Q:
My company has traditionally printed transaction-based
documents on paper. We produce a high volume of bills, statements,
vouchers, etc. We're interested in developing the capability
to issue these documents in digital format in addition our
traditional print/mail based system. But we want to do this
without a huge investment, and we want to maintain the processes
we currently have in place. Help! Are there any approaches
out there that are tried and true? Mostly what we find is
either smoke and mirrors or cost prohibitive.
A:
This is a great question. There are solutions that
are “tried and true” and cost effective. The
best way is to leverage your legacy systems and treat your
digital document capability as an output channel verses
an exercise in process reengineering.
There
are two basic ways to drive documents to an electronic output
channel while keeping your legacy systems and processes
intact.
Probably
the most cost effective way is to leverage your existing
print-stream archiving capability. Most archiving vendors
have a module that will let you create HTML or PDF from
the document image in the archive. You can then integrate
this capability into your existing customer-facing web presence.
This approach is effective if you have a requirement to
output an electronic document that preserves the exact look-and-feel
of the paper document. This method does have its limitations.
The document experience is still very paper-oriented and
adding features like bill payment, summary payment, alternate
views, or complex navigation can be difficult.
A
second approach is to use a data-driven approach where the
data is generated from the existing print stream using an
extraction process. This approach requires no changes to
the legacy system and can produce superior results. If the
primary distribution method for the electronic document
is the web, a data driven approach ensure maximum flexibility
for your customer facing application. You can do almost
anything time and money allows. You are free to fully exploit
the web experience. In addition, the data itself can be
very valuable as it is often the only single store that
contains the unique combination of data that comes together
for statements, bills, or invoices. You might be able to
do analytics that you only dreamed of before.
Issuing
documents in a digital format is a feature, not a solution.
You have to first answer the question of why you want to
output digital documents. You have to have a handle on your
business case. Senior management will demand it. When you
consider a vendor or implementation partner, select one
that can help you analyze your needs and find real value
for your company. Don’t be too hung up on the cost
of your solution, think ROI.
Analyst
Reports