1. Think Before You Ink. The change has to start here. We all have to change how we look at paper. Before you print out anything, ask yourself if it is absolutely necessary. If you have a digital copy of that e-mail, why do you need a printed version? The green blog TreeHugger.com tried to build an eco-meme by asking people to add this line to their e-mail signatures: "Eco-Tip: Printing e-mails is usually a waste." Sure, it is a little preachy, but sometimes we need preachers to show us the way. I have complained in the past that people send too much e-mail, but printing them out is downright sinful.
2. Preview Your Documents. The average employee prints six totally useless pages per day. All you have to do is walk over to the network printer in your office to see examples of them. I did just that and found a tray filled with blank pages, misplaced spreadsheet fields, and random HTML fields from printed Web pages. The average employee prints 1,410 of these wasted pages per year. And this problem is easy to fix: Just preview it first. The easiest way to do this is to use the print preview feature in whatever software you are using to print.
GreenPrint is a software package that automates the process. You can download a free version of GreenPrint from www.printgreener.com; an ad-free version is available for $35. GreenPrint Technologies claims that the average user of the package will save about $90 a year in paper and ink costs. This is a great feature that should become the default in both personal and office printers. Can you imagine the savings if this is rolled out across an enterprise or small business? That is money-saving Green IT. continue reading...
Data security and device security are two different things… sometimes we treat them as the same thing.
When looking at document management… or any other content management for that matter, there are a few ways that we can keep our data secure.
For example. In a paper-based environment you might put your documents in a filing cabinet or on a shelf.
Your security is only as strong as the location you put them in. If you get too many documents to house, you might rent space at another facility and have them store the documents for you.
If the documents are at your location, your building security keeps them safe. If they are off site, how do you know they are safe? How can you trust that your vendor will keep them as secure as you hope?
Xerox claims its environmental impact calculator measures the money your wasting and carbon footprint your making.
From old printers that are always on but in use only a few minutes a day to unnecessary print jobs, a fleet of printers, copiers and multifunction printers are probably more wasteful of energy than the server farm everyone wants to turn green.
Xerox customers are getting some idea of just how wasteful print is using Sustainability Calculator software, announced by the company March 25, which identifies and attempts to quantify wasted printer assets and processes. It works on Xerox and competitive products. continue reading...
“Most C-level executives still view security as an operational issue, not a strategic issue, according to ‘Navigating Risk: The Business Case for Security.’”
I found an interesting article on this. IT security is far more important an issue than just an operational issue.
I know of a lot of people that have a need to create a document as an image. They first print the document then put the document into their scanner so they have an image. I don’t get it.
There are plenty of tools that can be used to create an image of your documents. You could use Adobe Acrobat, eCopy Desktop and a myriad of other tools. You could even use the Microsoft Document Image Writer that comes free with your computer. All you have to do is go to file and select print. Select the Microsoft Document Image Writer as your printer and then choose to save the file as an image that can be converted into a tiff image.
Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, one choice may be better than another. If you need help, let us know what you want to accomplish and we can give you a solution. You may already have all the technology you need to get it done and all we'll have to do is teach you how to do it. continue reading...
It is estimated that less than 20% of all records that have traditionally been paper-based have been converted to electronic formats. For example, according to AdvancedMD, only 10% - 15% of medical records are handled electronically.
This tells me that the paperless office is a myth and just a vision… we have a long way to go before we get there.
I found a case study on how a law office in Illinois is moving to a paperless environment. We have helped a few law offices here in town with the same type of conversion. Take a look at the case study titled Lawyers win document case.” continue reading...
If you are smart, you’ll prepare for the event that you might need to be ready for electronic data discovery.
I read an intereting post at Computer World. Robin Harris wrote a post called the Two-minute guide to Electronic Data Discovery. There is some pretty interesting points in there that I believe everyone responisble for data in a business should understand.
I think that this is a prime example of how IT and business managers really need to work together to be ready for eventualities in business especially when it comes to document management policies.
One thing that struck me was that it is not IT responsibility to define data retention or destruction strategies. She made three important points:
Your company’s lawyers and record management folks are responsible for setting electronic data retention policy - not IT
IT must take the lead, working with policy makers, in architecting an economic and effective infrastructure to ensure compliance
IT needs a documented process whose ownership lies outside IT for unscheduled data destruction - such as when a VP wants all their emails to a client deleted - and staff must be trained on it.
You may think that your PDF or Excel Document is secure… but…
I lost a password for a PDF file and had to have it to make a quick edit. I did a search on Google and in about three minutes found a a little application that simply removes the password. No password, no problem.
I got to thinking a little about it and wondered if password protection on an Excel document is any better. Nope… same thing. I did a quick search on Google and found that I could crack that password just as free.
What is the solution?
Well, if document security is that important, you really need to look at a document management system that tracks versions and changes. Then, if the change occurs, you can track it. Moreover, users have to have access into the document management system in the first place to be able to even access the file in the first place.
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By Jim Murphy
The enterprise content management (ECM) market is at a critical turning point where it must prove itself or be lost altogether. Over the last 20 years, widely disparate business demands for content management, the stubborn resistance of antiquated practices, widely different methods of handling content, technology growing pains, the slow maturation of standards, the whims of investment hype as money flits from document management to Web content management to Web 2.0, and conflicting definitions of what content management is, have led us to a rocky, complicated and still wildly dynamic vendor landscape.
No matter how loudly the vendors tout the notion of a unified ECM system, no matter how many vendors consume each other, the ECM market has defied complete consolidation. Having covered the market for eight years, I’ve kept a simple list of every content management-related vendor that has crossed my desk, noting when they emerge, when they’re acquired or when they disappear. At 316 as I write this, the list grows daily.
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ECM or Electronic Content Management allow for the storage of images and information on your network. Byron Aulick at Datavault posted an introduction to ECM at the Datavault Blog.
Enterprise Content Management, by definition, is the ability to gather, organize, and distribute corporate information, regardless of its original format. The ECM industry is rapidly becoming the most highly sought after service for 'Corporate America'. Having said that, let's first understand that ECM has no ‘vertical' market. Simply stated, this means that there is no one type of business served better than any other. ECM can help a medical facility handle its knowledge base just as quickly and efficiently as it can help an attorney's office manage their legal documents.
Sure, it is a little preachy, but sometimes we need preachers to show us the way. I have complained in the past that people send too much e-mail, but printing them out is downright sinful. 
You could even use the Microsoft Document Image Writer that comes free with your computer. All you have to do is go to file and select print. Select the Microsoft Document Image Writer as your printer and then choose to save the file as an image that can be converted into a tiff image.
hype as money flits from document management to Web content management to Web 2.0, and conflicting definitions of what content management is, have led us to a rocky, complicated and still wildly dynamic vendor landscape.
No matter how loudly the vendors tout the notion of a unified ECM system, no matter how many vendors consume each other, the ECM market has defied complete consolidation. Having covered the market for eight years, I’ve kept a simple list of every content management-related vendor that has crossed my desk, noting when they emerge, when they’re acquired or when they disappear. At 316 as I write this, the list grows daily.
