Scan Enable Your Web-Based Business Application

I finished up a Webcast recently (March 6th) titled “Build Scanning into Web-based Business Application“, and we had a tremendous turnout for this Webcast and over 30 questions were asked.

So you are probably thinking, scanning is not new so why would this Webcast draw such a large crowd? Isn’t document scanning something we already perfected and isn’t it becoming used less often? The fact is paper is still an inherent part of how we do business today. It’s generated in all different ways and places, and is captured in many ways – fax, email, scanners, MFDs, and mobile devices (camera).  Still, the one primary  input source for how paper is transformed into digital content is still by way of using a scanner.

EMC Announces New Imaging Cloud Toolkit for Developers

EMC is pleased to announce the release of the Captiva Cloud Toolkit, a cloud scanning and imaging software developer kit (SDK) that enables developers to build scanning into the next generation of cloud-based business application. You can download the new toolkit today for free and begin developing your scanning application.

Captiva Cloud Toolkit is the future of scan-enabling web-based business applications and is the imaging developer toolkit to support scanning within Web-based cloud applications without requiring an ActiveX or Java plug-in.

Captiva Cloud Toolkit is ideal for document capture vendors, commercial software developers, and enterprises that want to scan-enable their web-based applications to complement their business solution offerings.

Important Considerations for the Next Generation of Apps

It is an exciting time to being working in technology and I thought I’d offer up some personal ideas on what vendors should be considering in the next generation of apps, and how customers and partners are playing a key role. 

These five points certainly should not be looked at as the authoritative answer to all your technology questions, rather I hope it leads to further discussions that will help guide strategies among all interested parties - vendors, partners, and customers.

1. Built for the cloud

This should not come as a surprise. Software apps need to run in the cloud. No longer should we be building software products that can only be used when users download and install the application onto servers and desktop PCs. There is already as proliferation of cloud services for everything like sharing files, collaboration, scheduling events, creating to do list, email, customer  communications, document creation, and so on. Many of these apps are targeted at small businesses and consumers, but enterprise apps need to be built for the cloud as well.

Deploying and managing enterprise software can be a daunting task, but Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors like SalesForce.com are changing the game. Plus new cloud deployment models like EMC OnDemand give enterprise businesses other options when deploying enterprise solutions like enterprise content management (ECM), enterprise capture, and customer communication solutions. 

Don’t Miss the Upcoming EMC Webcast: “Capture in the Cloud”

EMC has an upcoming event that you won’t want to miss – “Capture in the Cloud”.  Click here to register on EMC.com. 

What you can you expect to learn

We’ll discuss the emergence of cloud-based applications, their benefits, and how you can take advantage of this new type of technology. You will also get a first look at the new EMC Captiva OnDemand (see my recent posting: EMC OnDemand Brings Captiva, Documentum, and Document Sciences to the Cloud). We’ll discuss how the new EMC OnDemand deployment model puts the full Captiva intelligent enterprise capture capabilities in the cloud, dramatically reducing up front and ongoing costs.

I’m sure many are being asked by their IT management to investigate ways to move applications into the cloud – public, private, or a hybrid cloud approach. If so, this Webcast will give you insight into: 

• Why cloud-based applications are growing so rapidly
• How you can benefit from Captiva OnDemand – whether you’re an existing Captiva customer or not
• How to simplify and speed deployment with EMC experts who can get you up and running immediately

We look forward to seeing you at this online event!

 

EMC Partner Launches New Mobile Apps for EMC ApplicationXtender

EMC World 2011 may have come to an end yesterday, but there was so much news going on that I did not have time write about all of it before the show ended.  One of the cool announcements came from an EMC partner, Business Imaging Systems (BIS), who announced three new mobile apps that connect into EMC ApplicationXtender. BIS is calling it MAX and it is described as “content management unplugged”. The new offerings will connect users from Apple iPhone and Android devices, tablets, and network KIOSK devices, with the content management environment of ApplicationXtender. You can read more about MAX here.

At EMC World, I had the opportunity to get a quick demo of the various products they are launching.

Announcements at EMC World 2011

This week has been full of  announcements from at EMC World, with several of them being very exciting. First, EMC has announced a new EMC OnDemand offerings that bring together best-of-breed technologies from EMC, VMware and RSA® and will be made available for either on-premise, private cloud deployment or off-premise, public cloud deployment through Service Providers.  The initial products to leverage this technology will be EMC Captiva, Documentum, CenterStage and Document Sciences. The plan is to have this offering available in the 2H of 2011.

Why We Need to Make Cloud Computing Easy

An article authored by Mark Lewis, chief strategy officer of the Information Infrastructure Products Business at EMC, talks about a technology free cloud. Mark puts things into perspective on why we need to make cloud computing easy and not simply view it as a technology platform.

Here’s a link to the Forbes article.