Hailed as the way in which we can breath life into our static, paper documents, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has made strides in the recent decades – becoming a staple module in just about every software package managing documents. From Nuance’s PaperPort to EMC’s Documentum.

OCR, itself, can mean various things. Wikipedia offers this definition:

… the mechanical or electronic translation of images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text (usually captured by a scanner) into machine-editable text (2008).

While many estimate the accuracy levels for OCR engines can reach 98 or 99 percent, it has been my experience this is very difficult to achieve in most commercially-available software suites for the small-to-medium businesses (SMB’s). Many variables can affect the accuracy levels of output, ranging from document condition to readability.

With so many variables in scanning paper based documents it is often not possible to gain high accuracy ratings on a small budget. Thus OCR can often be a challenge to implement in many SMB’s.

When the rubber meets the road:

Typical applications of OCR revolve around digitizing documents and transforming them into an image along with usable metadata of the information contained on the physical page itself. In essence, the computer reads the document and creates a library of searchable information.

This type of application allows an EDM solution the opportunity to build a database of text, contextually tied back to the original images as a layer of the document, or image, itself. Searching for usable information within and across documents is much easier. In other words, it gets you in the right neighborhood.

Extremely high accuracy rates are often not at issue in these applications, because the indexes can be combined with this database of textual information dramatically increasing the findability of information.

Where are the brakes on this thing?

Where problems can begin to occur is when OCR is not applied to the text contained within the scanned document, but used to lift index values themselves (e.g. customer name, number, etc.). Why is this so dangerous?

Combined with other technology and processes, OCR itself if a wonderful aid in seeking efficiency within the business. However, with no quality assurance or stop-loss measures in place, It is highly likely a document will be misplaced due to a character being off here or there… In essence, you now have a needle in a haystack.

The advice I would offer is quite simple:

1. Document preparation is key to ensuring efficient use of personnel time as well as achieving high accuracy levels.
2. Quality assurance on key information is requisite if high levels of accuracy are required – especially in audit or regulatory scenarios.
3. Know your threshold of pain and what you can accept; Know your goals. (Do you need 100% accuracy?).
4. The key to findability of information contained within documents is to enforce process.
5. Create an accountability structure based around solving issues rather than blaming others. In high demand environments, appointing a “scanning czar” is critical.

Did I miss something? Do you have another opinion or experience you would like to share? Comments, suggestions and respectful disagreements are always welcome.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

The heart of a technologist is in serving – service without need of reciprocation…

Do you subscribe to this belief? After all, that is a tough, thankless life to live. I see so many who seem to be on a quest for self-glory or the latest discovery, much like Ponce de Leon’s search for the infamous Fountain of Youth.

Some may serve through discovery or creation, while some offer their service in the form of repair or maintenance. When at our best, we operate behind the scenes, unnoticed and under cover of dark, weaving our magic webs of security and five-nine’s availability.

All too often, the insecure turn to scoff at those less ‘intellectual’ or ‘computer-savvy’ as themselves – lording their minutia of power in order to over-compensate for a failed childhood social life – like Superman’s arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor.

Or perhaps it is something less sinister; perhaps we have forgotten how it feels not to be the domain admin or root level admin?

Do we seek to minimize another’s anguish over loosing that spreadsheet they worked all weekend on? Do we so quickly seek to belittle someone’s lack of understanding at just why they cannot login to the corporate VPN?

Micah (Learn to Duck), offers this advice:

Every day, I try to do something where I give something (time, money, expertise, humor, whatever) with no expectation of something in return.

The reactions are interesting.

Some people don’t believe it.

Others don’t trust it.

Most people appreciate what I have to give.

But, for me, its somewhat of a selfish act. It makes me feel good.

… “It makes me feel good,” he writes.

Did we check this at the door somewhere along our career path, or did Corporate America’s bylaws drill this fanciful notion out of our brain like some Chinese water torture?

In either case, we stand in the shadows on this one, folks. Empathy is at the heart of success and maintaining a heart of service is the call to which we should rally.

Image credit to Vincent van Wylick

“How do you eat an elephant,” the joke goes. “Well don’t start in the rear, that’s for sure.”

