August 2007

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In this issue:

Dear Records Manager,

Many organizations are beginning to realize that document imaging is an excellent way to deal with their paper records and enhance overall performance. But it can often be difficult to sell the idea to decision makers. With this in mind, this month we've got an excellent piece in which our own Bob Duncan helps you build a case for document imaging.

Also this month we're taking a look at colour-coded filing systems. This is one of the main tools that can help an organization manage and use records with optimal legal compliance, risk management, and return-on-investment. What began as a simple visual aid can also ensure the smooth operation of your organization. To get the full picture on how colour-coding can help you, you can download our free colour-coding whitepaper.

We're always interested in what our readers think, so if you have any feedback, please let us know!

Regards,

TAB

TAB Whitepaper: Optimize Your RM Program with Colour Coding

Colour Coding was originally designed to help computer programmers organize the huge volume of punch cards they needed to make their systems run. Forty years later, punch cards are history, but colour-coded filing techniques remain an integral part of any records management program. Why? Colour coding improves the reliability of business information by making it easier to locate a given file on the shelf and proactively addressing the risk of misfiles. It's a simple principle, but the benefits of efficient, accurate information retrieval can extend to a sophisticated array of business needs and situations. After all, effective records retrieval is as much about risk management and legal compliance as it is about everyday convenience.

To find out how colour-coding can help you get the most out of your organization's record management, download our FREE whitepaper here.

ARMA Baltimore 2007: See You There!

We are currently gearing up for this year's ARMA conference in Baltimore, which promises to be an exceptional gathering of the best and brightest in the field of information management. So if you are there, drop the TAB booth and say hello!

For complete details on the ARMA 2007 conference, click here.

Building a Business Case for Document Imaging

By Bob Duncan

With paper-based material still accounting for about 30 per cent of all newly created corporate documents, many organizations today are considering electronic document imaging as a means of taming the paper beast and enhancing business performance. But given the financial and time investment needed to implement a document imaging program, getting consensus among senior decision-makers can sometimes be a challenge.

Winning end-user support is another critical obstacle that must be overcome. Going from paper to electronic imaging requires a cultural change. When you have people used to working with paper, you need to consider how an imaging program will impact the way they work and whether or not that impact will be positive and beneficial enough for them to buy into the program.

Beyond ROI: Understanding the Benefits of Imaging

In light of these challenges, it's important that managers who are planning to propose an imaging program truly understand the business benefits of document imaging. Often companies focus too much on hard ROI numbers and inadvertently overlook the business outcomes that are harder to measure, such as increased customer satisfaction and enhanced employee morale.

So what are some of the key benefits of document imaging that will help garner executive sponsorship and end-user support? These can be boiled down into the four Cs of document imaging: Cost Containment, Customer Service, Collaboration, and Compliance.

The Four C's of Document Imaging

Cost Containment
There's no doubt about it: paper environments are costly to maintain. Paper files take up valuable real estate, require significant and ongoing expenditures for items such as folders and labels, and often put a strain on a company's already overstressed human resources. Document imaging can eliminate or minimize most of these expenses. In fact, imaging not only translates to cost savings in real estate, it also opens up that space for other business activities, such as a meeting room or an additional office.

Customer Service
IDC Canada says that each year, companies lose $14,000 worth of productivity per employee because workers can't find the information they need to do get their work done. But there's another casualty in this struggle: the unhappy customer who can't get his problem resolved quickly enough because a company employee must first go hunting in the file room for the customer's contract or work order form.

In organizations that have implemented imaging for customer files, employees can instantly retrieve these documents through their computers - usually while they're still on the phone or face-to-face with the customer - cutting down on waiting time and speeding up the resolution of the problem.

Collaboration
With the growing emphasis on team work in organizations, sharing paper-based documents has become a tricky challenge for employees, especially when large files are involved. It becomes a problem when files are needed at the same time by multiple people. Many companies don't have file tracking systems, so people's work is often left hanging until they can get their hands on the files they need.

Document imaging solves this problem by allowing several users to access the same file from one electronic location. And because the file is never physically removed from electronic storage, companies would no longer have to worry about tracking its whereabouts. With everyone on the team able to look at the same information all at the same time, the collaborative process is immediately enhanced because they all have the information they need to make a team decision and take action.

Compliance
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and a host of other regulations require organizations to produce, on demand, financial data and other types of business information for reporting and auditing purposes. Organizations that fail to comply with these requirements face stiff financial penalties and, in some cases, criminal sanctions.

Having all files stored electronically - including unstructured documents such as contracts, logs, and hand-written material - can speed up reporting and auditing. It also presents a positive image to auditors and regulators, since it conveys your company's commitment to stringent organization and record-keeping.

