Compliance Alert! Are Copy Machines and MFP's a security risk?

The ECM industry has been rather strangely silent on the issue of inherent security risks of the copy machine industry, namely the Multi-Function Peripherals (MFP)s.  Recently, CBS did a rather revealing story on the subject of copy machines that include a hard disk drive used to store the documents that you copy, scan, email, etc.  What is rather alarming here is the images on the hard drives are not automatically erased after the user completes their work.  Imagine that?

That means all that sensitive data that you have been copying,  perhaps containing personal identity information, health history, financial data, employment and payroll data etc. is on that copy machine's internal hard drive - unless someone takes the extra precaution of deleting it from the copy machine. Would you even know how to delete the images from the hard drive?  Were you made aware such a security risk exists in your organization?   Worse yet, when your Facilities and/or Finance department says the equipment has reached end of life and it is time to swap out the dinasour with the latest and greatest copy machine, who is taking the responsibility of erasing the hard drive and verifying all that senstive data on the copy machine has been eradicated?

The silence is rather deafening, isn't it?

Hey, the good news is at least one of the MFP manufacturers discussed in this story sells an OPTIONAL utility to wipe that hard drive clean.   Question?  Why isn't such a utility considered a STANDARD no cost feature on all copy machines given the fact that the copy machine/MFP vendors know the security risk exists by design with every copy machine/MFP that ships out the door?  Perplexing.

Tip of the hat to the innovative team at Digital Copier Security in Sacramento for addressing this major industry GAFFE!!!  Nice job CBS picking this story up and running with it. 

Before you roll out or refresh all those MFP's, consider the organizational security and liability risks and make sure they are adequately addressed.  Or, consider using document scanners for the job as the only ones to contain hard drives are usually the large mainframe, production document scanners.  And, if those document scanners happen to have a hard drive, be sure you zap them before you retire them from your operation.

Full story can be found on YouTube or by clicking here

Larry Ellison clears up Cloud Computing for all of us!

A colleague of mine sent this YouTube audio sound byte of Larry Ellison from Oracle speaking on the subject of Cloud Computing....he sums it up as follows: "What the hell is cloud computing?" Put aside all his rambling on about the subject, I think he is largely on target.

Yes, the industry is attempting to repackage and redress itself like it did years ago when "Time Sharing" on a mainframe was the trend until the Micro-VAX from Digital Equipment Corporation emerged, then the mini to the PC, back towards the the adoption of a PC server (thanks to Novell) and Citrix terminal servers, ASP's in the 90's, co-location to virtualization and now SaaS/Cloud Computing in the 21st Century.  The pendulum has swung!

Interesting perspective...I will leave it that.    View the audio playback http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FacYAI6DY0 and you be the judge.

CAPSYS Partners Get SaaS-Y - End of the Paralysis Sales Stage.

Let's face it, with the economic conditions that have been thrust upon each of us and seemingly with no end to the challenges any time soon, the general business climate has been rather frustrating at times.. However, there is some good news to cheer about!

It is amazing to me to see the creative and innovative approach our channel partners are taking to bring CAPSYS web-based capture solutions to their prospect and customers. One angle that is of particular interest to me I would like to share is the Software as a Service or Cloud alternative to traditional on-premised based offerings.

Our channel partners are beginning to clearly see the CAPSYS cloud as a viable alternative to traditional on-premised based capture solutions. Why you may ask?

• Predictable, Reoccurring Revenue Stream
• Lower Costs, Better Margins
• Rapid Deployment Time
• Elimination of CAPEX budgeting process
• No Annual Software Maintenance

For example, one of our partners services the Pharmaceutical industry.  This particular organization was using one of the traditional Tier 1 document capture vendors.  The customer was getting budget pinched with the reoccurring internal costs to support the existing infrastructure.  Yet, they desired to expand the system, but struggled with the justification due to the additional software licenses, along with the additional annual maintenance required on top of the already enormous annual maintenance charges measured in 10's of thousands of dollars.  And, on top of all these charges, the customer was faced with refreshing the capture servers and OS's which also was very expensive due to internal IT charges being assessed back to the line of business.  It was clear from the customers perspective the project wasn't going move forward until the any time soon - perhaps when the economy turned around.  So, in this instance, the customer and the partner entered into the "paralysis" stage of the sales cycle.  Sound all to familiar?

Having heard about the CAPSYS CAPTURE Software as a Service offering, the partner reached out to us, laid out each of the frustrations and obstacles they were facing with the customer.  In a short period of time, the partner worked out a program to switch out the legacy capture software vendor with CAPSYS CAPTURE ONLINE.  There were added bonuses the customer would receive when the partner proposed the making the switch to CAPSYS CAPTURE ONLINE:

• Elimination of a thick client based capture solution to a web-based capture solution;
• Inclusive of a rules-base capture workflow engine - something the other vendor lacked;
• Concurrent user licensing model, which allowed the customer to expand across the enterprise without breaking the bank.

Whats the moral of the story? 

