Integrating Document Management Solutions

When an ECM system is fundamental to the way an organization does business, the issue of integrating that system with other applications is critical. When speaking with clients about this, the first two questions asked are “can my applications be integrated with my ECM” and “how do I do it?”

If you’ve ever tried to answer these questions for clients who aren’t IT specialists or programmers, you know that doing so can be difficult. The specific answers involve abstract concepts and technical jargon that only specialists are familiar with. Speaking about Document Management Software with clients in a way they understand, is important.

At the same time, it’s important for all the stakeholders, not just the technical ones, to understand what is required in order to get a particular integration to work. To that end, I’ve found a particular analogy very helpful, as it renders the main considerations more concrete and understandable. I like to think of an integration of Document Management Software as a conversation.

At the most basic level, what’s needed for two individuals to successfully have a conversation? Assuming a verbal conversation (though the point holds true for any form of conversation), three things are necessary. Both parties need to be able to speak, hear, and understand each other. As it turns out, these requirements map quite nicely to integration considerations.

The essence of an integration is the ability for two applications to send data to each other, receive data from each other, and understand that data in regards to Document Imaging. This becomes the frame for the conversation as you explain to your client how the integration will work, or, in some cases, why it can’t work.

When boiled down to the essentials like this, it’s not an earth shattering revelation. However, it helps a lot when you’re trying to explain to a client that the Document Imaging Software integration is going take a certain number of days because one of the applications doesn’t have, say, a web service and that’s the only API the other one has. In other words, it can’t “hear” what the other application is “saying”. It makes for a much smoother acceptance of the proposal, and the outcome of the project, because the person writing the check appreciates the scope and nature of the project.

Laserfiche Certification Training Now Available at Texas Tech University

Laserfiche has partnered with Texas Tech, one of only 200 schools across the nation with a financial planning program that’s registered by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP), to provide training and certification for students enrolled in the Professional Technology in Personal Financial Planning course.

Laserfiche is donating the use of its Document Management Software, training materials and instructional resources to Texas Tech’s Personal Financial Planning Division free of charge through its Certified Professional Program (CPP). The CPP is designed to provide comprehensive online training in a number of specific areas, including system administration, business process management, Document Management, Document Imaging, and more.

“By adding Laserfiche to the curriculum, our students will gain a real-world understanding of how to digitize financial planning documents so that they are consistent, reliable, useful and accessible,” said Texas Tech Associate Professor Deena Katz, CFP. “They will also learn how to use Laserfiche to facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements, giving them a concrete advantage when they enter the workforce.”

The first Texas Tech class to incorporate Laserfiche’s Document Imaging Software in the curriculum began this fall. Approximately 100 students will complete the certification program by the end of the school year.

Several other schools have requested similar Laserfiche training programs for their students, so a whole new generation of financial planners will soon enter the workforce with in-depth knowledge of Laserfiche under their belts.