Our engineering team here at ColumbiaSoft met one-on-one with Microsoft’s top software, database, and network engineers at the Mountain View Technology Center recently in an architecture design summit.  This laid out the groundwork for a co-authored roadmap for the next generation of the Document Locator document management system.

The timing coincided perfectly with our efforts underway here at ColumbiaSoft to evaluate the technological underpinnings of Document Locator. New technology advancements in software development are making entirely new product solutions possible. To take advantage of these technologies, portions of Document Locator’s underlying architecture must be re-invented to support future application requirements.

As we build for the future, being able to work closely with Microsoft is invaluable because it provides an opportunity for the developers to share design ideas.  It’s this kind of engineer-to-engineer brainstorming that exposes details about existing development methodologies and techniques, while providing insight into future technologies that Microsoft is working on. 

Our next generation architecture will incorporate Microsoft’s technology supremacy, along with ColumbiaSoft’s document management expertise, to create a win-win for customers. The new architectural design takes into consideration handheld computing, distributed workforces, multilingual organizations, ever increasing security threats, scalability, cloud computing, and more.

Written by: Scott Zieg

Studies have shown that the average office worker uses as much as 10,000 sheets of paper a year. Where does all that paper go? It’s thrown away, filed away, shuffled among co-workers, and shipped around in slow, costly, delivery processes.  So, going paperless has some real advantages, and here is just a few examples…

First, it eliminates hard dollar costs. Not just the cost of paper itself, but things like storage and mailing, and the cost of using valuable office space for filing cabinets.

Paperless information can be searched and retrieved much faster, without leaving your desk. Filing and retrieval is reduced from minutes to seconds - a real productivity gain.

Plus, it’s easier to share information. Not just because files are electronic; A paperless system supports collaboration tools like check-in/check-out, document version control, email archiving, and remote access.

Even more, in a regulated environment, a paperless document management system reduces risk because you can find documents immediately, control access, and record history.

You can also automate business processes. Electronic notifications, document workflow, and approval steps can be used to automate everything from invoice approvals in accounting, to employee evaluations in Human resources.

Finally, there are advantages for business continuity. Digital documents are more easily backed-up, and can be made available quickly in the event of a disaster.

Together with our partner Kodak, ColumbiaSoft discussed and demonstrated some paperless benefits recently in a webinar that highlighted Kodak’s Capture Pro scanning software together with the Document Locator document management system. If interested in going paperless, you’re welcome to check out a recording of the seminar to learn more.

Written by: Jim Kemp

Successfully incorporating a document management system into your organization requires finding the right software, backed by the right people, to ensure the implementation is a success.  When searching for the right partner, expand your requirements beyond the immediate business objectives and ask the prospective vendor how they plan on serving your needs tomorrow as technology and business process change.

Solving tomorrow’s needs requires solution providers to work closely with customers and prospects alike in order to learn what’s working well for organizations and what potential solutions lay undiscovered in the document management sphere.  Equally as important, solution providers must have partnerships with mass-market software and hardware vendors such as Microsoft, Adobe, Autodesk, and Kodak in order to gain insight into future product directions.

As an established document management provider, ColumbiaSoft is uniquely positioned to work with its extensive customer base and software partnerships in formulating innovative product solutions.  The experiences of working closely with clients and partners are readily apparent in the latest generation of Document Locator.  The next release of Document Locator has been enhanced for increased performance, deeper integration in mainstream applications, and includes expanded features designed to help customers work more efficiently.

Enhancements to Document Locator v5.3 include:

1. Integration into Microsoft Windows 64-bit operating systems
2. Embedded Autodesk’s RealDWG technology for managing CAD files
3. Drag and drop support into Document Locator’s web client (WebTools)
4. Advanced .NET / JavaScript user interface updates for the web client (WebTools)
5. Improved Windows Installer installation packages6. Productivity improvements in the area of scanning, document approvals, records management, disaster recovery, document search, email archive, and more… 

Document Locator v5.3 beta is currently being trialed among existing customers to ensure success across varying deployments and industries, including AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction), government, insurance, consulting, and property management.  ColumbiaSoft is working closely with these beta customers to ensure the application is stable, user friendly, and most importantly is solving real business problems to benefit their organization.

