Best Practices: The Fundamentals of Document Automation

Understanding important criteria, potential pitfalls

and the steps to successful implementation

by Dan Forster, President

inFORM Decisions, Inc.

inFORM Decisions, Inc. • 30162 Tomas • RSM, California 92688 www.informdecisions.com

Copyright 2009, 2010, 2011 inFORM Decisions Ver. 1.7

All company and product names are the property of their respective owners.

Supporter of the

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 1

II. Document Automation: The Promise ....................................................................................................................... 2

III. Signs That You Need Document Automation .......................................................................................................... 3

IV. Benefits of Document Automation............................................................................................................................ 4

V. OK, But Where Do I Start? ...................................................................................................................................... 5

VI. What to Look for in a Document Automation Solution ........................................................................................... 7

VII. Implementing Document Automation .................................................................................................................... 10

VIII. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 11

IX. Useful Links ............................................................................................................................................................ 12

X. Attachment A: IFD’s Electronic Document Implementation Process ................................................................... 16

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Best Practices: The Fundamentals of Document Automation

Increase security and compliance. Save time... Save money…. Save trees.

I. Overview The field of Document Automation began with a bang back in the 1970s with the promise of fully paperless banks within a few short years. That early dream never materialized, but the vision of a paperless office refused to die. In fact, Document Automation technology has been steadily improving and its credibility gaining ground as an accepted office solution despite the often-published view that paperless is dead or just never came to fruition. Its only failure was to miss the original timetables. The drive to reduce the cost of office processes, strengthen security over confidential and monetary documents, better manage bank account funds, and rapidly disburse information, forms and reports to intended parties have all accelerated American businesses’ pursuit of the paperless office.

Paperless technologies are often referred to as Document Automation, Electronic Content Management, Electronic Document Management, or simply Forms Generation … for this white paper, we will use the term Document Automation to represent the process of converting paper forms and reports to electronic documents, outputting them, distributing and archiving them, and managing the document workflow. Today Document Automation is one of the fastest growing segments of the IT solutions arena. In eBanking alone, growth in Document Automation has been astounding. The National Automated Clearinghouse Association reports that in 2005, the number of checks converted to electronic records (ACH debits) increased by 60 percent and the clearinghouse processed more than 2.2 billion consumer bill payments. The rapid growth in consumer eBanking has paralleled a similar growth in the electronic banking in industry.

Focus This inFORM Decisions White Paper focuses on organizations with IBM iSeries and System i servers. It explores the promise of Document Automation, reports on how it is being used to reduce costs associated with business document and report processing via laser printer, fax, email and document archival in a paperless environment.

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Our goal here is to provide enough specific information to help you assess if document management could benefit your organization, and then how to take steps to realize those benefits. We’ll also include a few facts about how this technology can positively affect global climate issues, since another added benefit is the positive impact that going paperless has on the current concerns regarding deforestation.

Payback Readers of this white paper will gain enough understanding of Document Automation to enable them to plan their next steps for investigating the impact of Document Automation on their own organization, and have a plan for what to do next. This white paper is part of a series of white papers on topics surrounding Document Automation prepared by inFORM Decisions. These reports can be downloaded from the company’s website at www.informdecisions.com.

Factoid – ECM investments grow

A funny thing happened in the depths of the recent recession. While budgets in many areas of information

technology were under extreme pressure, enterprise content management (ECM) spending actually grew, by

5.1% in 2009 and by 7.6% in 2010. ECM software revenue alone was $3.9 billion in 2010. We project this

growth will continue — at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4% through 2015. Why

is all this money being spent on ECM in a down economy? The answer is "productivity." ECM can drive process

efficiency, improve data and process quality, and build better channels to your customers and prospects.

