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CEO's Report
Hi All,
Sometimes we in the
industry get way ahead of ourselves and everyone else in the
process; it seems to be symptomatic of the IT industry. I was just
reading a Gartner report where they were forecasting that in 2009
everyone will be hot for mashups, unified communications, cloud
computing, blade server aggregation and Heterogeneous systems. As
far as I am concerned this is mostly hype and it is years ahead of
what most organizations are actually doing now and will be doing in
2009.
Then I started thinking about the applications we have invented like
GEM,
RecCapture and
Knowledgeone; fully automatic, server-centric
and rules-driven EDRMS solutions and Knowledge management systems
and generic application solutions. In truth, these applications and
concepts are also probably years ahead of what most of our customers
are actually doing. However, part of our job is to innovate and
invent and that's what we do.
You may not be aware
that we have been running our business with GEM, RecCapture and
Knowledgeone for many years. It isn't just because we need to be the
prime Beta test site; we actually need this level of functionality
to run our business efficiently. All of our emails for example (both
incoming and outgoing) are automatically captured, analyzed,
classified and stored in the K1 relational database. No one at K1
Corp ever has to worry about capturing an important email or (worse
case) printing one out and adding it to the color coded file. All
emails that should have been captured have been and are instantly
accessible by anyone on our network. We take this for granted. All
of our customer information and help desk information is in the same
K1 database. I only have to look in one place to see all information
about a customer; help desk calls, quotes, sales, meetings, phone
calls, etc.
So, why is it that only
a small number of organizations are running products like GEM and
RecCapture? Have we in the industry done such a bad selling job?
Have we failed to articulate the real-world benefits of these very
clever and extremely cost-effective products? Or, are we just a few
years ahead of the curve?
I recently came across
a paper I had written in 1995 called the IDEA - the "It Does
Everything Application". This was the genesis of both Knowledgeone
and our latest product RecFind 6 and of course, GEM and RecCapture.
1995 was 13 years ago yet the concepts in that now ancient paper are
still years ahead of where most organizations are today in the use
of application technology. Why is that? Why is industry so slow in
adapting proven technology, not just cutting edge technology?
To be fair, in 1995 the
technology for my IDEA didn't exist but today it does yet most
organizations are running today in a mode that is little changed
from 1995. Most organizations today are still pushing paper around
desks and most emails and electronic documents are not being
captured.
For example, I hear a
lot of talk about the shared drives problem that afflicts all
organizations. This is where we have gigabytes or even terabytes of
un-organized electronic documents (accumulated over many years)
spread across multiple drives and folders and I am often told no one
has a solution. This isn't true; we have a simple low cost and super
effective solution and have had for years. It is called RecCapture.
Why is it so hard to convince people to use RecCapture or products
like RecCapture to solve this annoying, costly and ubiquitous
problem?
Back in the early 1980s
I used to give presentations about the paperless office and how it
would be shortly attainable and de rigor. Yet today, despite the
availability of all the application technology required (DocScan
anyone?), the world is using vastly more paper than it did in 1980.
Why is that? What will it take to get key managers to finally say,
"Let's just do it"?
Why do we get so hyped
up and excited about future technology when most of us are content
to work with ancient tools? Why is the Gartner (and IDC) view of
'current' business technology so far removed from reality? Why isn't
industry using proven, stable and cost-effective technology to
reduce costs, remove risk and make everyone's job easier?
I sometimes think I
should stop inventing new products because most organizations aren't
even using 30% of the functionality of products I invented 20 years
ago (we still have thousands of RecFind 3.2 users who refuse to
upgrade because, "It does the job"). Even old 16bit RecFind 3.2 has
document management and imaging functionality but many of our 3.2
customers today are still "thinking about" rolling out this
functionality, functionality most of them have been 'sitting on' for
10 years or more. Why is that? Where is the impasse?
It can't be because the
technology isn't available because it is. It can't be because the
technology is prohibitively expensive because it is not. It can't be
because the technology isn't proven because it is. There is
absolutely no excuse today for any organization that is not
capturing, classifying and providing instant access to all emails
and electronic documents.
So, why aren't most
organizations taking full advantage of available, proven technology
while simultaneously getting excited about tomorrow's technology
(the latest hype)? Why are most RFI/RFP/Bid documents
overcomplicated with esoteric functional requirements when everyone
knows that they are not the practical, day to day needs of the
customer? Why is there such a schism between the hype and reality?
Please write to me (f.mckenna@k1corp.com)
and tell me why you think organizations do not utilize advanced but
proven technology to solve real world business problems, improve
productivity and make everyone's job easier. I am seriously
interested in your ideas because I am struggling to understand why
we push the future but live in the past.