I was struggling with how to break down what seemed to be an extremely complex business process for our sales and contracts teams in order to overlay this into our eDMS and workflow solution.

Luckily, the team leaders within the departments had fairly well fine-tuned their process (as much as they could given leasing company regulations), but it was the different entry points a sale could manifest that was really throwing me for a loop.

I was sitting at my desk, scribbling on a notepad, when a colleague (and friend) walked in. He inquired what I was doing, and I went on to inform him I was trying to figure out how to eat an elephant. He quipped off a pithy remark.

Don’t start in the rear, that’s for sure!

After seeing me laugh, he sat down and listened a little while to my evident frustration with the process. He sat there in silence for a little bit, and then asked, “Why don’t you treat each entry point into the process as it’s own process?

“From there,” he suggested, “simply overlay all of the process and compare and contrast them.”

I think chagrin is the correct work to describe what I felt. It was such a simple answer. Why didn’t I think of that?

For whatever reasons, I couldn’t see the trees because for the forest (yes, reversed). In other words, I got where we were going, but I couldn’t see my way clear of the obstacles. He set me straight with that simple comment.

Ask for Directions (or have a GPS handy):

First and foremost, you must know what the objective(s) is(are). Once you have a clear understanding of what is to be delivered you can begin to operationalize the details.

The List:

I’m not a list-kind-of-person.

I’m not into too many details, but have slight tendencies towards OCD. In other words, while I prefer thinking about things like vision and direction, I can make myself focus on the details. However, I often get sidetracked on a specific detail that I just can’t get past – I just can’t move on until I’m sure it ‘feels right’. All of that makes for a very interest personality.

So to say, “I’m not into lists” is probably an understatement. I mean, you are talking to a guy who tried reading Getting Things Done – twice – and haven’t finished it all the way through once.

Needless to say, lists help me maintain discipline. One of the first things I do in the morning is create a list of things I have to get done, followed by a list of things I would like to get done.

Once you know where you want to go, backing into how to get there is one of the most important disciplines I have learned. David Allen, in his book Getting Things Done, understood the importance of keeping projects small. Allen points out that if we were to simply write down the very next action item required of us to complete a project, life would be infinitely less complex, and our to-do list would always be checked off.

So remember 2 simple rules:

1) Don’t place yourself on the wrong end of a problem.

2) Maintain an actionable list of to-do’s.

image courtesy of nickandmel2006

We all enjoy a little time on the Web, browsing FriendFeed, Twitter, YouTube, or GMail. It’s only for a few minutes each day, right?

Did you ever wonder why IT blocks your access to these? Yeah, yeah… I’ve heard all the stories about how these services suck up a bunch of bandwidth, but this is optimized for the web. It can’t take up a lot of bandwidth, right?

Confession:

I must confess, I’ve been in IT for over a decade and thought about this along this same line. I really only limited streaming music. However, one of our network team was running some tests as to why bandwidth levels were so high.

He asked me, “Are you on Cosmopolitan?”

Doh, I love those top 10 quizzes… busted.

The Crime:

Seriously though, I usually keep GMail open, happened to have my FriendFeed account open, clicked on a Vimeo video, and popped up a funny post that happened to be on the Cosmo website.

We had removed the upper bandwidth throttling on our web proxy some time ago, and low and behold - I was consuming over 2.7 MBps of WAN bandwidth for a sustained 2-3 minutes. With a bonded T-1 allowing for approximately 3 MBps (1.544 MBps each), you can imagine this set off some alarms.

On top of that, it simply amazed me at how many raw port 80 (HTTP) connections were opened…

You can see that many of the links on the Cosmo site are blatantly advertising, and not all that uncommon. However, it was an eye-opener when confronted with how much data is being passed along those “tubes” every hour of every day.

Remediation:

Well, there are things we can most certainly put in place, at the risk of disrupting culture, a culture where high-capacity individuals get it done - so they should have the ability to goof of every now and again.

Well, not so fast. That is all well and good until incidental Web 2.0 usage interferes with the day-to-day business of serving our valued customers.

There are some hard and fast answers, but most cost time and/or money to manage. More importantly, this was not intended to open any discussions about which technology solutions are inferior/superior to another.