Gartner, Inc. Oct. 5, 2009

II. Document Automation: The Promise

It’s difficult for most people to keep track of everything that is happening in the rapidly expanding Document Management world. We will offer some practical, real-world insight into what works and what won’t work in terms of basic considerations, expectations and implementation. Every day we see applications that both large and small organizations implement to gain control of their documents and costs through Document Automation. In many cases, organizations are operating in an environment of preprinted-forms where the cost justification and benefits are readily identified. For example, the concept of a multi-part form is handled differently and far more cost-effectively with Document Automation. Since the original is electronic, copies are easily generated in the computer. This is unlike the world of paper forms where the need to generate another copy requires generating more paper.

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A new eForm using Document Automation can be routed via email, fax or archived, and later retrieved through a web browser (as is the case with the inFORM Decisions iDocs suite). In other cases, organizations need improved information/reporting/document automation, or better security and control, or must achieve compliance with new regulations. And for others, automating and streamlining their information workflow is a way of doing the job better and realizing a competitive advantage in the process. The bottom line is that most organizations can benefit from Document Automation in some form, to achieve efficiencies, secure critical information, or cut processing costs. The questions are often where to look first and when to pull the trigger to get started.

III. Signs That You Need Document Automation The downshift in the economy that began in 2008 has had resounding implications for business, significantly accelerating two trends that have been gaining momentum for quite some time. First, cost-cutting is now mandatory, and organizations are being challenged to find ways to reduce expenses while maintaining customer service levels. At the same time, the economy has forced reductions in the work force, with smaller staffs being asked to keep up with day-to-day operations.

If these pressures exist in your work environment, and at least some departments in your organization are still working with paper-based documents, your organization could be a strong candidate for Document Automation technology. The current pressure is just the tip of the iceberg. As the economy strengthens, workflow volumes will rise. If your organization is already showing even marginal signs of strain, you may well be at the tipping point. How do you identify signs of strain that can be remedied by a Document Automation system? If any of the following apply to your company, it's worthwhile to evaluate where Document Automation could improve efficiency and reduce costs now, before the issues become severe.

Your CFO would like to reduce or eliminate the amount your organization pays to print invoices or other pre-printed forms.

Your accounting department experiences billing errors or overpayments, needs to speed up the collection of receivables or is missing opportunities for pre-pay discounts due to slow A/P processing

Your sales or customer service departments need to minimize time spent on document management so they can speed cycles with customers and prospects.

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People within your organization spend time: o searching through file cabinets or electronic files for documents. o working with illegible or damaged documents. o bursting, copying, collating, decollating, mailing, shipping or receiving

documents.

Your organization is bound by regulatory mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA or FDA and you’re not 100% confident you can reliably produce documents on-demand to verify compliance status.

Your organization develops work-arounds for out-of-date forms rather than redesigning and printing.

Your organization needs to better protect confidential documents.

Factoid – Endangered Planet

Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in both Canada and the United

States, and releases well over 100 million kg of toxic pollution each year. Worldwide, the pulp and paper

industry is the fifth largest consumer of energy, accounting for four percent of all the world's energy use. The

pulp and paper industry uses more water to produce a ton of product than any other industry.

Environment Canada (1996). “National Pollutant Release Inventory, 1996

Paper, Printing & The Environment”, Earth Greetings Co., Glandore, South Australia, 2006

IV. Benefits of Document Automation Years back, when we referred to the whole electronic document arena as Forms Generation, we often spent quite a bit of time offering up cost justifications, ROI analyses, payback scenarios and otherwise proving the cost-effective benefits of Document Automation. Today, this activity has become less critical, as people recognize Document Automation as an accepted best practice to save time and money immediately. It is really just a choice of what type of solution, and who to order it from. In addition, there is increased awareness in the corporate world that investment in paperless processes that help the planet are also good for business … for many reasons. But just in case you’ve been off traipsing through the Amazon Basin admiring old growth forests, we’d like to net out some basic organizational benefits that accrue from Document Automation. Cost-saving benefits include but are not limited to:

