ImageTech Systems

BACKGROUND

Can you please provide a brief description of your company?

We are a very large leasing company based in Holland. We have offices all around the world. We are owned by a huge Dutch bank with a global presence. We have a strong connection with the healthcare industry and have many partners in this area.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the Solutions Design Consultant, which is similar to a Application Architect. I am responsible for the E-archiving system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your company's business goals for the project with ImageTech Systems?

Our company was using IBM FileNet for all files in the European offices. We needed to migrate these files to the American system and also update our software platforms. ImageTech Systems helped us with all of this and actually saved us a lot of money. They have connections with Kofax and Fujitsu and are IBM experts. They saved us about $12,000 on licenses and equipment. We also needed a global archive system so they helped us implement that and provided customized solutions to match our business processes.

SOLUTION

How did you selected IBM ECM as a platform?

IBM offered us more than other products for our type of business. We needed much more than just the out-of-the-box solution because our business processes are complex. IBM products can be customized easily and we trust them because they have been around for a long time and we like them as a company. We also like their new tools for scanning and mobile. We will expand our IBM usage this year and next.

What was your process for selecting ImageTech Systems to work with?

We have worked with them for over a decade. We like their staff and their tech people. They are IBM experts and really understand Kofax as well. They are Fujitsu partners and can save us money on equipment. They always give us great recommendations on software and hardware. We trust them completely.

Can you tell me about the scope of the project?

They first told us which platforms and equipment we should use. They were able to save us a lot of money on licenses and equipment so that was an easy decision. They also helped design and implement the system here in Pennsylvania. They had to customize the IBM platform a lot to fit our business. Additionally, ImageTech designed and developed a special facade layer built on IBM Content Integrator APIs to allow for seamless integration between the various Line-of- Businesss systems.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or personnel hours?

The total project cost was between $1.2 and $1.4 billion. The project took several years with many people on both sides putting time into it. We will also expand the project later this year using new IBM products that we like.

When was the project completed?

In March or February, 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, do you have any stats or metrics to track improvement?

We have done different statistical analyses and a three year projection of improvements. Now, the system has helped us achieve about a 15% jump in efficiency and time savings from reduced scanning and processing times. We like the results and will expand it to printers to help our staff in the field. 

How did ImageTech Systems perform?

They are awesome. I would highly recommend them to anyone who asks. Some of the challenges that we had are very complex and they helped us with everything. They can help with licensing and the vendors. It’s not just their technical ability but they help us with the whole process.

When working with ImageTech Systems, was there anything unique or special about them compared to other vendors?

I would say that they have great technical ability but that's not it. They do a lot of work for free because they are true partners and want to help us. They helped us retrieve over 200 documents from IBM FileNet that we lost during the conversion. They didn't charge us for all of the extra work required to develop an extraction tool. I really like their mindset and project management.

Is there any area that you think they could improve upon, or maybe you would do differently?

This has nothing to do with the quality of their work, but they like to wrap things up cleanly. That means that sometimes they aren't always flexible with us about timelines and what software we want to use. Myteam likes to work in an iterative fashion and change their minds and move deadlines. This can throw ImageTech Systems off and cause minor friction. However, this is a minor issue that doesn't bother me at all. I like to work the same way that ImageTech Systems does.

BACKGROUND

Can you please provide a brief description of your company?

We are a third-party logistics firm with terminals all over the U.S. and some divisions that handle ocean containers.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the Project Manager involved in the content management side, pretty much all of the documents that have to do with running the business are put into our Content Management System.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your company’s business goals for the project with ImageTech Systems?

We have had many projects with them.  Initially, we engaged them to help us convert from one image system to another years ago.  We were so happy with the work that we continued with them.

SOLUTION

What ECM system did you utilize?

They transferred us to IBM’s Content Manager Multiplatform V8.4.

What was your process for selecting IBM?

We had IBM mainframes and we’re impressed with that so we decided to stay with them when it came to content management. IBM gave us a good deal and the other systems didn’t seem as appealing.

What was your process for selecting ImageTech Systems to work with?

We had them come in and review the initial project and put together a statement of work. They were impressive and won the contract.

Can you tell me about the scope of the work that they’ve done for you?