Getting Full Value Out of Your Imaging Program

Ultimately, the rationale for implementing a document imaging program lies not in ROI dollar figures but in the value the program brings to your organization. For companies that are considering document imaging, the question to ask is: will the resulting value justify the cost of implementing the program?

Companies also need to ask how they can optimize the value of their proposed imaging program. This means ensuring that their program, and any new hardware and software it entails, will work with existing technology and processes.

Companies also need to be realistic about the time and human resources it will take to convert their boxes and boxes of paper documents into electronic files. One organization TAB worked with recently estimated that it would take 17 years to convert its files since it could dedicate only one person to the task.

This is where a company like TAB can really make a difference. From start to finish, we can deliver all the resources - including equipment, project management and scanning manpower - needed to design and implement a document imaging program.

Imaging is what we do. TAB has the advanced methodologies and production tools for converting files from paper to electronic format, we have highly experienced managers who can train staff in how to use the hardware and software, and we have the human resources needed to do the scanning work in weeks instead of years.

Want to find out how TAB can help with your organization's imaging program? Contact us today.

Bob Duncan is TAB's Vice President of Consulting Services, and has worked in the RM industry for almost three decades. Bob has extensive experience in the area of imaging having managed production environments imaging over 10,000 pages each month, sold and implemented Document Management Solutions and directed the scanning of over 5,000,000 pages of Land and Engineering records at client's sites. His expertise in imaging includes the industries highest level of certification, CDIA+. He is also certified by a major provider of Document Management Solutions.

TAB's Records Management Resource Centre

In this business, information is king. Records Management is a constantly changing field, and the challenges facing records managers are becoming increasingly more complex. The more you know, the better your chances of staying ahead of the game.

Our Records Management Resource Centre features white papers and case studies covering a wide range of RM topics:

Click on the titles above to download any of our helpful resources.

Feature Product: TABQuik 7

On-Demand Colour Coding Has Never Been Easier!

Our latest version of TABQUIK, our labeling software that allows you to produce colour-coded labels on demand, TABQUIK 7 provides you with an even easier and more efficient way to colour-code files and other media for timely organization and retrieval.

The Total Solution

TABQUIK 7 is a scalable, Windows-based software solution that allows you to set a colour-coded and labeling standard across your entire enterprise. To meet individual and multi-user requirements, TABQUIK 7 is available in Standalone, Network, and Enterprise versions.

What's New?

Helpful Documents Module-Less hands-on for you!
A collection of Quick Reference Guides for the most frequently ask questions for TABQUIK.

Dictionary (.dct) file editor-No need to send designs in for revision!
Users can edit the Dictionary File directly from within TABQUIK, allowing for easy maintenance of their label design. Whether your labeling system requires you to modify the colour palette to match existing colour schemes or should it require customized configuration of the data entry screen, TABQUIK 7 provides you with end-to-end control. The editing tools allow you to manage and configure your label data. You have complete control of the following design elements:

Colour palette design
Data import design
Project file design
Input grid & form

Export data (.dat) file to Microsoft Excel
TABQUIK now has the ability to save the current data file (.dat) to an Excel Spreadsheet, allowing for ease of backup or data manipulation outside of TABQUIK.

Enhanced Advance Project Setup Settings
Clients can further customize their project settings, a great time saver from the standalone desktop to the PC's on a large networks.

Select the label stock specific for your label design and printer
Using Excel as the Data Source has gotten easier with the new "Continue Flag". TABQUIK starts on the first record added after the last time it opened the file, each time it opens the Excel file.

For more information on TABQUIK 7, call 1-800-417-8010 or download our brochure.

Reduce Insurance Costs with a Retention Schedule

The huge expense of electronic discovery is well documented, and increasingly litigants are being required to incur the costs associated with e-discovery more frequently and earlier in the litigation process. This hasn't escaped the notice of liability insurers and they are starting to address the costs of electronic discovery in their insurance products. Now, document retention policies and e-discovery preparedness plans are becoming part of insurance carriers' underwriting decisions. If your RM program is not up to scratch, it may affect your cost and ability to obtain insurance. Read more on how good RM can help you minimize insurance issues.

Government Agencies Must Prepare for
E-discovery

Many people associate e-discovery with the private sector, but with government communication becoming more electronic and subject to legal review, the key to avoiding trouble is a good e-discovery strategy. In the current climate, public sector organizations can expect to face consistent inquiries from judges about e-mail messages, wikis and instant messages, and failure to present them could have negative results. Learn more about how e-discovery trends are affecting government agencies here.

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