November 21st, 2009

Is the Printed Page Dead (or Just a Little Sick)?

Posted by Doc @ 9:34 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Library, Doc, Hawken, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Management

Doc is a big believer in the power of print, but I do have to admit some print products are moving in new directions. That’s why a recent article at the printing Website, What They Think, caught my eye. It’s an interview with entrepreneur and writer Paul Hawken, best known as one of the founders of retailer Smith & Hawken, where Doc buys all his fancy gardening supplies and tasteful door wreaths.

The interview, by Gail Nickel-Kailing, took place at a sustainability conference in the Pacific Northwest. Hawken is the author or co-author of a number of books including The Next Economy, Growing a Business, The Ecology of Commerce, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution, and Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming.

Here is a bit of the Q & A, which you can read at Whattheythink.com:

WTT: As an author, voracious reader, and book lover, what is your take on the future of books, newspapers and other publications?

Paul Hawken: They’re going to go away completely. Pretty soon people won’t be able to start their fires because there won’t be any paper. I think paper is done. Aren’t they worried about the e-reader? They should be.

In terms of 99% of what we read in books, magazines, and newspapers, I think print is over. When I started writing there were 30,000 titles a year published, now there are 170K+ titles published a year now. There is more drek out there; books that don’t deserve to be published.

The same thing that happened to the music industry is happening to the publishing industry. I’m surprised there’s not more noise in the industry. I can’t believe they don’t see the writing on the wall. I think it’s over.

Having said that, paper isn’t done for works of art, for books about art… We will need paper, we will need some books, we will need libraries, but libraries will change completely.

We won’t lose rare books. I don’t think we’ll lose certain documents; libraries are keeping notes and speeches, keeping emails, and working on interesting ways to preserve digital information with technology that will make it readable for the long term.

Those kind of papers and documents will become much more valuable and valued. Things on paper will become really valuable, they will be unique.

Doc says, whoa! That’s a pretty stark viewpoint, Paul.

November 19th, 2009

Document Management Software Purchasing Considerations

Posted by Doc @ 6:33 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Document Management, Managerial Accounting, Groupware, Tools & Techniques, Enterprise Software, Software, Finance, Management, Doc

Choosing a document management system can be a bit intimidating, but fear not, Doc is here to help. Well, at least I’m here to tell you where to get help. In this case, a great primer on the top things to consider when buying document management software or services. This is from the folks at KnowledgeTree, who, among other things, make an open-source free document management solution.

According to KnowledgeTree, when selecting document management software, the following may be useful to consider:

• Is the software easy to use, presenting user interface and filing concepts familiar to users?

• Does it allow you to meet your organization’s goals and fit your culture i.e. the software’s workflow capabilities should have the flexibility to provide you tight control over your document lifecycle or a more loosely structured system.

• Is the software accessible from existing tools such as Web Browsers, Office productivity applications and email applications (such as Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook), and the Windows Explorer.

• Is the software available in a form that makes best sense to your organization: whether you need the document management software installed on your own network or would like to purchase the “Software as a Service” and leverage the vendor’s infrastructure.

• Document management is a long-term commitment: ascertain whether the software you choose to utilize will lock you in indefinitely, or whether you have access to the software’s source code and the freedom to choose how you utilize the software.

• If you intend on installing the software on your own network, it should support the technology you already utilize within your enterprise, whether this be Microsoft Windows or Linux server software, Directory Servers and storage devices.

• The software should have lightweight, modern web, and graphical user interfaces that work well over your Intranet, Virtual Private Network and even Internet, allowing your remote users efficient access to the document repository.

• The software should allow you to secure your documents in the repository, whether this is through a fine-grained but intuitive access control system, standard’s based SSL/TLS encryption of communications to the server software, or the encryption of documents within the repository itself.

• The software should provide support for common tools used for the volume digitization of paper documents and integration with other devices that generate digital documents such as fax servers.

You can find out more by visiting KnowledgeTree.

November 17th, 2009

Five Helpful Green Printing Tips

Posted by Doc @ 2:32 pm

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Tip, Printing, Doc, Document Management, Enterprise Software, Software, Finance, Managerial Accounting

It’s one thing to be green with your in-house printing, and quite another to be green with out-sourced work sent to a commercial printer. Doc knows that once a job gets sent off to a shop, it’s hard to know just how efficient and environmentally friendly the process really is.

The folks at UPrinting.com have put together a helpful video that highlights five great tips on what to look for in choosing a green route for your commercial printing. The tips are useful no matter who you choose as your supplier.