Best Regards,
Frank McKenna, CEO
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RecFind 6 Coming Soon!
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Finally, we are at the end of the tunnel. RecFind
6 is ready for production and we ran our first RecFind 6
training course in Edmonton Canada last week.
Most of you will receive your RecFind 6 upgrades in early November.
The first shipments will include the RecFind 6 client (replacing
RecFind-Corporate, RecFind-Professional, RecQuery and RecQuery-TC),
the DRM, Xchange, the Button, RecScan and DocScan. GEM and
RecCapture will follow in early 2009.
RecFind 6 is 100% upwards compatible with RecFind 5 (not previous
releases like RecFind 4, you must be on RecFind 5 to convert). It
comes with a conversion program that will read your RecFind 5 database(s) and convert it to a single RecFind 6 database. It will
not overwrite your RecFind 5 database; it creates a brand new
RecFind 6 database. This means you can convert as many times as
required to enable you to test and run through all your change
control procedures.
You will also receive two license files with RecFind 6; one for a
production system and one for a test and training system. These must
be installed on different servers and the test/training version
cannot be used for production but other than that, it has no
limitations.
The RecFind 6 client (and the Button) can be deployed by your IT
people to run either as a 'fat' client (running over your LAN) or a
'thin' client (running over your Intranet). Because it is the same
client the functionality is identical.
The DRM is used to modify the RecFind 6 Data Model and to modify any
RecFind 6 business process.
Xchange is used to import from any system or export any data.
RecFind 6 is based on the very latest Microsoft .NET 'smart-client'
paradigm and as such its prerequisites are:
- Windows Server 2003
- SQL Server 2005
- .NET Framework 3.5
- Office 2003 or 2007
- XP or Vista desktop OS
We will certify RecFind 6 against Windows Server
2008 and SQL Server 2008 for the first update (early 2009).
Everything in RecFind 6 is an improvement over RecFind 5. You will
be particularly impressed with the new searching and reporting
capabilities.
RecFind 6 has more functionality than RecFind 5 but far fewer
screens (about one quarter). It is far easier to use and navigate.
Xchange is a huge improvement on the old Import/Export module.
The new Button is a huge improvement over the old one.
The eDOC functionality of RecFind 6 is a huge improvement over
RecFind 5. For example, you can now scan, OCR and convert to PDF in
a simple capture process.
The DRM provides you with an unparalleled ability to make changes to
almost any aspect of RecFind 6. You can now tailor RecFind 6 to your
exact requirements without waiting on us.
We have given RecFind 6 a 'similar' look and feel to RecFind 5 but
it is a totally new product based on totally new technology. Do not
expect it to be an 'upgrade' to RecFind 5, it is a brand new product
and it does most things differently to RecFind 5 albeit faster and
easier (retention, for example, is now much easier to configure and
use as is file titling).
As always with products from us, the base product (the RecFind 6
client) includes all of the functionality you will require
(retention, titling, scanning, electronic document capture,
workflow, report writer, portable and fixed barcode reader support,
etc, etc). You don't need to buy any optional products or modules.
The add-on products like GEM and RecCapture are there for
organizations that want to do things in a fully automatic, rather
than client-centric, way.
And finally, RecFind 6 is still based on the concurrent user
paradigm providing you with the absolute lowest cost way to roll out
and manage application software.
RecFind 6 is also a very 'pretty' product. We designed it this way
to brighten up your day.
We sincerely hope you enjoy using RecFind 6 as much as we have
enjoyed designing and building it, it was really a labor of love.
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Preparing for RecFind 6
RecFind 6 uses very different technology to RecFind 5 and it has
a different set of prerequisites and requirements. The following
link takes you to a paper on our website explaining how to prepare
for RecFind 6.
If you or your IT people have questions about preparing for RecFind
6 please contact our
Support Department.
iFilters
RecFind 6 no longer uses the ISYS indexing engine for full text
indexing and searching. In RecFind 6 we have written our own full
text indexing engine and it relies on a new technology called
iFilters. The following link takes you to a section on our website
where we explain all about iFilters and how to install and use them.
.NET Connection Strings, not ODBC
RecFind 6 no longer uses ODBC to connect to SQL databases. It uses a
newer and much more efficient technology called connection strings.
It is no longer necessary for your IT people to have to set up ODBC
connections on workstations.
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Microsoft Windows Server
2008 and SQL Server 2008 Certification
As these are both new products and not yet in
general use by our customers we left the certification of RecFind 6
against these two products until the first update/service pack. We
expect this early in 2009.
If you have an urgent need to utilize either of
these products with RecFind 6 please contact
contact our
Support Department
and tell us about your requirements.
