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CEO's Report
The World Economies
Well, just when we thought the GFC was over, Europe implodes and the US slips backwards. Still, there is always the positive side – vacation properties in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland are now half the cost they were a few years ago.
I hear Italy will be the next country in trouble so maybe we will
shortly see cut-price Ferraris and designer clothes. I
am not actually suggesting that you should go out and buy a new vacation property in Europe
or a Ferrari, but I do mean to illustrate that there is always some good news, even in the darkest of times. We just need to look for opportunities and we need to think positively.
As Warren Buffett says, (and I paraphrase), ”Buy when others are selling and sell when others are buying.”
For us, a lot of the good news
is due to K1Corp being privately owned. We don’t have a banker or analyst telling us how to run our business.
We have many banks as customers so we love them, we just don't want
to owe them money. We are still strongly customer and service centric and are still investing heavily in research and development – usually one of the first activities curbed by nervous banks
and investors. Happily, I still make all the decisions as I have for
26 years so customers and quality still come first. SaaS
- Cloud Computing - lowering your
operating costsIn addition,
and largely because we are self financing, we have been able to move smoothly to a Software as a Service (SaaS) model to suit our customers' requests for a ‘lower cost’ way to purchase, implement and
manage our products and services. Basically, SaaS (hosting) provides a way to purchase our software and manage cash flow more effectively by substituting a single, low monthly payment for the large up front payment normally required with a software purchase.
Because we are self-financing there are no third
parties involved and no complicated leasing or rental finance
agreements to negotiate. It has always been our objective to make it
as easy as possible to do business with us and SaaS is no exception. It is also a way to avoid having to make significant investments in IT hardware and infrastructure because we provide all of that as part of our SaaS offering.
Our customers' interest in our SaaS offering is at the highest level ever and we guess that this indicates that many organizations are still feeling pain from the GFC and are still looking to lower costs. We are offering SaaS as a way to meet our customers’ requests for a lower cost way to purchase
and operate our software.
New and Updated Products
- Your ASU at workOur R&D efforts continue unabated and the immediate results are RecFind 6 version 2.3 and 2.4.
RecFind 6 version 2.3 is the next release from version 2.2 and contains many enhancements and improvements.
RecFind 6 version 2.4 contains a brand new product, the RecFind 6 alternative user interface. This is a browser-based ‘thin-client’ user interface that is significant because it does not require the .NET Framework and it is relatively browser and operating system independent.
That is, you will be able to run it with Safari, Firefox and Apple OS or
Linux. It will also work with Apple's new iPad under the Safari
browser. RecFind 6 is a very, very clever product and we estimate that
it will save our customers many millions of dollars on roll-out and
maintenance costs as well as providing a much more flexible
operating platform. New Personnel
As part of our expansion plans we have appointed a new Sales and Marketing Director, Tony Holland.
Some of you may remember Tony from seven years ago when he worked for us as our Sales Manager. Tony left us for a very successful career at Fuji Xerox but we were able to entice him back
in April to manage our expansion program and world-wide sales.
The Future
I personally think we are in for a few more years of tough times and empty political promises. As a business man and business owner that means four key things to me:
- Look after customers, increase our service level; put customers first. I firmly believe that if you look after customers, they look after you. I have always told my staff, “I don’t pay your salaries; customers do. So make sure they are one-hundred percent happy.”
- Keep costs low but keep standards high. Never sacrifice standards for cost savings; this is a short term policy and all it does is extend the time to failure. There are always savings to be found without sacrificing standards, especially product quality, service and support standards.
- Keep investing in innovation, the world hasn’t stopped, it has just slowed down. The companies that continue to invest will be in the best possible position for growth when our economies really do start to recover.
- Look after and protect your staff. As a software company we have three key assets, our Intellectual Property (IP), our customers and our staff. The Romans would have called this our ‘triumvirate’,
each of equal importance. There can’t be IP or customers without loyal, committed staff.
The above are my four rules for running a successful business in tough times or at any time for that matter.
To our customers, please stick with us and we promise we won’t let you down. We will continue to provide the best service and the most innovative, most scalable and most stable products at the most effective cost.
We will also continue to give you the smartest, most experienced
and easiest people to talk to. This is what we have been doing for twenty-six years and I see no reason to change.
Best Regards,
Frank McKenna, CEO
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RecFind 6
version 2.3
Version 2.3 will include the usual fixes and
performance improvements (we are always striving to make RecFind 6
work faster over both the LAN and the Internet) together with some
significant new features such as a brand new graphical user
interface for Workflow, a new and easy way to schedule reports and
thumbnails for images. Version 2.3 is in the final testing phase and we
are looking for a June release to all customers.