Eliminate obsolescence or waste of forms

Reduce storage related costs of documents

Eliminate loading, copying, mailing, stripping, collating of documents

Eliminate searching through file cabinets

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Eliminate labor cost of physically distributing documents

Eliminate the cost of physically destroying documents

Minimize or eliminate costs of paper Benefits for the planet include:

Less waste going to local waste disposal sites

Reduced pressure on pulp farms and old growth forests

Reduced danger to polar ice caps and glaciers

Less global warming effect on the oceans and atmosphere

Less destruction of wildlife habitat

Less pressure on our national parks and recreation areas

V. OK, But Where Do I Start?

The process of evaluating and justifying a Document Automation solution for your

organization begins with a needs assessment.

Where are the problem areas that need attention in the organization’s document flow?

What are your primary document costs? o Consider storage/inventory costs o Consider labor costs o Consider costs of paper waste o Consider obsolescence, security and compliance costs

What are your environmental workflow costs?

What are your other pain points?

Common Areas of Potential Cost Savings As you evaluate areas for improvement in your organization’s current document management processes, it helps to focus on three basic activities: Document Storage, Document Workflow and Document Output. 1) Document/Report OUTPUT

One of the sweet spots for document automation, is in the area of document and report output. Simply put, this is the processing of business documents and reports on a daily basis for distribution to internal or external recipients. Its important to take time to

evaluate how your organization manages these processes currently. Be sure to take a particularly close look at applications, such as Invoicing, Purchasing, Check Processing, and Shipping, which often provide fertile ground for cost savings.

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Document Output solutions automatically monitor and capture print or database streams, merge data with form overlays, and direct it to an Output Queue1 associated with an email, fax or archive solution — or even to a laser printer, if a paper copy is necessary. As mentioned, some of the more common Document Output applications include invoicing, purchase orders, checks printing, and report generation, which tend to be highly repeatable processes with strong consistencies across organizations. One word of caution regarding Output solutions. Some vendor offerings generate forms in proprietary formats. This is a major consideration in choosing your Document Automation solution, and it is discussed more thoroughly in the next section.

2) Document WORKFLOW

Analyze how documents are routed through your organization’s workflow processes, taking into account computations, approvals, authorities and business rules. If too many business rules apply, or if your organization has unique processes, Document Workflow may be one of the more challenging, customized and complex Document Automation solutions to justify.

Document Workflow solutions will convert documents to electronic forms and process those forms according to business rules and routing instructions. Forms are approved with mouse clicks and forwarded for further digital signing, approvals, tracking, processing, storing, securing and auditing. One relatively common application for electronic document workflow is an internal Purchase Order process. This typically involves a few departments or managers electronically executing approvals/rejections for Purchase Orders, and then forwarding documents to the next manager. These documents can often be tracked and accessed through the Internet or the organization’s network.

3) Document STORAGE

Look for high volume areas such as accounting, sales and customer service as the ideal places to begin to eliminate file cabinets and the effort to store and retrieve forms. Electronic document storage can be performed in two ways:

a) Capture Print & Database Output from the iSeries/IBM i – Digitally born information is

indexed and archived for simple storage and web-based retrieval, allowing efficient

1 Monitoring System* i Output queues with engines is IFD’s approach to automatic processing. There are various techniques

on the market, which include downloading to a separate server (like Windows). Tradeoffs NON-native processing will be

covered in What to Look for in a Document Automation Solution.

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document retrieval.2 . No scanning operation involved … historically referred to as Computer Output to Laser Disk or C.O.L.D.

b) Scan-in Documents & Retrieval – This method of generating electronic files — the

scanning of paper documents to be indexed, archived and retrieved — is used when you have only a hard copy document as a source. This includes documents that you receive via fax and mail, as well as the historical documents currently found in your filing cabinets.

Several solid Document Storage solutions exist that can help you electronically store, protect and retrieve documents and information. All of these solutions replace time-wasting, space-hungry file cabinets. Some, like those from inFORM Decisions, save additional time by offering secure web-based retrieval of archived documents as an alternative to a maintenance-heavy client-based user interface.