Instead, I wanted to share with you a small snippet of how one supposedly innocent use can dramatically impact business operations within your company, so cut your poor propeller-head a break now and again. I have operational stability and a finite budget to contend with as it is. That ranks a bit higher than me needing to check my latest FaceBook message.

Penned by computer scientist, Alan Kay famously said,

The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

Invent the future? Wow, I’m not entirely sure whether that is pompous or prophetic! However, it was just what I needed to hear.

Have you ever been searching for an answer and stumbled across a chorus in a song, a letter from a friend, or a verse of scripture that caused a light-bulb moment? Well, that just happened to me as I was browsing through my feeds on FriendFeed when I happened across a small post that I almost scrolled past by Louis Gray on the democratization of data over at Google’s Blog.

As I stare down the barrel of some personal adversity and unexpected changes within my own life, this statement spoke to me like few others I have come across in the recent past. While I no longer hold with the notion that I can create my own destiny, perhaps another quote by Randy Pausch sums up my outlook:

Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

Be prepared.

Notice that small statement ends with a period - not a comma, hyphen or exclamation point. It is a binary statement, as you either are or are not. There is no middle ground here, folks!

I have been warned… and now, so have you. Always be vigilant and do not allow yourself the luxury of complacency.

It’s an election year, the government is bailing out mortgage and insurance markets alike, and acquisitions proceed at a break neck pace within the document industries. With jobs in jeopardy, a shaky economy, and foreign affairs tumultuous it stands to reason the average Joe might  be experiencing just a little anxiousness. I know when I look at my 401k, it makes me a bit nervous…

Change, as a dynamic to life, is something we all count on happening, but we often allow ourselves to become complacent. “The change will be gradual enough that I will have time to adjust,” is the line we sell ourselves. “I’ll always have tomorrow to get that certification, talk to that client, or spend time with my daughter,” is what we console ourselves with.

There are 4 distinct ways in which we might choose to deal with a major upheaval in our lives:

1. Deny It.

We weren’t ready for it, don’t want to believe it could happen to us, or can’t admit it was coming. Regardless of how we get hit with the news, shock and denial are often the first reactions (maybe besides physical nausea) that we experience when confronted with a major disruption to our comfortable routine.

If you allow yourself the luxury of wallowing in it, this is the equivalent to finding yourself a nice dark corner, sticking your thumb in your mouth, and crying about it.

2. Fear It.

Generally speaking, fear is one of the next steps we go through. Think about this: You’ve just been handed your pink slip and told to pack up your things. How do you not get a little weak in the knees?

A good idea is to simply distill your fear and find out exactly what it is you are afraid of. Are you worried about where your next meal will come from, who will pay for those doctor’s bills, or how long it might take to find another job? Those are all very legitimate fears, so your next course of action is to construct a game plan on how you are going to achieve your goals.

Just like you would turn on the lights in a dark room, it is important to apply knowledge in situations where fear runs rampant. By doing so, you will quickly ascertain the truth of the matter.

3. Fight It.

As we learn in school, the fight or flight instincts in us come out when confronted with matters of survival. A common aspect of dealing with change is to attempt to fight back the coming tide. This can often be viewed as noble, and there are most certainly times where continuing the fight is exactly what needs to occur.

If you are rational about where you make your stands, and keep focused upon your long term goals, fighting can be exactly what you need. However, do not mistake ego with chivalry as it will not only damage you, but those you hold dear as well.

4. Embrace It.

Generally speaking, this is the final aspect of change management - acceptance of the facts as they stand. By embracing change, you agree to view the world as it stands, and not how you choose to see it. This allows you to make decisions clearly and concisely.

The Wrap-Up.

The majority of how you deal with far-reaching change is your perception of the change itself, as well as whether you feel prepared to weather the proverbial storm. No sage wisdom here folks. Remember, be honest with yourself - allow your mind to find its way to the truth of the matter; the quicker your mind embraces the truth, the better you will be able to adapt to this bold new world and ensure you are still a viable part of it.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

This is a question I hear a lot, along with a quizzical cocking of the head to one side (much like a puppy might). It is an odd pairing of words to slap together, might be what they are thinking. But what most ask is, “f-o-r-G-e? fohrj - right?”, as if spelling it might suddenly shed a brilliant light upon the meaning of the name I chose.

