technology
reseller.co.uk
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
41
We are taking
the legacy of
our expertise in
imaging on the
hardware side
and applying it
on the software
and services side
n
The Right Results:
“Through the eco-
system we expect to be able to offer our
customers a higher ROI and a lower cost
and, at the same time, the highest quality
of captured data. If that initial capture is
not of the highest quality and reliability,
anything that happens to the data in the
rest of the workflow is going to be sub-par.
Our imaging excellence and optimised
scanning allows more accurate information
capture and minimal rework.”
A new breed
The Kodak Alaris partner network clearly
has a central role in delivering on the
promise of greater productivity, reliability,
efficiency, scalability and simplicity. While
Kodak Alaris is investing in training and
a plethora of sales tools to help existing
resellers on what Bhattacharya calls ‘the
journey of information capture’, it also
aims to work with a new breed of partner.
“The partners we had in the past were
more traditional Kodak hardware partners.
We still trust them, we still rely on them,
but as we make the shift to more of a
software and services-led organisation,
there needs to be a change in the types of
partner we deal with. That’s a journey – it
is not going to happen overnight – and
to help with it we are investing a lot in
portals, in sales training, in demo days,
in making sure the partner understands
the ecosystem and what role they might
be able to play as they embark on this
journey,” Bhattacharya explained.
“We are looking for partners who are
selling more on value and less on process;
partners who are looking not just to churn
the business with existing customers who
have scanners that they renew every two
or three years. We are looking to own the
business process, rather than just being the
scanner in the business process. In order
to own it, we are looking at a number of
different elements beyond just capture – it’s
about extraction; it’s about optimisation; it’s
about analysis and insight.”
Bhattacharya added: “Our unique
perspective on this is based on imaging
science – that is our USP; that’s what
makes us stand out from everyone else
in the market place. We are taking the
legacy of our expertise in imaging on
the hardware side and applying it on the
software and services side. That’s the
key change we are trying to make as we
embark on this ecosystem journey.”
Product announcements
Bhattacharya says the fruits of this new
approach are evident in the company’s
latest product announcements, which
bring productivity features previously only
available on high-end scanners to lower-
end desktop devices.
n
Kodak Capture Pro
(supplied with
scanners in a light version with an
upgrade path to standard and network
versions) now features intelligent exception
processing, which spots when a required
element, such as a signature, is missing
and automatically spits out the offending
document at the scanning stage. Previously,
this would not have been spotted until the
validation process, after which the operator
would have had to spend time finding the
original document and removing the digital
scan from the workflow.
Another useful enhancement is
intelligent barcode reading , which, by
managing scanner profiles and other tasks
in the software rather than on the scanner
hardware, extends barcode recognition to
smaller desktop devices such as those you
might find in a GP surgery reception. The
ability to recognise a barcode and link it to
a patient record in the EMIS system, say,
cuts down on the amount of manual data
entry required.
For batch scanning jobs, Kodak
Capture Pro features Intelligent Job Select,
which lets users employ programmable
patch code separator sheets to separate
jobs stacked in a feeder and automate the
application of different scan settings for
each one so that operators don’t have to
change scanner profiles manually.
n
Info Input Express
, which captures
documents from multiple channels (e.g.
local scanner, centralised scanner, MFP,
smartphone, email attachment) for use
in a workflow, is now HTML5 compatible.
This gives users the ability to embed
capture within an MFP with a web browser
for scanning straight into a document
workflow.
n
i4000 series scanners
now feature
metal detection to prevent staplers and
paper clips damaging the scanner and
the scanned document, which might be
the only original. This helps maintain the
highest image quality for downstream
efficiency and improves productivity by
reducing the likelihood of jams and the
need to re-scan.
Future plans
Prospective and existing resellers will have
the chance to find out more about the new
ecosystem, what it means for them and
how it is impacting product development
at a series of roadshows Kodak Alaris is
holding throughout EMEA later this year.
Meanwhile, Bhattacharya says that
he is working fast and furious on the
expansion of the eco-system.
“Early in the fall, you will likely see a
new set of distributed capture scanner
hardware; you will see some new software
solutions being launched; potentially a
couple of services that build on the new
capabilities in our hardware, focusing
on remote monitoring and remote
maintenance; and new solutions from our
partners.
“This time next year, there will be a
bigger announcement, focusing more on
the software platform we are trying to
build and how we apply our Alaris image
science optimisation across the process,
from optimisation, classification, extraction
and validation of information
to its routing into business
systems like CRM or ERP or
into repositories, either in
the cloud or on-premise.
We are looking to offer
a host of micro
services with our
service platform,
which is going to
help us stand out from
the competition and really
solve that bigger problem
of data anarchy in the
customer environment. “
Find out more at
/
b2b/ecosystem
.
