Workflow Automation Software

Millennia Group Blog

As necessary

Via Flickr - US ArmyThere are plenty of companies and individuals making decisions over the past few weeks and for the coming few months that are based on a get-it-done strategy.  This is completely understandable as we all face unprecedented business and personal circumstances.  Looking on the bright side of things, some of these “as necessary” reactions and solutions may just be the spark that helps a company be a little more productive, a little more efficient or a little less stuck.

So what parts of the business world is grabbing attention that otherwise gets very little?  The mail room for sure.  Filing cabinets and the documents stuck in them, absolutely.  Virtual video conferencing backgrounds so nobody sees your bedroom, I mean home office.  The quality of the mobile…

Downsizing and De-cluttering

In essence, a good records management policy and effort helps companies continuously downsize and de-clutter.  That is not to say that the company moves to a smaller space or reduces headcount.  In this context it is the systematic process of eliminating information that is no longer legally required or relevant to the business.  This sounds fantastic for every company and every employee doesn’t it? It sounds great to have less irrelevant information to sift through and maybe clearer lines of site to people in cubicles around you, unless you like to work in a bunker.  New office space configurations and the wave of digitization have reduced the chances of boxes piling up.  But even those pesky digital files need to be purged every once in a while.  So why is it so…

Derby Day is coming, place your bets

It’s completely acceptable and a lot of fun each year to take some risks and place some bets when the Kentucky Derby is run.  The riskiness of the horse you choose is usually based on a personal hunch, minimal research or discussions with a spouse, family or friends.  The amount of loss is known up front and may or may not have anything to do with the riskiness of the horse selected. If only all risk assessment was so easy.  When you look at real life risk assessment as it relates to your company’s information assets, it’s a very complicated issue.  Here are some basic points that should be considered when trying to protect (aka mitigate risk to) your information assets like documents and data.  Avoiding a data breach is a bet that…

From Ethereum to Hadoop via Bitcoin. What?

Millennia Group is all about documents; document scanning, document workflow, document management systems, etc.  That means we are always interested in what is next and the future of the document management industry. 

So it was interesting to see AIIM.org having a conversation about Hadoop (a framework to support distributed data storage and analysis) and also hearing from one of our developers about Ethereum (a distributed computing model for digital currency and digital “smart contracts”).  Both of these models definitely look to the future. 

It was intentional that the word “distributed” is used to describe both models.  In fact, the distribution of data is part of the Cloud movement and it has some clear advantages like lower cost and higher security.  Most companies want lower cost and more secure applications.  Beyond the concept of distributed data, it is more difficult…

Lost Document Cost? – The Search & Wrong Answers

What is the cost of a lost document?  There are two components to the cost regardless of the document being either lost or just misplaced. One component is the potential cost that a decision is made or action taken with incomplete information and there are negative consequences.  For instance, if a contract is lost, one party to the agreement could take advantage of the other party.  This situation might occur even if a replacement document could be obtained, but maybe not in a timely manner.  Therefore, the employee makes a decision based on what they remembered.  We call this the “Oh Sh&#” cost because it usually doesn’t get noticed until it is a surprise, and its usually a bad surprise.
Another component is the cost to try to locate the document.  Some amount of…

A Life Lesson – Sharing is Good

What are the needs of your employees to share documents with people outside of your company? They might share documents with customers, business partners, vendors, lawyers, bankers, government agencies and many other outside parties. Your users want this to be easy – write an email, attach a document or two and hit send. Your executives want to make sure that the process is efficient, but also meets security and confidentiality requirements. The CIO doesn’t want the network to crash or the email system to bog down.
Companies that are using a shared network drive for document management can expect basic sharing to be easy for users (provided they can find the files they are looking for). Users will attach the files to an email, copy the files to a thumb drive or push the…

Business Continuity Makes Sense

Here are some key statements that jumped out at me during a recent presentation that I attended on business continuity planning:
  • A disaster recovery plan is not a business continuity plan
  • You don’t need to be a “doomsday theorist” to justify having a plan
  • Senior executives are onboard
All of the information presented was informative and useful, but these points grabbed my attention so here is a summary. A disaster recovery plan (“DR”) is typically focused on getting systems back up and running from a short term disruption like a power or internet outage or a server failure. Business continuity (“BC”) on the other hand is a more comprehensive plan to survive not only short term disruptions but also catastrophic and protracted business interruptions. A BC plan hopefully will help your company survive a…