Owen Balloch,EMEA Marketing Manager, Kodak Alaris Information Management, explains why a successful digital transformation strategy demands an ecosystem of solutions working together to produce optimal results.

It’s been well documented that organisations see digital transformation as key to gaining a competitive business advantage. In a recently published white paper, IDC reports that digitising, automating and optimising document workflows offers compelling benefits including, on average, a 35 per cent reduction in costs, 42 per cent reduction in paper documents, and 52 per cent reduction in errors[i].

The amount of data flowing into and out of organisations continues to grow exponentially, so much so that volume is now measured in zettabytes – a trillion gigabytes, and transforming this data chaos into critical information to drive efficiency,is very much a business-critical priority.

Manual processes present an unnecessary hurdle to creating transparency and efficiency for organisations. Any paper-based process for customer onboarding, to process a loan request, file an insurance claim, or open an account for example, must be digitised to facilitate sharing and reduce risk.

Digital transformation starts with information capture – however the scale and complexity of data today requires an integrated approach, to help organisations not only capture, but to process, store and share all of this information. Anne Valaitis, Senior Consultant at InfoTrends said that the Alaris IN2 Ecosystem, a powerful combination of best-in-class scanners, software, services and partnerships, is a packaged answer to the demands of information and content.

The IN2 Ecosystem has been designed to take the complexity out of information capture, to simplify and improve the way people work.It helps organisations extract information from documents to increase productivity, enhance customer experiences and ultimately drive revenue growth. It delivers the Right Fit with seamless integration into customer environments, the Right Experience that simplifies information capture, and the Right Results that deliver superior business value and higher return on investment.

“Working with their heritage and history of image science, and further placing a greater emphasis on an ecosystem that includes strong partnerships, Kodak Alaris’ goal with the IN2 solution is to focus in key areas that can benefit most from a combination of capture hardware, software and services delivered by strategic partners,” Valaitis stated.

Kodak Alaris is delivering on the promise of digital transformation for businesses and governments around the world, with the launch of a range of new scanners, complementary software solutions and services.

The new S2000 Series includes two USB-connected models (Alaris S2050 and S2070) and two network/wireless models (Alaris S2060w and S2080w) which deliver rated speeds between 50 and 80 pages per minute (ppm). This new scanner series has been designed to increase productivity by automating much of the work traditionally done by people and host computers. Embedded Image Processing within the scanner delivers crisp, clear images without requiring a high-powered (or expensive) host PC. Breakthrough Active Feed Technology aligns the leading edge of paper to avoid multi-feeds and misfeeds, and Controlled Output Stacking places paper neatly in the output tray. Users benefit from spending less time preparing documents for scanning and dealing with messy output stacks.

Furthermore, three optional flatbed accessories can be integrated with the scanners for increased versatility and productivity. For example, the S2000 Series is designed to ‘dock’ on top of the new Alaris Passport Flatbed Accessory, offering a quick and easy solution for scanning passports, ID cards and other small, fragile documents.

A new generation of software offers flexible and powerful batch capture. Alaris Capture Pro Software v5.5 is a dedicated workstation-based information capture solution that ensures security and reliability without depending on internet connectivity for scanning and processing. It seamlessly delivers information to databases and applications, including Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems and Microsoft SharePoint Online (Office 365). Capture Pro Software is also ideal for high-performance distributed scanning environments and has been optimised to work seamlessly with the new S2000 Series Scanners.

Alaris Info Input Solution and Info Input Express are web-based and mobile capture applications that are easy to implement and use for workers who regularly scan across departments and enterprises. Info Input Solution and Express enable effortless information capture from scanners, smart devices (via mobile app), and digital files (including email) from one application. Info Input Express Limited Edition is bundled with every S2000 Series Scanner.

In addition to expert Repair and Maintenance Services to optimise uptime and productivity and Professional Services to deliver in-depth advice, subject matter expertise and value, the IN2 ecosystem now offers Managed Content Services (MCS) in select regions.

By developing an MCS partnership with Alaris, customers gain a team of industry experts that help maximise the efficiency and power of their total capture environment. MCS helps organisations by providing a better understanding of total imaging costs, improving service level agreements (SLAs), and driving sustainable savings. For example, the UK operations of an international bank used Alaris Managed Content Services to re-engineer its document management processes. As a result, they replaced outdated equipment, reduced the number of scanning workflow processes by 90 per cent, and dramatically reduced total cost of ownership, all while significantly increasing productivity.

Digital transformation is critical within the finance sector where organisations are looking to differentiate themselves from competitors, optimise their business structure, manage risk, ensure compliance, and ultimately achieve profitable growth. Effective information management is a key component in this journey.Organisations that successfully master digital transformation recognise the importance of implementing an ecosystem of hardware, software and services that take the complexity out of information capture.

www.kodakalaris.co.uk/go/IMnews

[i]IDC White Paper, sponsored by Kodak Alaris, Information Capture: Cornerstone of Digital Transformation, July 31, 2017.