Another project involved implementing a Content Management Capture System where our drivers were using a phone to take pictures of documents and then transmitting them to the servers.

Were any other technologies used besides IBM?

IBM is the base software. We also use Kofax for capture.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the initiative in either dollar terms or personnel hours?

In terms of dollars, the last project involved developing a system where our drivers come into the terminal and use a touch screen to capture documents that are required. That involved about 25 different locations with a cost in the neighborhood of $280,000.

When was that project completed?

About two months ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Was the project successful?

Yes, there were some initial teething issues but those were worked out and the drivers seem to be happy, which is one of our goals.

How did ImageTech Systems perform?

Extremely well, they really know what they’re doing.

What is unique or special about them compared to some other companies you may have worked with before?

I was impressed with their responsiveness and their willingness to go above and beyond what was required in terms of doing some things that they didn’t charge us for.

Is there any area that you think they could improve upon or maybe you would do differently?

They could expand their employee base a little bit more.  That may not be realistic but we would like to have more resources from them.

BACKGROUND

Can you provide a brief description of your company?

We are a residual market insurance company.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of IT, so I’m responsible for all IT initiatives, software, hardware, and disaster recovery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your company’s business goals for this particular project?

There are two parts. The first one was to help us during an emergency, which was last fall when we had to service victims of a catastrophe in our state. If our clients need dollars for a claim related to home damage of any sort, we have to process the claim fast to get the money to the person. 

The person that typically did our content management imaging solution was no longer available, so we quickly had to change some workflow processes to meet our new IT. We quickly found ImageTech Systems randomly through Google searches.

Their technical person quickly turned around a statement of work, then overachieved by actually providing clear documentation to validate the requirements, and then execute on those requirements. Their team set up meetings on their own, so they were clear before they dove in. 

We didn’t have our own test environment for the content management environment, but they had a development and test environment on their end. We needed to trust their development and test environment before we deployed, which worked out. As we updated the workflow, they did some tests before we deployed it to production.

After we got that rolling, we decided that we need to upgrade our whole content manager system to incorporate Kofax workflow. The whole goal of our organization was to manage a Category 5 storm off the coast of our state without paper. For the past 20 years, our team processed everything on paper. This required a multiphase project. There were some software and hardware upgrades. ImageTech Systems helped us with licensing, with hardware memory, and other things.

Their team actually talked to the business side of things, and tried to understand what the problem was. They validated what that was and documented information for what we wanted from a workflow perspective clearly.

They helped us on many levels: Hardware, software, and business process improvements. All along the way, they used clear documentation, spot-on project management, and issued status reports every single Monday. Their group worked on weekends when we needed to migrate to production. No matter what the task was, I felt we always had the A-team.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting ImageTech Systems?

We had a vendor who used them previously. We had other companies that offered bids, but ImageTech Systems was doing great work, so it was an easy decision.

Were any other technologies used besides IBM ECM products?

We upgraded eClient, their team customized it, and organized it to work better.

When there were issues, they escalated things to IBM, kept the PCR open, and kept tabs of different things. We had documents that would thwart our workflow or cause issues. They’re always proactive to get things completed. They were always clear on where they were, and what we were doing.

Can you give me a sense of the size of the initiative, either in dollar terms or personnel hours?

There was one person working pretty much full time for us, and then one person working full time on our side as well as many part-time resources. It definitely was not a million-dollar project by any means, but in terms of licenses and everything else, we’re probably at quarter of a million dollars at least.

When was the main project completed?

We’re tweaking some things right now, so I would say it’s August 30, 2013. There is another round that we’ll be working with them on related to that, and some other improvements in scanning. We have only looked at one department rather than the entire office even though this affects the entire office. They have been providing solid advice.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement?

No metrics are available. We will have some numbers later. Just think about the efficiency improvements by being able to scan barcodes and have all of the information available in the ECM system.

What is unique or special about them compared to other IT vendors that you may have worked with?

When working with an IT vendor, you assess project management, technical competency, documentation, and understanding of the client. The client can be the business customer as well as the IT staff. This is one of the few vendors that has the whole package.

Are there any areas that you think they can improve upon or maybe you would do differently?

Not really. No.