New Features in 2.3 Summary
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Improved support for 64 Bit Operating Systems |
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Improved Support for Windows 7 |
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Scheduled Reports |
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EDOC thumbnails |
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Workflow graphical template designer |
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Improvements to Workflow (e.g., decision tasks) |
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Faster searches |
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New Thesaurus/Corporate Vocabulary searches |
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Button integrated with SharePoint, making it easy to
capture documents stored in SharePoint with the Button |
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Record filters for Xchange import |
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Xchange now imports a K1 database |
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RecFind 6
version 2.4 - the new 'thin-client' User Interface (UI)
Version 2.4 actually involves the addition of a
new product to RecFind 6, a brand new and optional 'thin-client'
user interface. This is based on the latest .NET technology and is unique
in that it does not require the .NET Framework (as the RecFind 6
smart-client does) and it is also browser and operating system
independent. This means for example that it will run in Firefox as
well as Explorer and it will run on your Linux and Apple PCs as well
as your Windows PCs. This particular product has required a lot of
innovation and 'inventing' on our part.
We have made the new thin-client user interface
look and feel as close as possible to the current RecFind 6 smart-client.
They will also eventually (through several releases) have identical functionality. This means users will be able to move from one to the other without
retraining. Customers can run both clients (smart and thin) at the
same time and both are managed by the same concurrent user
algorithm. So, if you for example have a 50 concurrent user license
for RecFind 6, you can run any mix of smart and thin clients up to a
maximum of 50. Pricing is also identical. We are
planning on an October release of this new product, it is in Beta
testing at the moment with one of our customers.
Apple iPad compatible!
Note that this new 'thin-client' UI does not replace the existing
'smart-client' UI; it is an alternative for those customers where it
is a more appropriate technology. For example, where platform
independence (operating system and/or browser) is an issue. For
example, for those customers needing to run RecFind 6 on the new
Apple iPad. We
created it to widen the appeal of RecFind 6.
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Software as a
Service (SaaS) / Hosting
We have always offered Subscription pricing as an alternative to
'up-front' pricing. Subscription pricing combines the software costs
and maintenance cost into a single monthly fee. With upfront pricing
(the usual way organizations buy software) you pay for the software in a single payment and then pay
maintenance (we call it an ASU) annually.
SaaS extends the Subscription model to cover us actually running
the application for you 'off-site' and providing all of the server
related IT equipment and facilities required. We add a 'Hosting'
charge to the subscription charge to give you a single monthly fee
that covers the software, maintenance and all of the server
equipment and server software required to run your RecFind 6
application. We also take care of all the updates required for the
server, database (e.g., SQL Server) and the RecFind 6 application as
well as backups.
We offer a range of SaaS options covering redundancy, backups,
disaster recovery, etc and also offer options for application
management (e.g., we can manage and run the RecFind 6 DRM and
Xchange for you). There is no limit of what we can do including the
scanning of paper documents and the registration of mail and emails.
You can tailor the SaaS service to your exact requirements,
including the minimum period, and we
can also convert your current 'payment up front' agreement for
RecFind 6 into a SaaS agreement if required.
Read what industry leaders say about SaaS,
Click here...
Please click here to request more information on our
SaaS service..
Please click here to read more information on
SaaS from our website..
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Introducing a new partner - K
Files, Uganda, Africa
K Files is our newest RecFind 6 distributor located in Kampala,
Uganda, Africa.
The Managing Director is Lilian Mukasa and Lilian
can be contacted on 0712-787-668 or
mukasa.lilian@gmail.com. Lilian describes her company as follows:
"K Files Ltd offers records management services and offsite
storage. We ensure that your business has adequate
and proper documentation of its essential transactions. In turn,
your business' legal and financial rights are protected.
We store and archive your documents while
maintaining the utmost confidentiality. Most importantly, we provide
rapid retrieval of your documents when required. We use the RecFind
6 software suite to register and track documents throughout their
lifecycle and to enable our clients to know the precise location of
a document as it cycles throughout their offices.
Your records tell the story of your business
operation; how do you want it to read?"
Mission: To create an organized document atmosphere in
the business community in Uganda, to ensure a firm grip on all
transactions and business processes.
Vision: To be the number one records repository and a solution to records management
through the provision of software and storage facilities.
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New White Papers
Frank McKenna has been tapping away again on his
computer writing more white papers on how to get the best out of
RecFind as well as on current subjects topical to our industry.
Please download the PDFs from the following links:
Managing Financial Transactions with RecFind 6
Contract Management with RecFind 6
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Customer Focus
The Town of Cochrane, Alberta, Canada
The real west is something that happens every day in
Cochrane, not just a couple of weeks in summer. Cochrane is
located in southern Alberta, Canada, in the beautiful Bow
River valley, within view of the foothills and Rocky
Mountains. Cochrane is where the trail meets the sky and the
sidewalks are shared by people like you; ranchers, urban
professionals and families pushing strollers. The pace is
easier here, but just as much gets done. Cochrane is where
you can live the wide open life you want to live.