Folks, it’s an odd name. Say it with me; get it off your chest. Conventional wasn’t what I was driving at…

Max is rather fond of poking at me like I just sat around with a scrabble board mixing and matching words until I found a .com name that was available. That always makes me laugh. But I digress…

As I sift through the voluminous amounts of reading and the endless meandering thoughts I entertain, it was important for me to tell you what ChangeForge is to me - not on some About page, but a little back story on what ChangeForge means to me. While some might debate whether my branding is on-target or off-target, many of you may not have even visited my site, as a large percentage of my readership visits me through e-mail, FeedBurner, and FriendFeed.

A Little Backstory

When I was in the United States Marine Corps, I had a sergeant that taught me a lot about the way things worked. He showed me tips and tricks to succeeding not just in the Corps, but really illuminated some of the finer points about what outlook I should have if I wanted to go farther than just being a “tech”.

One of the things that stuck with me most was what he believed about leaders. He believed leaders would always need advisors to help them understand technology, and there are a choice few who can act as a bridge for them - a choice few who understood what these leaders wanted and could give it to them.

Don’t stand in their way, enable them to succeed and you will be their closest advisors.

Lesson 1: Be a bridge not a gatekeeper.

After leaving the Marine Corps, I worked for a division of a global corporation that relished the “status quo”. When I would ask, “Why?”, I would receive blank stares and comments regarding how it had always been done that way - and not to rock the boat. As you can imagine, I hit that glass ceiling very quickly. I learned that if you don’t change - if you aren’t innovating - you die.

Lesson 2: Change keeps you alive. Embrace it.

Working in my present position and company, as both a technologist and leader, has offered many challenges and rewards. After working in the field of technology for over a decade and with this company for half of those years, I have learned a singularly valuable lesson. I chose my tagline, where business and technology collide, from this lesson:

Lesson 3: Business and technology do not naturally fit… they collide in a graceless dance to which you must give rhythm and harmony.

Change is forged in the fire of business; Technology is my anvil, and I must be the hammer.

So you see, ChangeForge is the culmination of 3 very important life lessons I have learned. As I am a student of life, and of that change that comes as part of life, I relish the thought of sharing ideas with you, my valued readers.

Today is always exciting and the promise of tomorrow looms large in our mind’s eye… To be a student of change can be difficult, but a role those who cherish life choose to embrace. Again, welcome to ChangeForge.com.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

It’s Monday morning and you are rounding out your morning routine by getting into the office, powering up the ole’ laptop, and deciding by royal proclamation, “It’s time for coffee.” You make your way down the hall and pass a few offices as you waive to some of your co-workers.

You make your way into the company break room and smell that wonderfully cheap smell of the corporate coffee. Not Starbucks’ or Seattle’s Best, but it’s free, right?

You poor a slow cup while idly conversing with another corporate suit about the weekend happenings, all the while deciding which flavor of the Coffee-Mate you want to gamble on making this steely brew drinkable today.

You walk back to your office, cup in hand, and get pulled into 1 or 2 ad hoc and impromptu meetings someone just had to have you weigh in on. It might’ve been the Sunday’s game or that latest promotion (can you believe it?), all serving to slow you return to your now-ready computer.

You sit in your chair, place your coffee cup on your desk, and saddle up to read the morning volley of e-mail exchanges over the weekend. Suddenly, the boss needs to speak with you, steps in and closes the door (you know this is going to be a ride).

Thirty minutes later, your boss stands, shakes your hand and leaves to go on with his day. Now that you have put his mind at ease that everything is under control, you reach for your coffee, pull it to your lips, and find it cold and lifeless.

“Blehhh!”, you think. “Cold corporate coffee is worthless.”

So you hike back to the break room and with a flick of the wrist, wash the foul brew down the drain - only to return to the same pot to pour another cup.

Notice a few things here:

1. The coffee is part of the routine.
2. It needs a lot of help to perform as expected.
3. There is no price, thus no value.
4. There is no thought in simply discarding it should it not meet expectations.

