content Management system is designed to give IT managers central control over their information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while still offering business units the flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions. The Laserfiche product suite is built upon Microsoft® technologies to simplify system administration, supports the Microsoft SQL platform and features a seamless integration with Microsoft Office® applications and a two-way integration with SharePoint®. View Larger Map |
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 Laserfiche delivers better solutions with secure, certified integrations LOS ANGELES, CA (Laserfiche)—July 12, 2011—Laserfiche (booth 719), a gold sponsor of WPC 2011, will deliver an educational session entitled “Adding Agile ECM: Streamlined Data Governance for SharePoint Portals in the Virginia Port Authority (VPA).” The session will take place today at 2:15PM in the Partner Solutions Theater at the Los Angeles Convention Center. “Well-planned corporate governance is essential,” said Alex Wilson, Partner Director at Laserfiche. “By integrating fully-certified records management with SharePoint, Laserfiche enables Microsoft partners to deliver solutions that support employee collaboration, ensure executive accountability and drive better business outcomes.” During the presentation, Wilson and Laserfiche Vice President Brian LaPointe will cover how the VPA integrated enterprise content management with SharePoint to: · Drive business process automation. · Capture hundreds of thousands of paper records. · Improve information governance. “Our integration with SharePoint 2010 provides Microsoft partners with a proven, agile way to help customers quickly,” Wilson added. “With Laserfiche, documents are immediately accessible and secure, regardless of its source: through SharePoint, scanners, fax servers, ERP systems, online forms, mobile devices or even digital cameras.” Enterprise content management gives your organization central control over its information infrastructure, while also offering individual business units flexible content and business process management. ECM is also designed to give your organization central control over its information infrastructure, including standards, security and auditing, while also offering individual departments, offices and business units local flexibility over content and business process management. This unique design creates value by providing a single system that meets the needs of all departments while improving compliance by implementing a central point of control over enterprise information assets. LaserficheRio provides a solid ECM infrastructure · Manages your content. · Integrates with your existing IT portfolio. · Supports intelligent decision-making enterprise-wide. · Grants the IT Department central control over standards, security and auditing. · Gives individual departments flexibility to customize their filing structures, views and workflows. |
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 The Virginia Port Authority hired Angela Ellis as its SharePoint Administrator in 2007, but it wasn’t long before her boss, Deputy Executive Director of Administration and CFO Rodney Oliver, enlisted her to start looking into enterprise content management (ECM) solutions. “Rodney recognized that although SharePoint could do many great things for our organization, records management wasn’t one of them,” says Ellis, who today is a senior web analyst for the Port Authority. “SharePoint,” she explains, “with all of its many features is so much more robust than a network drive. In particular, the Port Authority uses document workspaces heavily, because they make it easy to collaborate on works in progress such as contracts. However, once you go beyond about 10,000 documents, you’ve got a real mess on your hands.” According to Ellis, the Port Authority didn’t want to lose the collaboration features inherent in SharePoint, nor did it want to take a familiar interface away from the staff, so it needed to make sure that the Enterprise Content Management solution it selected had a seamless SharePoint integration. “I was the lead on the team that built our RFP,” Ellis says. “In the end, we had more than 400 requirements and 24 vendors vying for our business. The SharePoint integration was our top concern.” Other important selection criteria included: Robust records management functionality.The ability to electronically store a wide range of file types, including AutoCAD drawings.Open architecture allowing integration with line-of-business applications such as CRM.Availability of workflow functionality for process improvements—and a reduced paper flow. “Before we implemented Laserfiche, our records management plan was very inefficient,” Ellis explains. “We’d print out documents, process them by hand and then file them in cabinets. We had a whole warehouse dedicated to file storage, containing all kinds of old documents in Bankers Boxes stacked nearly to the ceiling that we didn’t have time to properly manage.” Laserfiche + SharePoint = Transparency By integrating Laserfiche with SharePoint, the Port Authority now has the ability to collaborate on documents, retain them electronically, and efficiently manage and dispose of digital records—all while giving users access to content through the SharePoint interface. “Laserfiche has dramatically reduced the flow of paper throughout the organization,” says Ellis. “It’s opened up space for new offices and enabled us to tear down an entire warehouse for profitable use!” But the cost and space savings aren’t the most significant benefits the Port Authority has realized as a result of its Laserfiche implementation. By acting as integrative middleware, enterprise content solutions allows users at the organization to access information in the environment with which they’re already familiar: SharePoint. “The Port Authority’s had SharePoint for close to ten years, so people are pretty familiar with it,” says Ellis. “Most of our users won’t even know they’re using Laserfiche. With the integration, our content is searchable on an enterprise level, and the results are returned to users transparently through SharePoint. It enables us to access all our information from one central location without having to train our users on a new system.” Laserfiche + SharePoint = Operational Efficiency With Laserfiche in place, the Port Authority has started using it to streamline business processes. First on the list? The RFP and vendor selection process. The Port Authority was established in 1952 as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of stimulating commerce in the ports of the Commonwealth, promoting the shipment of goods and cargoes through the ports, improving the navigable tidal waters within the Commonwealth, and in general to perform any act or function which may be useful in developing, improving or increasing the commerce of the ports of the Commonwealth. As such, it contracts with dozens of vendors each year. In the past, the RFP and vendor selection process was manual and paper-based: Proposals were submitted in hard copy and photocopies for each member of the selection committee.After a contract had been finalized, paper copies were made for the Contracts and Finance Departments, and also distributed to the contract administrators.Because copies of the contracts documents weren’t centralized, it was difficult to locate the most current version of any given contract or amendment. With the help of Unity ECM, the Port Authority’s Laserfiche reseller, the organization has transformed the entire process as follows: Proposals are submitted electronically and automatically routed into SharePoint.Proposals are posted to a workspace in SharePoint for contract evaluation, scoring, changes and selection.Once the collaboration phase is finished and the contract is finalized, it is automatically pulled into Laserfiche, where it is retained according to contract retention schedules.From SharePoint, users can access the contract by clicking on a URL that takes them directly to the document stored in Laserfiche. The URL placeholder in SharePoint ensures that the data is synchronized between the two systems, simplifying version control.When searching for a contract, users run a search in SharePoint that seamlessly provides results from both the Laserfiche and SharePoint repositories. “Even employees who aren’t technologically inclined appreciate the efficiency of our new process,” says Ellis. “In general, having real-time information available in a central location has been one of the most important process improvements our organization has received as a benefit of this project.”
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