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SQL Server 2005 and 'Old' Versions of RecFind
Please be aware that old versions of RecFind
(e.g., 2.0, 3.2, 4.0) even up to 5.0.0F (5.0.0G was the first
release to be certified with SQL Server 2005) will not work with SQL
Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008.
PLEASE tell your IT people not to upgrade your RecFind database from
SQL 2000 to SQL 2005 if you are using an old version of RecFind. If
in doubt please contact
our
Support Department.
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Knowledgeone (K1) Version 2.0
This is our next challenge. RecFind 6 was a
re-development of the .NET Visual Development Studio 2003 technology
used for K1 1.6 replacing the browser based user interface with a
new technology .NET smart-client Windows interface. RecFind 6 was
built using .NET Visual Studio 2008 and it now has more
functionality than K1 1.6.
K1 version 2 continues this 'leap-frog' R&D approach by utilizing
the latest .NET 2008 technology used for RecFind 6 to develop the
new .NET smart client interface for K1 version 2.0.
This means K1 2.0 will 'look like' RecFind 6 and it will end up
having more functionality than RecFind 6 as we improve and add to
its functionality during the development process.
The big advantage of using this 'leap-frog' approach is that we
leverage off proven technology and significantly reduce the R&D
effort required to bring a new product to market.
Look for K1 version 2.0 in the first half of 2009.
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Tips & Tricks
Automatically Converting Images to Text and PDF Format
For many years the IT standards world has been arguing over a
'standard' long term archival standard for electronic documents. The
argument/discussion/debate continues today and we have multiple
standards.
Sensible records managers long ago chose Adobe's PDF format as the
most appropriate default because "It just works".
Until now third party engines to handle the conversion were
expensive and painful to license.
We made the decision some time ago to design and build our own
OCR/PDF engine so our customers wouldn't be hit with additional
licensing fees.
The first release of this new engine is now incorporated in two of
our products, DocScan 3 and the new RecFind 6 client.
The engine will first convert an image to text (the process is
called OCR or Optical Character Recognition) and then converts it to
the industry standard PDF format.
This means you end up with an image in a PDF that is searchable by a
full text search rather than a TIFF file that cannot be indexed.
The following screens show how this happens in RecFind 6.
1. Select Maintenance from the RecFind 6 toolbar.
2. Select Attachments (EDOCs). Click Add.
3. Click the Scan button.
4. Select PDF as the required format (it will remember your
preferences).
5. Click the Attach Document button. RecFind 6 will automatically
convert the scanned image into text and then save it as a PDF.
Nothing could be easier.
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Upcoming Training Schedule
Scheduled RecFind 6 Training will commence in
November 2008. The first course is to be held in Brisbane,
Australia. The cost of the courses are $915 (ex GST) per course and
each course is 2 days duration.
For those companies still wanting RecFind 5 training
- we can conduct these courses onsite.
Australia
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November 2008 |
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NSW |
VIC |
QLD |
SA |
WA |
TAS |
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RecFind User |
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24 - 25 |
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RecFind Admin |
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26 - 27 |
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December 2008 |
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NSW |
VIC |
QLD |
SA |
WA |
TAS |
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RecFind User |
8 - 9 |
1 - 2 |
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RecFind Admin |
10 - 11 |
3 - 4 |
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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
If you have any questions regarding a
RecFind or Knowledgeone K1 Training course or one of
Knowledgeone Corp's Consulting services please email the
Training
Department.
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New Faces @ K1 Corp
Meet our new recruits who are ready to assist with your K1 & RecFind
needs.
David
Lavelle-Mangan - National Sales Manager
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David Lavelle-Mangan has been
appointed as Knowledgeone's National Sales Manager. David
comes from a senior role at Telstra where he was the NSW
Acquisitions Sales Manager and has held senior management
roles with Xpedite and computer giants Dell and NEC. |
Piper McKenna-Collis - Future Corporate Account Manager
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Piper Collis-McKenna is
following in mum's (Sam McKenna) footsteps as a CAM person. Piper loves
meeting new people and loves nothing more than having a
great chat on the phone. Favorite pastimes include reading,
dancing and bird watching. She aspires to have Grandpa
Frank's office one day... |
Giacomo Burke
- Future Marketing Manager
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Giacomo (pronounced Gee-ak-omo) is a junior assistant in the
K1 Marketing/Admin department. He aspires to working in the
Support department as his favorite activity is playing with
all the electrical cords below Mum's (Sarah Forlico) computer. Giacomo is
going to attend day care in November to further his career.
His father hopes that he will one day play for the Wallabies
but believes that his name will be better suited to football
(soccer)... |
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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, Designation, Address, Email Address,
Telephone Number, Fax Number, and Customer Number
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