If you run into a situation where your sales process and sales person has reached a stage of "paralysis", then take a serious look at the SaaS alternative:

• Predictable, reoccurring monthly expenses for the partner and your customers;
• No upfront software charges for you the partner or your customers;
• No annual maintenance charges with annual CPI increases;
• Elimination of the hardware and OS and annual SWA expenses;
• No Internal IT costs being billed back to the line of business owner;

It is all good news you can cheer about!

 

DEX Imaging joins international channel network of partners

DEX Imaging joins international channel network of partners

May 18, 2010 – Today CAPSYS announces it has added another quality reseller to its partner program. INDEX DataFiles, Inc. d/b/a DEX Imaging out of Tampa, FL has executed an agreement to resell the full family of CAPSYS CAPTURE products and subscription services.

DEX, founded in 2002, is the largest and fastest growing independent dealer of Konica Minolta and Kyocera document imaging equipment in the United States. Though they sell & service award-winning printers, copiers, fax units, multifunctional systems, mailing equipment, large format devices, and a full line of document management solutions, they also offer a depth of experience and expertise that separates us from our competitors.

DEX Imaging is a FileBound reseller. For more information, please see their website: http://www.deximaging.com/

tieBridge joins CAPSYS International channel network of partners

April 26, 2010 – Today CAPSYS announces it has added another quality reseller to its partner program. tieBridge, Inc. out of Falls Chuch, VA has executed an agreement to resell the full family of CAPSYS CAPTURE products and subscription services.

For over ten years our business focus has remained on the delivery of technology driven business solutions that are aligned with the strategic objectives of public sector agencies. We are committed to delivering reliable and high-quality solutions as a trusted advisor and a strategic partner to federal agencies. Our management team is led by former public sector CIOs recognized for their innovative, strategic approach to government technology implementation - including winning a Hammer Award. We match our top notch consulting expertise with a highly focused customer orientation - something that many larger firms are unable to offer.

tieBridge’s founder and management have served in senior executive roles in government, utility, and private sector organizations. They understand the need to comply with government objectives while ensuring quality, cost, and performance goals are met. tieBridge professionals work with the latest tools, technology and techniques to measure and meet performance-based objectives. We partner with our clients to select and apply the best approach to ensuring mutual success.

tieBridge is a KnowledgeTree reseller.

For more information, please see their website: http://www.tiebridge.com

CAPSYS Announces New Reseller, OptCorp Consultores of Santa Cruz in Bolivia

CAPSYS ANNOUNCES NEW RESELLER TO ITS PARTNER PROGRAM

Odyssey S.R.L. joins national channel network of partners

 

 

 

 

April 15, 2010 – Today CAPSYS announces it has added another quality reseller to its partner program. Odyssey S.R.L. (d/b/a OptCorp) out of Santa Cruz in the Plurinational State of Bolivia has executed an agreement to resell the full family of CAPSYS CAPTURE products and subscription services.   

 

Odyssey/OptCorp is a company dedicated to the management and process optimization, based on the development and implementation of high-tech computer systems in home businesses financial, commercial, and industrial services.  OptCorp SRL has established itself as a team capable of developing information systems and management control that meet the requirements and methods of operation of companies that hire our services.  

Our goal is to provide practical and creative solutions for quality, reliability and according to customer requirements, creating tools to assist planning and decision making.

 

Odyssey/OptCorp is a KnowledgeTree reseller. 

 

For more information, please see their website:    http://www.optcorp.com.bo/ or http://www.odyssey.com.bo

What is Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and what benefits does BPO offer my firm?

BPO essentially allows your firm and your firm’s key personnel to focus on its core competency and relieve itself of burdensome, but necessary repetitive tasks by outsourcing those tasks to a third party business partner for fee – usually based on a per item or transaction fee. A common functional area to consider outsourcing to a trusted business partner and that we will discuss here is the Accounts Payable function.

Accounts Payable is generally considered a highly repetitive process, is common across all organizations regardless of size or industry and largely is known to become highly inefficient when the job functions and systems have been internally developed and modified over an extended period of time without the benefit of outside review.

To address the problem - and not surprisingly - more accounts payable clerks are added to the department, the influx of paper builds, payable cycles begin to get extended, discounts are missed, and the inefficient and poorly designed business processes naturally begins to spiral out of control without giving much thought to the actual costs that have been placed upon the organization to support the AP function.

When an organization is experience growth either through the addition of people and paper intensive processes, outsourcing the AP function to a BPO firm will allow the organization to focus on its core competencies. The organization can leverage the BPO's workflow process automation methodologies, its compliance/ERP expertise and efficient business practices, and allows the organization to directly benefit from a technology stack specifically optimized to address the challenges associated with Accounts Payable departments of small to mid-market organizations.

Time to market is the yet another significant advantage of engaging with a BPO firm. Consider how long it will take you firm to seek board approval, budget, purchase, implement and support a Accounts Payable automation solution integrated with your ERP solution such as SAP, Oracle Financial, etc. vs. engaging with a BPO who already has such an infrastructure that can be spun up and fully operational in days or weeks.

Lastly, the concepts of BPO can be extended beyond Accounts Payable example to other functional areas such as: mortgage processing, new applicant processing, claims processing, lock boxes, Human Resources, back file or paper to digital conversion processes, and many more functional areas.