Written by: Scott Zieg

In 1981, New Jersey CPA David Casey founded the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) to provide a forum for gathering and exchanging ideas as well to provide educational programs for construction finance professionals.  CFMA has since transformed from a small regional association into a national organization with over 7,000 members including general contractors, subcontractors, developers, construction managers, architects, engineers, and suppliers.

Each year CFMA hosts a conference and exhibition bringing together thousands of like-minded construction finance professionals for several days of education, sharing, and camaraderie.  The conference features educational classes through CFMA’s Schools of Learning in addition to showcased speakers and exhibit booths displaying the hottest products and technologies driving the industry forward.  This year’s CFMA 2009 Conference is being held May 16th through May 20th  at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas – the site of the original CFMA national conference in 1982.

A prevailing theme to this years’ CFMA conference is the need for builders to address the exponential growth in electronic and paper file management involved with construction.  Files include emails, invoices, drawings, insurance records, certification of completions, permits, and more.  The mountain of paperwork required for an average construction project can fill up an entire trailer.   Unfortunately this paperwork robs profits by consuming resources for filing documents, retrieving them, and storage costs.  It also exposes companies to the risk of eDiscovery litigation.

ColumbiaSoft is attending this year’s CFMA conference as an exhibitor demonstrating Document Locator, a paperless office solution for construction companies.  Paperless office solutions, also known as document management solutions, offer construction companies many capabilities.   Document Locator digitally archives paper documents, electronically stores them, and indexes them based on client-specified criteria, and has workflow automation.  In addition, paperless office solutions help facilitate disaster recovery planning and reduce the exposure associated with eDiscovery requests.

Paperless office solutions allow construction companies to amass a central repository containing all of the critical documents typically silo’d by departmental applications.  As an example, users outside of accounting could access all of the invoice documents related to their project without requiring access to the accounting software or directly contacting accounting with their requests.  This type of open collaboration between employees, vendors, and subcontractors provides substantial benefits to project team members allowing them real-time access to the information required to perform their tasks.  If you are interested in learning more about how paperless office solutions could benefit your construction company, please do not hesitate to stop by our booth at CFMA to learn more.

Written by: Scott Zieg

“Going paperless” isn’t just good for the planet, there are practical business benefits as well. Sure, saving trees is a great added bonus. But, on April 22, we’re going to be discussing some business reasons for a paperless office in a webinar: Document Scanning: Best practices for a Paperless Approach using Document Management. All who are interested are welcome to join us.

Written by: Jim Kemp

From time to time, members of our team here at ColumbiaSoft are called on by various magazines and other media publications to contribute articles extending their knowledge of document management. For those in the construction industry in particular, you may be interested in the latest article by ColumbiaSoft product manager Scott Zieg who writes in Modern Contractor Solutions about the “Top 5 Document Management Solutions.” Scott says…

Remember when contractors focused on construction, not paperwork? Construction document management software can restore the balance.

You can read the entire article here: http://www.moderncontractorsolutions.com/articlesdetail.php?id_articles=504&id_artcatg=5

Written by: Jim Kemp

The idea of the paperless office was first theorized in a 1975 Business Week article that discussed how the personal computer revolution would put an end to paper records and book keeping.  Now, some thirty-four years later, while the type of information contained in paper form has changed, more than ever businesses are inundated with paper records.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others report:

• The average office worker goes through 10,000 sheets of copy paper a year.
• A reduction in a ton of paper production saves the equivalent of 4,100 kWh of energy and 7,000 gallons of water.
• Each employee in a typical business office generates 1.5 lbs of waste paper per day.

Each year, businesses spend significant resources printing, filing, storing, and retrieving paper documents.  Every aspect of the paper storage process adversely impacts a business’ budget and the environment as a whole.  Some of the more obvious financial drawbacks of paper storage include purchasing paper, spending personnel resources filing and finding documents, increasing square footage for physical file storage, and recovering from disastrous flood or fire damage.

In addition to financial costs, the environmental impacts cannot be ignored.  The production process to produce paper stock requires harvesting trees, consumes significant energy leading to increased greenhouse gases, and involves chemicals that we weren’t allowed to touch in chemistry class.  Storing filing cabinets in your office consumes additional real estate which has associated heating/cooling requirements and more.

Now the good news: there is an alternative to using so much paper that reduces your carbon footprint.  Businesses now have affordable paperless office solutions that not only increase productivity, but also make any environmentalist green with envy.  So what are paperless office solutions you ask?

