ImageNow &Microsoft SharePoint:

Five Ways They Work Well Together

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With SharePoint 2010, the latest release of

Microsoft’s Business Collaboration Platform

software, the technology giant has moved closer

to the turf of established enterprise content

management (ECM) providers, such as

Perceptive Software.

Is this a figurative fork in the road for companies

that use both ImageNow from Perceptive

Software and SharePoint, meaning they should

choose one or the other for document

management? Not necessarily, and here’s why:

~ Both offer out-of-the-box functionality —

but for different types of functions.

~ Although elements have been added to

SharePoint, it still lacks features needed

for an end-to-end process and content

management solution, especially of

professional-grade, transactional content

that drives core business operations.

~ ImageNow and SharePoint can work

together, and companies that use them

both would be better served using the

solutions’ respective strengths to improve

business processes.

Here are a few ways ImageNow and SharePoint

can happily coexist — and even complement

each other — in today’s content-laden

organizations.

ImageNow &Microsoft SharePoint:Five Ways They Work Well Together

Perceptive Software uses decades of experience in creating innovative process and content management solutions to simplify routines that are critical to an organization’s well-being.

ImageN

ow &

Microsoft S

harePoint

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1Use ImageNow to manage business processes that have recurring workflow rules and large volumes of documents.ImageNow was designed to manage high

volumes of transactional content. ImageNow

workflow makes it easy to create, manage and

modify document- and project-centric

workflow queues and routing rules for

high-volume processes, such as invoice

processing. Beyond workflow, additional

business process management (BPM)

functionality can help you stay in control

of business operations, model and automate

processes, and generate valuable ideas for

improvement.

Scalability is not an issue because ImageNow

is designed specifically to handle volumes

of content. There are no integration issues,

either, because ImageNow integrates with

nearly any application without programming

and offers prebuilt connectors for deep

integration with ERP platforms. You also can

connect ImageNow with components running

on a mix of OS platforms, including Windows,

Linux, AIX and Solaris — without enlisting a

consultant or third-party solution provider.

These and many other features explain why

customers worldwide trust Perceptive Software

to optimize processes that are critical to their

organizations’ well-being. And why ImageNow

is widely used in industries such as higher

education and healthcare where access to

documents and information is of paramount

importance.

Use SharePoint to manage collaborative processes that have a lower volume of documents with dynamic content. In its earlier iterations, SharePoint was designed

to be a tool for web-based team collaboration.

Even now, this is still one of the easiest ways to

use SharePoint without bringing in third-party

solution providers. For projects in which team

members will be working simultaneously on

documents, you can create a new SharePoint

site and, with its strong integration with

Microsoft Office applications, manage all the

resulting versions of documents and keep team

members apprised of changes.

2

SharePoint offers outstanding features for managing collaborative processes and keeping work teams informed and on target.

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3 4Use ImageNow to manage documents and processes; use SharePoint to allow authorized users access to forms and documents they need.Get the best of both solutions by using

ImageNow to manage documents and

processes, and give access to others across

the enterprise through a SharePoint site that

is used as a portal or intranet.

Here’s an example: A company uses Oracle’s

PeopleSoft application to manage its human

resources functions, including benefits and

payroll analytical reporting. ImageNow

integrates seamlessly with PeopleSoft,

streamlining paper-intensive processes and

allowing HR staff members to work with forms

and software they’re already familiar with.

ImageNow also integrates seamlessly with the

SharePoint site that allows employees single-

click access to authorized digital images and

electronic documents in their own personnel

files. Without help from the HR staff,

employees can see how many deductions

were taken on their tax forms, review their

contributions to the company’s investment

plan, or print a copy of their annual review

document. Employees also can input

information from the SharePoint site using

an embedded ImageNow eForm. This action

can kick off a business process that is managed

in ImageNow.

Similar setups — with ImageNow managing

the process and SharePoint allowing access

— can be used for external processes such as

vendor management programs. Other internal

processes that require input from remote

locations, such as invoice and contract

approvals or submission of expense reports,

also can be streamlined using ImageNow and

a SharePoint site.

SharePoint users can search and view ImageNow documents.As noted in Point No. 2, SharePoint offers

outstanding features for managing collaborative

processes and keeping work teams informed

and on target. And if those processes require

access to ImageNow documents, that’s not

a problem.

SharePoint users who also are ImageNow users

have the same search rights they would have

through ImageNow or WebNow. SharePoint

users who are not ImageNow users can be

logged in as guests and their access limited by

the ImageNow Interact for SharePoint web part

configuration. Documents in ImageNow can be

opened in the Interact for SharePoint built-in

viewer or downloaded to open in the native

application for that file type.

Direct support from the manufacturer. SharePoint does not have an on-ramp to

capture paper documents or the ability to

extract data from collected documents using

technologies like OCR. For scanning and

correctly storing documents within the

associated library, SharePoint users must rely

on third-party providers. If ImageNow is

already used for high-value business processes,

such as accounting and financials, and

SharePoint for collaborative processes, you can

eliminate that third party.

Use ImageNow’s rich imaging capabilities to

capture documents from anywhere, then push

or copy them into SharePoint. With industry-

leading intelligent data capture technology,

you also can pull information from those

documents, validate the data, and seamlessly

pass it to your core business applications.

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© 2012 Perceptive Software, LLC. All rights reserved. ImageNow is a registered trademark of Perceptive Software.

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