Factoid – Managing growth

Organizations need ECM to manage the increasing growth, volume and diversity of the unstructured content that now represents up to 80 percent of enterprise information.

Gartner, Inc. Oct. 5, 2009

VI. What to Look for in a Document Automation Solution This section overviews what we believe are important considerations when choosing an appropriate Document Automation solution, whether you plan to focus on Document Output, Workflow or Storage as a first step. inFORM Decisions has evolved its philosophy through years of experience helping people in various environments implement document systems, and we pursue and espouse it vigorously.

Does the Solution Run Natively on the iSeries – System i?

Some eDocument solutions in the market force processing onto another platform – typically a Windows server. This logically requires the datastream to off-load or download to this separate platform to be processed. The consideration here is that the power, speed, control, security and stability of the iSeries – System i platform is being ignored. Aren’t these the reasons we purchased this particular IBM

Midrange computer? In addition, this involves the possible addition of proprietary hardware that adds to the initial and on-going cost to maintain this proprietary hardware.

2 There are various solutions to retrieve archived documents. inFORM Decisions uses a web browser technology, so users

with access to the internet can enter their ID and password, then search and retrieve needed documents.

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Conclusion: If you are running your office applications on an IBM iSeries or System i, you can retain the inherent benefits of the IBM midange platform by looking for a solution that runs NATIVELY in that environment.

How Easy is the Product to Use?

Some solutions are either accidentally or on-purpose complex to use. Accidentally, meaning there wasn’t enough foresight during product development. On-purpose, meaning they deliberately developed the product so IT and the users would need to go back to the vendor for technical assistance. When reviewing the solution, take note of the menus and user experience. Is it possible to step through and set up a document application on your own? Can you edit and make changes to it easily on your own? Is it so complex that training will be required again at some time down the road? Quite often, available solutions require IT to alter their spool or database files, to embed codes into their spool files, or enter CL commands to execute functions. Conclusion: The product should be menu driven and allow users to easily develop and modify document applications now and in the future without having to rely on vendor assistance.

How Fast Can the Solution Process Your Work?

The speed at which your output is generated should be a concern. IT can be distracted by other considerations like ease of use, ability to perform a function, or its cost -- and find out later their on-going, daily processing of jobs is slow or system intensive. Processing speed should be a primary concern in making your decision from the beginning. It is important to note that depending on output complexity and business rules, there should be a reasonable understanding where automated document handling could run a little slower than manual processing. The total job process will prove more efficient than previous manual processes if you have selected the right workflow to automate. Conclusion: Test your print jobs and make sure they output at an acceptable speed for Document Automation.

How much Security and Document Compliance is built in?

inFORM Decisions is developing a series of White Papers designed to assist organizations to plan for Document Automation. One will specifically cover the key aspects of Security and Compliance considerations for Document Automation.

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For purposes of this paper, it should be pointed out that there should be some consideration for improved security of electronic documents and the ability to encrypt the transmission or storage of confidential documents. Document retention is a key decision factor for whether or not to use encryption. Encryption becomes extremely important with Electronic Payment solutions. This will be visited in depth in another IFD White Paper. As with all these issues, you can contact inFORM Decisions for additional information. Newer Federal government regulations including Sarbanes Oxley (SOX), HIPAA and other privacy and security regulations can be very important decision factors in the selection and design of Document Automation solutions – particularly when they involve the protection of confidential data. This area will be covered in depth in another IFD white paper. Conclusion: Make sure the Document Automation solution being evaluated provides adequate security and addresses the compliance issues specific to your industry.

How Open is the Solution?