November 13th, 2009

Learn More About Enterprise Content Management

Posted by Doc @ 7:31 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Gilbane, Conference, Enterprise Content Management, Doc, Exhibit Hour, Content Management, Enterprise Software, Software

Doc has run a few items about our friends at the Gilbane Group, who specialize in content management and have a great bunch of free reports on enterprise issues. But if you need more detail, you may want to consider attending the upcoming Gilbane Conference in Boston this December 1-3.

For 2009, the Gilbane Conference is more focused than ever on the business impact of content solutions that are here now and ready to be implemented. Every program component is tied to the business issues surrounding marketing, technical, and enterprise content. They’ve taken the four major areas of how enterprises use Web and content technologies and organized them into tracks that make it easy for you to customize an agenda that meets your business objectives.
Along the way you’ll have direct interaction including one-on-one time with Gilbane’s unique community of enterprise practitioners, analysts, consultants, and solution providers.
Look for sessions covering:

Web Content Management (WCM)
Enterprise Social Software
Enterprise Mobile Content
Authoring & Publishing
Content Globalization
XML & XBRL
Enterprise & Site Search
Semantic Technologies
Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

The Pre-Conference Workshops are Tuesday December 1, 9:00am - 5:00pm, with the main conference on Wednesday December 2, 8:30am - 5:00pm and Thursday December 3, 8:30am - 4:30pm. The Exhibit hours are Wednesday December 2, 10:00am - 6:30pm and Thursday December 3, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

Doc’s attended several Gilbane events and is never disappointed.

November 12th, 2009

Reading, Writing, and Printing Go to College

Posted by Doc @ 9:27 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Doc

When Doc went to school we still used number 2 pencils and ruled binder paper. But things have changed and now days educational institutions are some of the biggest consumers of printing, most of it done in-house on copiers and networked laser printers.

Once again our friends at Ricoh have come to the rescue and offer a new managed print service just for schools called Equitrac Express 4. Here’s a video presentation on the system, which gets good grades from Doc.

November 12th, 2009

Are Your Documents Locked and Loaded?

Posted by Doc @ 9:02 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Ricoh Corp., Printers, Hardware, Peripherals, Doc

Have you ever gone to the printer to pick up your output only to find that Betty from Accounting picked it up by mistake? This can be a serious problem, especially if the document in question is a sensitive spreadsheet, an employee evaluation, or top-secret information about an upcoming stock offering.

I was sharing this frustration with my always-discreet buddies from Ricoh and as usual, they had already come up with a solution. Ricoh has a Locked-Print feature built into its network printers. Simply add a password in the print dialog box at your computer and your job goes into a special print queue. Then take your time getting to the printer because it won’t print out until you put in your password and hit, “print”. No more documents accidentally falling into the wrong hands.

Given all the new rules about privacy, particularly when it comes to medical and certain financial issues, Doc says this feature isn’t just a convenience, it’s a necessity.

You can see how the Locked-Print feature works in this brief video.

November 9th, 2009

Ricoh Boosts Warehouse Productivity with a Mobile Warehouse Solution

Posted by Doc @ 2:27 pm

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Ricoh Corp., Mobile, Wireless, Wireless And Mobility, Wi-Fi, Document Management, Enterprise Software, Software, Finance, Managerial Accounting

One of the keys to an efficient printing system is keeping everything up and running, and we all need a few spare parts now and then. That’s why Doc was impressed to see the new wireless warehouse inventory and shipping solution the folks at Ricoh have installed at their state-of-the-art facility in Tennessee. Getting over 2,000 orders packed and shipped each day with a 99 percent accuracy rate is no easy task. The last time I was 99 percent accurate was back in 1984 when my brain was still young and sharp.
In any warehouse, speed and accuracy are the keys to success. That’s why so many companies are deploying mobile and wireless technologies, like those at Ricoh. It provides the visibility floor workers and managers need to work smarter and more efficiently. See for yourself what happens in this video presentation when a fast-paced warehouse and distribution facility deploys an enterprise-wide mobility solution. It’s a blend of mobile computers, wireless infrastructure and management software that dramatically improves visibility, productivity and profitability.

November 3rd, 2009

MFPs Continue to Lead the Way in the Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market

Posted by Doc @ 9:08 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Segment, Peripheral, Laser, MFP, Doc

The good folks at International Data Corporation (IDC) continue to feed the Doc’s insatiable habit for info on what’s going on in the document world. This time the massive data machine from Framingham has a report out on what sort of printers are selling best. Seems not as many of any kind are selling these past few months, but the trends are, nonetheless, fascinating.