Much like the corporate coffee, you have positioned your product to carry no intrinsic value. Have you instead all but given it away and continue to pander to your customers whims while not seeking a solution to their problems, nor empathizing with their pain?

Well then, you can expect to carry the same value as the cup of cold corporate coffee I throw away and never drink. I pay roughly $4.50 for a medium-sized latte in most establishments. Crazy or no, the point is I almost always finish the entire cup - hot or cold. Why do you think that is?

1. The coffee is not part of a routine, but part of a ritual of enjoyment.
2. It exceeds expectations just about every time.
3. The price is quite high, and thus it carries a lot of value.
4. I will work with the Barrista to make right any deficiencies - so I will leave satisfied and with a product I will enjoy.

This is simply food for thought on how you might make your product offerings better than just a cold cup of corporate coffee.

Did you have any?

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

Have today’s technology leaders fallen victim to only focusing on those tactical initiatives in order to survive, and putting away strategic initiatives for brighter times?

In a recent article by Rob Preston, for Information Week, he asks whether CXO’s are focused too much on the little stuff, the minutia of running the business instead of focusing on where the business is headed - and how to make sure it gets there.

Rob cited evidence from the annual CIO survey released by The Society for Information Management (SIM). This report lists concerns of top-level IT management, and is based upon results from 291 technology decision makers. The top 10 concerns listed were:

1. IT and business alignment
2. Build business skills in IT
3. IT strategic planning
4. Attracting new IT professionals
5. Making better use of information
6. Manage change
7. Reducing the cost of doing business
8. Improve IT quality
9. Retaining IT professionals
10. Security and privacy

Rob goes on to state many of these concerns are consistent as in years past. Though these august priorities do indeed command attention, he goes on to rebuke many as too “tactical” in nature. He further makes note of No. 18: business process reengineering as being too far down on SIM’s list.

Overly Simplified or Simply Survival?

Rob goes on to make a bold statement:

… it seems that either they don’t have their priorities quite straight or their companies’ senior executives aren’t giving them enough authority to make a business difference. In this day and age, if you’re a technology leader and you’re still preoccupied with aligning IT and business and operating, maintaining, and deploying systems–as important as those responsibilities are–you’re behind the curve.

While strategy is very important, and time does indeed need to be spent uncovering and forging what your company’s strategy need be, it is living in the here and now as well as keeping associates and customers, alike, satisfied which keep your business’s doors open.

Maslow’s Hierarchy represents various needs we as humans must have in order to reach our full potential. At the base of these is our ‘physiological needs’, followed by our needs for safety, socialization, esteem and self-actualization (at the top). Maslow suggested that in order for humans to reach their potential, self-actualization, all other needs-groups must be satisfied first.

Perhaps, technology leaders are more focused on the tactical simply out of some survival instinct?

This is not necessarily a selfish thing either. One might argue that those leaders who are well tuned to their company’s mission and present market position might simply be sensitive to the fact that strategy doesn’t necessarily solve today’s problems - doesn’t necessarily put food on your table.

Converting the Ball Wins the Game:

I’m a fan of professional football, and love watching Sunday games. As many of you know, there are loads of commercials, lots of sideline commentators giving their feedback, and many fits and starts between the coin toss and final knee. How many big plays are there during any one game? If there is a large mismatch between the teams, you see a lot, but in professional football you usually only see a handful of really spectacular plays.

The teams spend countless hours in practice and drilling plays into their heads. The coach’s job is to know the plan, to make sure he has the right players in place, and adjust the plays where necessary. But in all that, it’s the 3-yard runs and 5-yard passes that make up most of the games; the do-overs, dropped balls, and penalties grind on your patience - but they are part of the game too.

As a technology focused leader, you must understand balance is of utmost importance - and prioritization a necessary skill to possess. Furthermore, strategic thinking is a very tough skill to master, but converting play after play consistently is where the touchdowns come. While Rob makes a good case, I can’t help but wonder if he acting a little as an arm-chair quarterback.

images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

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• Best practices in negotiating MPS contracts - A user panel.
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Edward Crowley

The Photizo Group

• MPS Resource Site (Sponsored by Photizo Group):  http://www.managed-print-services.com/
• MPS Blogs at http://www.printerindustry.blogspot.com