Early Adopters Weigh In on Document Scan Server

Developers, resellers and manufacturers comment on technical innovation, ease of use and quick deployment of the new Document Scan Server

DICOM Group plc, a global leader of Information Capture and Communication solutions, today released "first look" testimonials from members of Kofax's Early Adopter Program. Through this program, a select number of resellers and developers were given the opportunity to develop and test applications using Kofax's new Document Scan Server.

The Kofax Document Scan Server is a hardware/software solution that enables companies to add scanning capabilities to any enterprise business application without the need for additional software or disruption of their current business process. Included with the Kofax Document Scan Server is a Software Development Kit (SDK). This kit leverages Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) to allow a developer to integrate scanning into an existing or new application no matter the operating system or programming language.

One of the first teams to develop a test application that could be easily implemented into an enterprise customer's existing application using the Document Scan Server was Solutions Advantage LLS, a consulting and systems integration firm.

"With most new products it is very difficult and time consuming to create a business solution from start to finish this was not the case with the Kofax Document Scan Server," said Keith Mitts, managing partner at Solutions Advantage LLS. "Within days, we were able to create a solution that integrates an ASP.net application with the Kofax Document Scan Server to remotely scan from a webpage, view the image and index it into a repository."

The Kofax Document Scan Server has a Management Console that offers administrators the ability to remotely access the functionality of any Document Scan Server that is connected to the network (LAN or WAN) that is used for network discovery, configuration, and management. Through this centralised console, administrators can configure multiple Document Scan Server appliances and can push out firmware updates and new drivers to keep them up to date. Plus, new users and user profiles can be set up and shared with other Scan Servers on the network. The Management Console can also remotely diagnose and grant access to user statistics and logs to proactively manage capture hardware.

Because of this ease of use and without the need to increase IT spending, Kofax Certified Solutions Providers like DTI Integrated Business Solutions Inc., Westbrook Fortis and Image Information Inc. have already begun to see the benefits that a product like the Document Scan Server can bring to the market.

"As the information world around us is forever evolving, we are happy to stand alongside an innovative organisation like DICOM and Kofax as they continue to bring technologies designed to capture and secure critical data," said Marshall Pimenta, chief technology officer at Westbrook Fortis. "We foresee the Document Scan Server and Fortis becoming the complete SOA information management solution for businesses around the world."

"Every once in a while a company comes out with a product or solution created to truly address our clients' pain points," said Bill Houser, manager of strategic alliances at DTI. "The Kofax Document Scan Server easily addresses and overcomes all of the technical barriers to scan enable an enterprise applications."

"We are happy to see DICOM and Kofax taking the lead with respect to SOA based capture," said Bill Johnson, CEO for Image Information who sees the trend for front-end capture greatly growing over the next several years "In our efforts to move data acquisition as close to the point of origin in the business process as possible, when it comes to dealing with the paper element of process content, Document Scan Server, by providing scanning capability with 'Zero Footprint' at the workstation, significantly increases our control of the process while dramatically reducing the complexities of support and maintenance.

IBM has long been a trusted technology partner with Kofax to bring advanced business solutions to their customers. Vice President of IBM Content and Discovery Jon Prial commented on its test integration by saying, "The web services-based integration of IBM DB2 Content Manager and Kofax Document Scan Server shows the power and benefits of SOA and provides a great example of how our clients can rapidly deploy content services to capture, access, store and manage digital content, and then in turn make that content available to other enterprise applications. As partners and providers of market-leading information capture and management technologies, Kofax and IBM continue to look for new innovations like this to help clients leverage the value of information stored throughout their enterprise."

The Document Scan Server will cater to industries that are more paper intensive as well as those industries that have already implemented information capture solutions like financial services, healthcare, transportation/logistics and government. Fujitsu, one of the leading scanner suppliers is the first to be certified on the Document Scan Server.

"The introduction of the Kofax Document Scan Server reduces the cost ownership to integrate scanning functionality into any existing business application, including a centralised management tool for IT, and offering true, thin client scanning capabilities," said Tom Loeffler, director, business development, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. "Most significantly, the new solution makes scanning a service that IT is comfortable using by leveraging Services Oriented Architecture (SOA). Obviously, we are very excited to be working with Kofax to support their new and innovative offering.