In my last post, I explained in detail what an Image Warehouse is. I have repeated my definition here as a starting point.
"An Image Warehouse is a central repository of scanned image files that are support for transactional data, process data and organizational data. The warehouse supports the collection of files, storage of files and retrieval of files in an organized and structured way - much like a physical warehouse. It is all about tying data to image files."
Who builds this warehouse? Of course, at Millennia Group we think we are very good at it since we have been doing it for 13+ years. The key is getting someone to understand your data sources and data needs. Then that knowledge and information can be used to build or integrate the document repository with the underlying and supporting data or integrating the images with other applications - ETL layer (Exchange, Translate and Load).
When determining if you are going to do this in-house or use a third party, make sure everyone has a chance to get sample data exports from all applications that will be involved. One of the most complicated parts of the process is normalizing the data that is coming from different sources that maybe is not consistent. For instance, in the accounting application your job code starts with two zero's ("00") followed by 5 digit numeric code. Unfortunately, your reporting or job tracking database drops the zeros or uses the Job name instead of the code. A process must be devised to ensure that the warehouse always communicates with the other applications in a perfectly matched environment, ensuring data integrity.
If you are going to use an existing document management application to act as the storage and retrieval portion of your warehouse, you have to consider whether you have the in-house programming skills to make the necessary changes in that application or if you need to use a consultant. In addition, make sure the application has the flexibility to support the various different input requirements and data delivery requirements. For instance, not all document management applications come with barcode reading capability or PDF + Text conversion out of the box. Or maybe the application doesn't have web capabilities and you need the information to be easily accesible to users outside your firewall. If you have an existing document management system that is working for the most part but does not provide some of these features, Millennia Group can create a web based warehouse that will pull the image files from the EDM and the data from other sources and create a single unified input, viewing and distribution application.
Regardless of who builds your Image Warehouse, there will be a requirement for internal resources. Internal resources like the database manager, EDM manager and others will need to provide support in this process in order to pull all the pieces together.
So to summarize, to build your warehouse you will need internal resources, possibly outside application specific consulants and also possibly a data and process consultant like Millennia Group. Once you have the Image Warehouse built and users can search and find information that they struggled to pull together in the past, then everyone will forget who built it, they will just be glad it Was built.
Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
What is an Image Warehouse
The best way to start our conversation about Image Warehouses is to provide a definition and description.
An Image Warehouse is a central repository of scanned image files that are support for transactional data, process data and organizational data. The warehouse supports the collection of files, storage of files and retrieval of files in an organized and structured way - much like a physical warehouse. It is all about tying data to image files.
The deeper description of an Image Warehouse will help you to get a better understanding. Since we started providing imaging services in 1996 we focused heavily on contracts and one thing that we always instinctively tried to do was to tie those digital contracts to the original accounting or key data. Now, 13 years later our clients could not be happier for that decision.
When the image files are tied to the transactional or process data you can slice, dice and manage that data far easier. This idea facilitates single point of data entry, for instance, you don't have to re-key the name of the parties to the contract if that information already exists in the accounting software or contract management application. You can also assemble your information with far greater ease and certainty with an Image Warehouse. Take for example the challenge of finding all documents on your shared network drive that you have scanned that relate to all customers in St. Louis. With an Image Warehouse, you just have to query the data (which exists in your systems) to assemble the files and export them in a structured format.
Millennia Group has an Image Warehouse platform built on Microsoft SQL and .Net that we have integrated with many different applications. However, you can also use existing EDM or electronic document management applications to be your warehouse. This is where the description gets a little more interesting. Just like a physical warehouse, the actual storage facility is only part of the solution. You still need people to drive the fork lifts and record the ins and outs. This is also true of an Image Warehouse in many ways. You need to have processes to control the input of image files and you need to make the data connect to the images in the first place. Typically there is a start up phase that will involve understanding and possibly normalizing the data with existing images or it might involve planning for new images and new data. This of course is the integration of data and applications. Then you need to create the tools that let users access and distribute that information as needed (and as security permits) - a good user interface.
So in the next post I will talk more about Who builds this warehouse. Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com
An Image Warehouse is a central repository of scanned image files that are support for transactional data, process data and organizational data. The warehouse supports the collection of files, storage of files and retrieval of files in an organized and structured way - much like a physical warehouse. It is all about tying data to image files.
The deeper description of an Image Warehouse will help you to get a better understanding. Since we started providing imaging services in 1996 we focused heavily on contracts and one thing that we always instinctively tried to do was to tie those digital contracts to the original accounting or key data. Now, 13 years later our clients could not be happier for that decision.
When the image files are tied to the transactional or process data you can slice, dice and manage that data far easier. This idea facilitates single point of data entry, for instance, you don't have to re-key the name of the parties to the contract if that information already exists in the accounting software or contract management application. You can also assemble your information with far greater ease and certainty with an Image Warehouse. Take for example the challenge of finding all documents on your shared network drive that you have scanned that relate to all customers in St. Louis. With an Image Warehouse, you just have to query the data (which exists in your systems) to assemble the files and export them in a structured format.
Millennia Group has an Image Warehouse platform built on Microsoft SQL and .Net that we have integrated with many different applications. However, you can also use existing EDM or electronic document management applications to be your warehouse. This is where the description gets a little more interesting. Just like a physical warehouse, the actual storage facility is only part of the solution. You still need people to drive the fork lifts and record the ins and outs. This is also true of an Image Warehouse in many ways. You need to have processes to control the input of image files and you need to make the data connect to the images in the first place. Typically there is a start up phase that will involve understanding and possibly normalizing the data with existing images or it might involve planning for new images and new data. This of course is the integration of data and applications. Then you need to create the tools that let users access and distribute that information as needed (and as security permits) - a good user interface.
So in the next post I will talk more about Who builds this warehouse. Please visit us at www.mgdocs.com
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