Green Issues

With loss of data by organisations featuring in the news more and more frequently, it begs the question … how do you manage your data?

It was recently announced that 132 local authorities have admitted to losing sensitive data in the past three years.

Buckinghamshire County Council and Kent County Council were the worst offenders, each acknowledging that 72 data loss incidents took place between August 2008 and August 2011.

Some incidents were more serious than others and at least 35 councils lost information about children in their care. (http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/2127193/loss-epidemic-uk-local-authorities)

Using ProcessFlows’ document management solutions, you could help to make sure that your data is much more secure. Our OpenText Alchemy and OnBase solutions have secure document repositories and information stores with Credential Management Systems, meaning that staff are only given access to what they’re allowed to see.

Please click here to see how Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council used our document management solutions to not only improve the security of their documents but also;

• Import approximately 500,000 planning & building control files containing letters, maps and photographs into the system – meaning they were safe from damage or loss
• Reclaim prime office space previously used for more than 30 cabinets of planning files, taking up two entire rooms
• Gained a Return on Investment within the first 12 months
• Achieved Government ‘best value service targets’, aided by access times to documents being reduced from 30 minutes to less than five seconds per document

If you would like any more information on how ProcessFlows could help your organisation become more efficient at managing your data, please contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

Manual faxing is an inefficient, costly and environmentally wasteful technology, so why not move to electronic fax?

By replacing traditional standalone fax machines with a Fax over IP (FoIP) virtualised solution – the original ‘Green’ technology for reducing the carbon footprint – you will reduce paper consumption, as well as save time and resources.

OpenText RightFax is the world leader in fax server software. It automates the flow of fax, paper and electronic documents; eliminating the need  for paper-based delivery, stand-alone fax machines and associated maintenance.

For more information please contact us on 01962 835053 or email  enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has committed to making the Crown Prosecution Service entirely digital by April 2012.

Keir Starmer QC has said that the criminal justice system needs to move away from paper-based systems and transform the way criminal cases are handled. By April 2012, information will be passed digitally from the police to the CPS and sent over secure email to the defence.

The CPS is already moving forward using technology to prosecute. For example; the early guilty plea pilot in Liverpool, in which files are presented digitally; Winchester Crown court, where evidence is presented on laptops in court; and Dyfed Powys, where advanced information is served electronically. (http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/cps-go-paperless-april-says-starmer)

Alex Marshall, Chief Constable of Hampshire Police also highlighted that courts becoming paperless would save police time, as Police Officers could take evidence electronically using iPads or Blackberrys and those files could be sent straight to the court.

An Inquest, at Winchester Crown Court is currently relying on a photocopy with some pages missing. The inquest heard the document was given to the Independent Police Complaints Commission on the day of the crime, but the police watchdog has been unable to find it.

This substantial change in methods is going to involve considerable process change in the submission of evidence; from hand written statements, forms, emails, word processed documents, photographic evidence and police incident notes. However the benefits easily out-weigh the cost of change.

Where documents were previously photocopied many times for the distribution and sharing of evidence and case notes, this will be replaced by converting paper files – e.g. written and signed statements- to image. Similarly the addition of native files such as MS Word documents, XML based electronic forms and photographs and videos (in many formats) all need to be captured and stored.

But conversion is not enough, since each item has to be suitably and accurately classified and identified and easily retrievable in court. Not only does the Judge, Defence and Prosecution need to be able to find, view and identify key documents and phrases, but the jurors may also need to simultaneously be able to access the same information. So this requires new ways to present evidence and reports for analysis and assessment.

Furthermore, it may be necessary to ‘flag’ key documents for the jury to assess in their deliberations. But, on the contrary, there is no physical limit to the amount of information that can be accessed by both parties.

So, there is much to consider in this desire to migrate to digital working. All the above is deliverable with suitable process analysis and change management. This is already happening in the USA using our premier product OnBase – http://www.hyland.com/news/newsitemdetails/11-11-01/cobb_county_georgia_chooses_onbase.aspx. Here digitally collected evidence is directly up loaded to the case files.

This is the core business of ProcessFlows, where we continually take paper out of processes, making them far more efficient at the same time.

For more information please contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk

Today is World Paper Free Day.