It is easy to understand why over 15,000 people
choose to live in Cochrane. Picturesque surroundings, a growing
range of community facilities and a thriving economy, all built on
the solid foundation of our western heritage - It creates a sense of
place for all of us.
 
The Town of Cochrane has been a RecFind customer
since 2001. It recently upgraded to RecFind 6 with the onsite
assistance of Greg Warrilow from Knowledgeone Corporation. Cochrane
use RecFind 6 and the RecFind 6 Button for Electronic Document and
Records Management.
If you are interested in visiting this truly beautiful part of the world please
Click here
for the website and more information.
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June Special Offer
RecFind 6 Add-on Products
This special offer is to promote our
range of add-on products for RecFind 6.
The add-on products provide additional options for imaging,
document management, email management, label printing, barcoding and application
integration. They have all been designed to make the above
operations faster, easier and as 'automatic' as possible, saving
you both time and money.
Please click on the following links for more information
about our innovative add-on products. Learn how they can help
your business better meet its objectives while saving money and
becoming more efficient.
Your staff will love them because they will make their jobs
much easier; we remove the tedious jobs and speed up every
process.
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GEM
- complete and fully-automatic email management |
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RecCapture
- a complete and fully-automatic solution to the shared drives
problem
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The Mini API
- the easiest, fastest way to integrate RecFind 6 to
any other application |
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Button
- the world's easiest way
to manually capture electronic documents, emails and scan paper.
Fully integrated with MS Office 2003 and 2007 plus Notes and
GroupWise
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ColorBar
- the easiest, fastest and most professional way to produce colored
file labels |
This offer is valid up until June 30, 2010
Ten-Percent (10%) discount on all purchase of RecFind 6 Add-on products
If you would like a quotation for any of the above Add-on products please
click here...
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New
Personnel - Tony Holland
We are pleased to announce that Tony Holland has been appointed
Sales and Marketing Director of Knowledgeone Corporation with
world-wide responsibilities.
Tony has over eleven years experience in the document management and
business process outsourcing industry with both Fuji
Xerox (7 years) and the GMB Group, K1Corp's previous trading name,
(4 years).
In this new role Tony is looking forward to helping K1Corp
achieve its ambitious expansion and sales targets and is
particularly looking forward to helping our customers optimize their
document intensive business processes; leveraging off his experience
and success at Fuji Xerox implementing large scale, document-centric
projects.
Though he has been 'away' seven years Tony still remembers most
of our customers and is looking forward to renewing contacts.
Tony is married with four children and his hobbies are surfing,
dodging sharks
and other board riders and trying his best to manage and clean up after four active
children. He and Frank McKenna (our CEO) have been friends for many
years and Frank is delighted to have Tony back at K1Corp, "The right
man at exactly the right time!"
To contact Tony please click here..
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Training Update
Enthusiasm for RecFind 6 remains high with
customers looking forward to getting it into production. The end users seem to
love the new user interface and the fact that they use the same
Windows product whether they work on the LAN or over the Internet.
Upcoming Training
Schedule - Australia
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Sydney |
Melbourne |
Brisbane |
Adelaide |
Perth |
Hobart |
June
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User |
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21/22 |
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Admin |
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23/24 |
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July
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User |
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26/27 |
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Admin |
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28/29 |
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August
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User |
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23/24 |
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Admin |
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25/26 |
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September
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User |
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6/7 |
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Admin |
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8/9 |
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October
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User |
18/19 |
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Admin |
20/21 |
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November
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User |
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8/9 |
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Admin |
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10/11 |
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December
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User |
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Admin |
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North America
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Course |
Date |
Cost |
| RecFind 6 User Training
Los Angeles, CA |
June 28 - 29 2010 |
$850 pp |
| RecFind 6 Admin Training
Los Angeles, CA |
June 30 - July 1 2010 |
$850 pp |
To book your place at one of these upcoming
training courses simply click on the following links:
RecFind Courses:
http://www.knowledgeonecorp.com/services/enrolonline.htm
For Europe, Africa, and
North America we will be running additional RecFind 6 training course 'on
demand' because of the vast geographical distribution of our
customers.
To inquire about and
book an onsite 'on-demand' training course please
click here...
If you have any
questions whatsoever regarding our Training courses or one of
Knowledgeone Corp's Consulting services please email the
Training
Department.
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Contact Update
Have you recently
shifted office or changed contact person?
For any updates, simply give us your new particulars, as listed
below, and email them to our
Sales Department.
Please include the following details:
Company Name, Contact Person, Job Title, Address, Email Address,
Telephone Number, Fax Number, and Customer Number (if known)
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