The flip side of that question is how proprietary is the solution you are considering? If the vendor is expending efforts to keep their software and/or hardware proprietary, then control can be easily maintained by the vendor leading to higher costs. If their philosophy forces you to use a proprietary form design tool and to output proprietary data streams, they will only be usable by that vendor’s software. This is a serious consideration that could limit future use of other Document Automation solutions. Such a solution might pass all the other criteria, but then they lock you into the vendor’s proprietary world, where submission to pricing and support practices could prove dissatisfactory. Most software products will have proprietary code, but can output open platform data streams; or import from other applications; or allow the use of other competitive products or output from other vendors. Openness and Transparency are two product design philosophies that IFD embraces. Our solutions work side-by-side with other available solutions and also support migrating to IFD products from other Document Automation solutions. Conclusion: Choose a product that is as Open and Transparent as possible. No product is completely transparent, but supporting key document handling products from Adobe, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and the ability to support more formats will be valuable over time.

How Expensive is the Product?

A very important point to make here is to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Vendors will sometimes bundle up normally unbundled features, making a fair comparison

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more difficult. Users may find out later that they require additional licenses for extra printers, users, applications, page clicks, etc. Conclusion: Get clarity in all price quotations. Require vendors to itemize their features and offerings so the cost of each component is clearly documented.

VII. Implementing Document Automation Committing paper flow to automation is a critical step for an organization and must not be taken lightly. The manner that it is planned and the way the conversion to electronic documents is executed is critical. We have found that taking certain steps helps ensure that it occurs flawlessly. To this end, IFD has compiled a simple implementation procedure that has helped many companies experience seamless conversions over the years. A sample taken from this process is shown in Attachment A: IFD’s Electronic Document Implementation Process at the end of this white paper. Besides following your solution provider’s implementation processes, consider the following tips for a smoother implementation:

1. Develop a needs analysis that clearly details the objectives and requirements to be met. 2. Communicate project goals and requirements to all stakeholders, including end users

and management. 3. Gain support from the end users. Be sure to clearly articulate how document

automation will make their jobs easier and less frustrating, not harder. 4. Start small. Identify a manageable pilot project. 5. Ask for input from people who actually generate and work with the documents that

you want to automate, in addition to the managers who own the process.

6. Examine the current workflow carefully before you automate it. Can it be simplified? Be sure to coordinate this groundwork with the Document Automation solution provider’s implementation process3 to assure coordination of all activities involved in the conversion of a business process or processes to electronic form. During your pilot project, watch carefully for ways to improve the implementation process so future automation projects go even more smoothly. Finally, remember that document automation involves human beings. Include end users in your testing process to ensure that your new form functions well in a real world environment. Carefully time the roll-out of a new form to avoid times when work volume is heavy or a lot of

3 inFORM Decisions provides step-by-step assistance with the complete process, from needs analysis through to

implementation.

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people are out of the office. When you do choose the right time, provide end users with plenty of advance notice and take the time for formal training. A little bit of planning can smooth the path to document automation significantly.

Factoid – Paper Savings = Energy Cost Savings Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 mature trees, 7 thousand US gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill

space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough energy to power the average American home for six months.

"Wastes - Resource Conservation - Common Wastes & Materials - Paper Recycling". US EPA.

http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/paper/basics/index.htm

VIII. Conclusion Document Automation is penetrating into almost all American industries at a rapid rate, with financial, distribution and banking industries leading the way. Benefits that accrue from the implementation of Document Automation include significant cost reduction, enhanced control over documents, faster payment and collection of funds, compliance with government regulations on record security, quicker distribution of information -- and the protection of our planet through less pressure on our forest reserves. Each organization must assess its own operation to determine where the benefits of implementing Document Automation would bring the greatest gain. These areas generally include document storage, invoicing, accounts payables, electronic banking and electronic report distribution. The technology is new enough that the experience of a vendor offering a Document Automation solution becomes a critical factor in evaluating that vendor/solution. Besides longevity in the field of Document Automation, the quality and depth of a solution provider’s development and support staff is paramount. Finally, financial stability is always important when evaluating a provider of any software solution that is strategic to the organization’s operation.