A key bright spot in the overall hardcopy peripherals market worldwide continues to be the color laser multifunction peripheral (MFP) market. This segment had another solid showing in a challenging economic environment with unit shipments declining just 6% year over year in the second quarter of 2009 (2Q09).

As color continues to penetrate the overall hardcopy market, the MFP market is weathering the current economic downturn better than its single function counterparts, as products continue to make the transition towards multifunction.

Overall, the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market declined 21% year over year in 2Q09 to 24.1 million units. Shipment value declined 23.2% over the same time period to $11.6 billion.

In the current economic environment, vendors are focusing on offering cost cutting and/or productivity enhancements to customer’s existing document infrastructure as well as driving managed print services.

• The inkjet market continues to be the dominant technology segment with 16.6 million units shipped in 2Q09. The color inkjet MFP segment showed the second highest growth rate among all technology segments behind color laser MFPs with 13% year-over-year growth.
• The monochrome laser market remains the largest technology segment in terms of value at $4.2 billion and has the largest potential regarding MFP opportunity. This segment has the lowest rate of MFP penetration of all major non-impact segments.
• Color laser penetration continues to increase, driven up by the market performance of the global color laser MFP market. Although, it had a negative growth rate this quarter, this segment continues to outperform the overall hardcopy peripherals market.

So how’s this compare to your own buying patterns? The Doc bets you’re going more and more toward color multi-function, too.

You can read the full press release here.

October 29th, 2009

What to Look for in Managed Print Services

Posted by Doc @ 10:12 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Supplier, Channel Management, Roi/Tco, Security, Marketing, Finance, Managerial Accounting, Doc

I often get stopped while in line at Starbuck’s and asked, “Doc, just what features should I look for in a Managed Print Service.” Depending on how many people are in front of me, my answer is usually pretty consistent.

First, make sure that the company you’re dealing with has a proven management process. While each situation is unique, you have to apply some standard management practices to the problem or you’ll never learn anything. Steps in this process usually include some sort of evaluation or assessment phase, then a design and recommendation process, followed by a deployment or implementation phase. And of course, if you want ongoing results, you should be looking for a long-term management role.

But even more important, what are your goals for a Managed Print Service?
Obvious is an overall reduction in cost, but how is that defined? If all you look at is something like the number of sheets of paper printed, you’ll be missing a big part of the picture. Look for a partner that talks about total cost of ownership throughout the cycle of document production.

And what about security?
A huge part of the value of MPS may be in the security that a good system brings to your company and employees.

Does the system use file encryption, secure identification, and proper backup?
You should be able, fairly quickly, to get good metrics for things like device-to-user ratios and minimum-distance-to-device figures as well as remote monitoring and management.

And of course, we know you care about sustainability, so how does the system or supplier line up with your overall green initiatives? Can you measure the success so you can report it back to customers and shareholders?

Now can I get back to my coffee?

October 28th, 2009

More on the Definition of Green Media

Posted by Doc @ 8:19 am

Categories: The DocuMentor

Tags: Google Inc., Physicist, Carbon Dioxide, Media, Carbon, Data Centers, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Doc

I try to avoid controversy unless, of course, I’m the cause of it. But the Doc knows a good fight when he sees it, and there’s an ongoing battle these days between the proponents of print and those who favor digital media.

The latest round from the print side comes in the form of an entertaining article by Richard Romano on the Print CEO Website.  Among many other points worth reading, Richard concludes that:

“First of all, we need to disabuse ourselves of the notion that pixels are somehow pure and and holy and that that paper is the spawn of Satan. (Although some mills do have a grade they refer to as Satan Uncoated, used for printing really evil documents like insurance forms and Ayn Rand novels.) Let’s be clear about this: electronic media do have a carbon cost. In fact, earlier this year, a Harvard physicist made headlines when he managed to calculate the “carbon cost” of a Google search.”

“The BBC, among others, reported: US physicist Alex Wissner-Gross claims that a typical Google search on a desktop computer produces about 7g CO2.

“Furthermore: The Harvard academic argues that these carbon emissions stem from the electricity used by the computer terminal and by the power consumed by the large data centers operated by Google around the world.”

“Oh, and a 2007 Gartner Group report warned about the “carbon cost” of all the servers that comprise companies’ intranets and the Internet in general: The intense power requirements needed to run and cool data centers now account for almost a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions from information and communications technology.”

Read the entire article here. You go Richard. Print isn’t dead!