Research shows that we will have close to 10x more information in 2011 compared to 2006, which means that organisations with paper-based processes and archiving will drown in paper. (AIIM – http://www.aiim.org/events/paper-free-day)

Last year over 57,000 people participated in AIIM’s Paper Free Day – Are you taking part today?

How to take part:

1. Conscientiously make a point to not print
2. Investigate a business process or technology that can cut the paper waste in your office
3. Participate in or produce a local Paper Free Day event

We can help you investigate a business process or technology for any sector, as we have several solutions that can not only cut the amount of paper going around your organisation, they can simplify processes, reduce manual data entry and provide increased control.

Please click here to see our range of solutions or here to read a selection of our case studies across the many different sectors we have helped.

If you would like any further information, please contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

The lifecycle of a paper document used to be simple

A document originated on paper (like a form) or was printed out. That document than lived in a labelled file folder and was stored in a drawer, filing cabinet or even off-site storage – depending on how often it needed to be accessed.

When information from the document was needed, it was retrieved from storage – copied if necessary – interacted with, then returned to storage when completed. This was a repeatable, known process and worked fine, although using paper as the permanent record often led to very slow, inefficient processing of information and is prone to errors and loss.

A number of years ago, electronic document management changed the nature of paper from a permanent record to a medium for short-term interaction. Paper storage isn’t completely a thing of the past, particularly in regulated industries and government, but many of the permanent records of information are now kept electronically.

While you would expect that this change in workflows would reduce the amount of paper that is generated, this isn’t occurring. Instead, the evolution of paper from a permanent record to a short-term interaction with information has just changed how paper is used – not how much.
In fact, this shift has resulted in a document being printed far more times from its electronic master, compared with legacy paper filing systems. Why?

There is a preference by many people to use paper to interact with information.

Users print the document, use it, then most of the time discard it. The next time it is needed … you guessed it; it is printed again and discarded again.

This may evolve over time as tablets and mobile devices make people more comfortable working with information on screen vs. paper, but we aren’t there yet. So, with most business processes still reliant on paper output for records, transactions or simply for better readability (Gartner, 2011), the best approach to is to help users print smarter with print management. Apply print policies to ensure that when a document is printed it is printed securely and to the most cost effective device. Track print usage and let users know how much they are printing and how much it costs, they’ll be surprised at how many times they print and we’ve seen dramatic decreases just from that awareness. And give them the tools to make better printing decisions, such as pop-up alerts that recommend a re-direct of print jobs to more efficient printers.

Even as its use as a permanent record is declining, paper isn’t going anywhere, but the use of paper can be managed with significant cost, security and workflow improvement results.

If you would like any further information on our print management solution, please contact us on 01962 835053 or email enquiries@processflows.co.uk.

This topic was recently discussed by three IT industry sector personalities in a debate hosted by the Chartered Institute for IT, who are currently doing a lot of work on the subject.

Avanquest’s Mike Rae took part. Green issues, such as carbon offsetting, cap and trade and home working were all talked about. Debaters came up with some practical approaches to the problem.

Mike said “Whilst I agree that carbon offsetting and providing businesses with tools that allow them to measure their carbon footprint is generally a good thing, I also believe there are many simple and relatively inexpensive steps that can be taken to reduce the amount of fossil fuels from the current levels.  Much of this is common sense; such as switching off lights, only using as much heat as is required and thinking about how and when we should travel.  We help our customers by removing paper from processes which reduces costs, increases efficiency and enables people to do their job from any location by accessing information electronically”

Q.  Is it really a good time to talk about Green Computing?

Mike Rae, Sales Director, Avanquest Solutions:

A. It’s a great time to talk about Green Computing because there are several things businesses can do to reduce the impact on the Earth’s natural resources whilst reducing their costs.

Let’s start with car journeys; many unnecessary face to face meetings can be avoided these days with the availability of web conferencing and the ever increasing bandwidth of broadband allows us to work at home just as effectively as when we are in the office.  In fact, many people comment to me that they are far more productive at home because they don’t lose the dead time travelling to and from work and have far less distractions.

Then you have the issue of paper.  There is far less need to print reams of paper these days when information can be communicated electronically, digitally signed, stored securely and accessed remotely.

Finally, virtualisation technology means that the number of physical servers your business needs can be reduced dramatically and the fewer machines to power, the less power you need!