Planning, implementing and testing are three critical steps involved in the successful installation of a Document Automation solution. IFD has developed a formal approach that includes these three steps to ensure that only fully-tested Document Automation solutions are installed on the user's site. Critical assessment of any Document Automation solution provider should include careful review of their implementation processes by someone knowledgeable in the Document Automation discipline. This technology can bring tremendous benefits to the organization willing to commit to the work required to bring its paper flow and office operations under control.

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The indirect benefit provided by a paperless solution is the contribution to our planet by just absolutely, flat-out saving trees!

IX. Useful Links

The Paperless Office The Green Revolution Hits the Office in document Media.com: http://www.documentmedia.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=75385371E6814DCD8EAD7CE5D748A5A8&nm=Newsletter&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Articles&mid=6641C9E5257C4F0CB3974231EC480024&tier=4&id=CCAF0CC8B5FE471596D2419659A67538

Paperless Documents Discusses the benefits of paperless documents. http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/paperless-documents-57495.html Going Paperless Quality Digest A case study illustrating the benefits of paperless records. http://www.qualitydigest.com/feb03/articles/04_article.shtml

Xom Reviews inFORM Decisions

iSeries form printing, check printing, electronic form generation, NT form solutions available from IFD. www.xomreviews.com/informdecisions.com Historical Perspective on the Paperless Office The paperless office was a visionary or publicist's slogan to apply to the office of the future. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperless_office#Paper_based_documents_transformed_to_digital_based_documents What to Look for When Going Paperless Quality Digest Magazine These system characteristics will provide the easiest implementation, lowest total cost of ownership.

http://www.qualitydigest.com/feb03/articles/04_article.shtml Champy:The perils and perks of going paperless Search CIO

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http://searchcio.techtarget.com/columnItem/0,294698,sid19_gci1177920,00.html

Electronic Banking (Banking Automation) The Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network A panacea for electronic payments and eBanking. By: Dan Forster MC SHOWCASE Online July 26, 2007 http://www.mc-showcase.com/mcpress/showcase.nsf/Focus/350BAEEF31036BC786257323007AFC86 Automated Clearing House Defined Source: Wikipedia Automated Clearing House (ACH) is the name of an electronic network for financial transactions in the United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Clearing_House The Electronic Check Council (ECC) An organization that provides a forum for stakeholders of NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association to design, propose, monitor, and promote solutions that enable the conversion of paper checks to electronic entries. More than 140 members, including financial institutions, vendors, retailers, processors, networks and associations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Check_Council The Evolution of Money: A Story of Constitutional Nullification Source: Social Science Research Network Money is a living creature of the market and its form changes to facilitate commercial transactions in an ever-more-efficient, convenient, and safe manner. As such, most innovations in monetary practices are attributable to the decisions of the market. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=952148

Benefits to our Planet Big Blue Going Green in the Data Center by: Barry Levine

TODAY.COM; August 2, 2007

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IBM’s green datacenter initiative.

http://www.bpm-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0110014KT45P Save Trees: Go Paperless! E-Post http://www.uniongas.com/home/inserts/channelinserts/2007Inserts/ePost0907.pdf You can save trees by viewing and paying bills online Sandra Block; Your Money column USA Today; July 30, 2007 If all U.S. households viewed and paid their bills online, the reduction in paper would save 16.5 million trees a year. http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2007-07-30-YM_N.htm Corporate Partnerships – Bank of America’s Save a Tree Program Bank of America customers support the Nature Conservancy's forest work. http://www.nature.org/joinanddonate/corporatepartnerships/partnership/saveatree.html IBM Going... Going... Green PLANET.COM; June 28, 2007 http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/networking/features/article.php/3686086 IBM Sees Green in Going Green in Data Centers by Timothy Prickett Morgan IT Jungle, May 10, 2007 http://www.itjungle.com/breaking/bn051007-story01.html

