Document Imaging System Proof of Concept POC: Education Assistance Foundation Financial Documents

1
Document Imaging System Proof of Concept (POC)
Education Assistance Foundation Financial
Documents
Jimmy Miller, Lisa Sanderson, Ivy Chong members
of EAFs Accounting Department jimmy_at_eafmail.net
Project Description The Document Imaging POC was
a project designed to determine the feasibility
and utility of an enterprise-wide document
imaging system. With a system (document imaging)
already on-site from a previous IT purchase, an
opportunity to experiment at a low-cost existed
despite the fact that the system was not highly
customizable. From this point, applying the
system to the current accounting document storage
and retrieval process was the task that would
allow me to work with the accounting end users
and design the malleable portions of the system.
Generally speaking, the user community was quite
pleased with the system and the resulting
efficiencies that I will further discuss in the
subsequent sections.

• Conclusions
• Many of the anticipated results were in fact
  realized during the project. The limiter of
  dealing with a system that was present as opposed
  to having the opportunity to design a system for
  the clients had a profound impact on the outcome.
  In the same breath, the cost and time required
  to create this system might have made the POC
  impossible, so all things consider, I believe
  taking advantage of the opportunity presented has
  helped prove the point and move a step close to
  gaining approval for an enterprise system.
• Key Learnings
• Users were not inclined to apply much weight to
  the fact that the project was limited by having
  off-the-shelf software that they didnt help
  select. I would still move forward on this type
  of project and listen to the criticism.
• Dont get so excited about the project so that
  you buy into scope creep. Project managers are
  not immune to this.
• Plot a critical project path and make certain you
  are aware of task dependencies. This will
  greatly aid contingency planning.

Methodology
Scope
Resources
Proof of Concept Model
Planning
Implementation
Evaluation
Funding Decision
Solution
Funding Denied
Funding Approved
Further Work At present, a strong case for
adoption and implementation in the accounting
department has been made, however this type of
system needs a broad user base to justify its
cost. I wish to find another paper-intensive
division of the company that could benefit for a
document imaging system and implement another
pilot project. The storage and retrieval needs
of different division may vary more widely than
anticipated. As well, I would begin some of
requirements gathering activities throughout the
organization to prepare for the eventual
enterprise document imaging project.

• Document Imaging System Features
• 100 invoice sample set
• Scanner _at_ 30 pages/minute
• Microsoft Access 2000 database
• PDF file format
• Data stored on secure file server
• Search based on all data fields
• End user software requirements limited to Acrobat
  4.0 or higher and Access 2000 or higher

Introduction The projects greater purpose was
that of supplying sufficient proof of the value
of document imaging to convince senior managers
to invest in an enterprise size version of the
project. Previous attempts at justifying this
type of initiative had failed to varying degrees,
yet a critical mass of curiosity remained. At
the same time, the specifics of this project
would identify the inefficiencies (lost,
misfiled, and damaged files as well as a
generally slow and disruptive process) in the
manual document storage and retrieval system in
the finance department and compare them to what
could be done in terms of savings and added value
with a document imaging system.
Right information to Right people in Timely
Fashion Equals Better Business Decisions
Automated
Scanning Storing Indexing Searching
Too Expensive ROI too low Payback period too long
Automated
Scanning Storing Indexing Searching
Results

• References
• 170 Systems (2003) Document management and
  imaging technology helps compress cash receipt
  cycles by fully automating the AR process
  WWWdocument. URL http//www.170systems.com/solut
  ions/accounts_receivable.html
• LaserFiche (1996-2003) Basics for Document
  Imaging Management Systems WWWdocument. URL
  http//www.laserfiche.com/basics/index.html
• Xerox (1999-2003) Digipath Production Software
  WWWdocument. URL http//www.xerox.com/go/xrx/tem
  plate/012.jsp?prodIDDigiPathXcntryUSAXlangen_
  US