Paperless office solutions are business software applications designed for digitally storing documents into a repository.  Documents can include anything from invoices, to emails, to contracts, to health records - you name it.  As the documents are stored in the system, they are associated with index information referred to as metadata attributes.  The metadata indexes provide users a means to quickly query documents using a web browser or other client application and retrieve the documents electronically on the computer screen.

For many paperless office solutions, also known as a document management system, storing, indexing, and retrieving documents is one of numerous capabilities they offer an organization.  Additional functionality includes electronic routing of documents for approval, email archive, records retention management, document scanning, optical character recognition (OCR), online collaboration with vendors and suppliers, security, disaster recovery, reporting, and more.

To learn more about how a document management system offers companies a sustainable business alternative to paper-intensive processes, read up on our paperless office solutions. Also, we’ve recently been included in Construction Specification Institute’s new GreenFormat listing - it offers a fast-and-easy approach to evaluating green product information.

Written by: Scott Zieg

Brava! Desktop is an affordable, easy to use application designed for viewing, printing, and marking-up documents and drawings. Brava! Desktop provides support for most major document formats including MS Office Documents, CAD and other engineering formats, as well as PDF format types. By using a powerful markup/viewer application, users have the advantage of being able to open proprietary file formats such as Autodesk CAD, Bentley MicroStation, and Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks 3-D models without owning the original development software or a purpose built viewer for each application.

What truly sets Brava! Desktop apart though, is the ability to markup and annotate files for collaboration. For example, an engineering firm can distribute floor plan drawings for review to the contracted architect and construction company, allowing them to digitally markup each drawing where they have questions. Brava! Desktop is purpose built for this form of paperless collaboration and includes powerful AEC industry features including measurements, drawing magnification, stamping, markup burn-in, save as PDF, and more.

When viewing and digital markup technology are incorporated into an existing document management system that supports metadata searching, workflow routing, notifications, security, records management, remote web access, and email archive - you have a full featured project file management system that will allow collaboration within the organization and to outside vendors, suppliers, sub-contractors, and more. Imagine a system were design drawings (submittals/transmittals) were automatically routed to the necessary reviewers for the project and their responses were electronically captured and returned.

Included in the next release of Document Locator v5.3 will be integration into Informative Graphics Brava! Desktop 2.2 – previous integration support included up version 1.3 of Brava! Desktop. In addition to supporting the latest release, functionality is expanded, allowing users to create and apply dynamic stamps using Brava! Desktop that automatically extract profile property information from Document Locator as the stamp is applied. This means that generic stamps can be employed that will dynamically embed project related information onto drawings including project number, project engineer, or dates by reading the values from the metadata associated with the drawing that is open.

Written by: Scott Zieg

Proposal processes are complex. Whether they are done on an ad-hoc basis by a single person at a smaller company, or they are rigidly-managed by a proposal team at a large firm, the details of putting together a proposal project for RFPs, RFIs, or other submittals are a complicated mix of content, planning, and good old fashioned project management. To begin, there is the development of documents, schedules, and benchmarks by which the proposals will be measured. Then there is the actual launching of the proposal - making it public, which often involves an inordinate amount of notifications, distributions and question periods. Finally, the whole process turns back internal for a review and selection cycle, which itself can involve multiple people discussing, grading, scoring, and voting.

Document management systems help manage the proposal process by offering tools for collaboration, document version control, notifications and workflow, voting, and more. We plan to discuss the role of document management, and just how it can help, in a webinar coming up next Thursday. If proposal management is an area of interest to you, feel free to stop by our document management webinars page and register.

Written by: Jim Kemp

Whether it’s employee requests for benefits information; managers looking for past employee reviews; or the accounting department trying to find W-4 tax forms… it all comes through to HR. Human Resources professionals wear many hats, and one among them is that of controller of all records workforce-related.

Bet when looking at the entire picture of document management in HR, there is much more than just the management of employee records. There is also the automation of workforce processes; things like expense reports and time off-requests are good examples. Then there is the management of workforce resources like training manuals, employee handbooks, or company policies. And don’t forget the issue of security… all that regulated content must be controlled.

We’re going to look at document control the Human Resources department in a webinar later this week. If you are interested, feel free to join us.

Written by: Jim Kemp