Compliance Forms Processing and Records Management Synergize on SOX Compliance Author: Arthur Gingrande DocumentMedia.com http://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:12232.599383881/rid:32a3744d55bc114c0c106995efdf90e8#article1

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About the Author Dan Forster is president of inFORM Decisions, a company he founded in 1994 after 10 years

working with various laser printer and forms generation vendors in the IBM Midrange arena. Dan was part of a team that introduced the first implementations of AS/400 laser form, check, and printer connectivity solutions to IBM midrange users in the mid-1980s. Dan has led inFORM Decisions since it was one of the first independent software vendors to implement a comprehensive iSeries host-based e-document distribution system powered by intelligent routing capabilities for fax, email, archive-retrieval, laser and M.I.C.R forms. Along with Document Automation, inFORM Decisions has introduced a line of electronic payment and banking solutions that focus on paperless funds transfer, reporting and security compliance. Dan is a former collegiate All American Athlete who holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Marketing and Business Management from Cal State Long Beach and has completed numerous CEO and management certification courses. Questions and comments about this white paper should be directed to Dan at dforster@informdecisions.com or 1.949.709.5838 extension 102.

About inFORM Decisions Since 1994, inFORM Decisions has focused their software development on native electronic document solutions for IBM midrange users. An Award Winning IBM Business Partner for over 10 years, the company pioneered the concept of eDocument output routing (SmartRoutingTM), with user-defined business rules to automate workflow. IFD’s SmartRouting routes designed forms, reports and checks through email, fax, or conditional printer OutQues, or simply archives these eDocuments in a Web-based portal, based on user-defined conditions. Today, inFORM Decisions Enterprise Content Management solutions reach all the way to the edge of paperless technology automation for IBM’s iSeries and System i servers. inFORM Decisions now educates organizations and groups to understand, implement and benefit from the eDocument paperless revolution. It’s a concept that benefits businesses internally, externally, internationally and has a strong ecological value for our world today. The company’s corporate headquarters is located in the city of Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, California. For more information, visit: www.informdecisions.com

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X. Attachment A: IFD’s Electronic Document Implementation Process

Below is inFORM Decisions’ standard electronic document implementation process. This basic ―roll up the sleeves‖ outline has been honed over the years at IFD and can vary from client-to-client. Much of this process applies in one form or another to all electronic document applications. As a matter of policy, IFD tailors the process to take their clients through the justification, decision and implementation processes. APPLICATION IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW

a. Identify the person in the organization responsible for the overall success of the application.

b. Identify the document to automate with all its workflow, associated graphics, elements, and business rules.

c. Review document designs and any needed graphic elements, for example logos or signatures, for the electronic document output.

d. Identify the printed/data output stream. (This output stream is typically a spool file in the iSeries – System i arena.) Review this spool file with an IFD tech to determine the viability of that print stream to generate the necessary output.

e. Review the conditions and triggers for routing, or other conditional output that may apply to the document.

f. Identify Laser Printer and/or Fax and/or Email distribution activities.

g. Determine what iDocsTM SmartRoutingTM rules will be applied. (SmartRouting is IFD’s software and approach to route documents automatically based on pre-defined business rules).

h. Determine if archiving will be required. Do retention times require the need for security/encryption?

i. Design the overlay and graphics for the needed form application.

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j. Do any necessary mapping work. This is the moving of spool data to the necessary locations on the form (typically done in a graphical environment, but can be done in a coordinate ―green screen‖ environment).

k. Run a test with the data stream (again usually a spool file) using the overlay/graphics developed.

l. Review test results for accuracy, quality and speed of output.

m. Test any barcode, MICR, data collection, or other special fonts with the application.

n. Run a test of business and routing rules. It may not be necessary and too costly for the vendor to set up and test your EXACT application. What should be expected is a proof of concept that verifies that your business and routing rules will work.

o. Demonstrate the application to management and users as needed.

p. Record software performance and system overhead.

END OF PROCESS