Saas and Document Process Automation
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Onward and Upward With Document Process Automation As a Cloud Service www.esker.com ESKER ON DEMAND Assessing the Strategic Value of Cloud Services Cloud and SaaS appeal Quitting paper Most companies today recognize the enormous operational efficiencies and sustainability benefits to be gained by removing paper from business processes that rely on documents, and many have already automated parts of key processes. Still, the cost and complexity of implementing software and hardware to achieve comprehensive automation can be prohibitive — making cloud computing and the Software as a Service (SaaS) model attractive. Cloud services have become part of many organizations’ process improvement strategies for several key reasons: . IT maintenance costs are spiraling out of control . Businesses need to do more with less . Bandwidth and connectivity are available . Cloud services can make data available to ERP applications and other business systems . Security can be ensured According to IT industry analysts, early concerns over security and general performance of cloud services have faded as SaaS models have matured and been adopted by more organizations. A Gartner survey found that 95 percent of companies expected to grow or maintain use of SaaS through 2010,1 and a Businessweek Research Services survey found that 4 out of 5 managers and senior executives in North America are either interested in, or in the process of, adopting cloud services using the SaaS approach.2 Both surveys identified IT cost and complexity as top factors driving the trend. What’s driving cloud service adoption? Making the business case Everyone wants to save money these days, and businesses are specifically looking to reduce capital expense budgets. At the same time, companies are facing the need to replace installed software that no longer provides the document processing functionality or flexibility they require, and they want to deploy solutions as quickly and easily as possible. And ultimately, those on the front lines would rather focus on improving processes instead of managing servers for faxing and emailing. Key attributes driving organizations to adopt cloud services for document processing include: . Quick deployment and immediate ROI . Flexible pay-as-you-go pricing . No on-premise infrastructure . Low implementation cost, low risk . Little or no IT investment With cloud services, organizations can deploy document processing solutions across the enterprise quickly and pay only for what they use. This offers an extremely low-risk approach because it costs virtually nothing to implement a core component of the efficiency and sustainability initiatives that so many companies are focused on. Instead of installing and managing software to gain automation savings (and using energy to run server computers and other infrastructure for document processing), organizations can simply access the technology via the Internet. As an alternative to the traditional approach of installing software on premise, cloud services make the benefits of document process automation readily available. Essentially, all that’s needed is an Internet connection to deploy automated document processing across the entire enterprise. The SaaS approach offers the opportunity to shift ROI from the project level to the document level (capital versus operational expense) for immediate ROI. 1 “Gartner Survey Indicates More Than 95 Percent of Organizations Expect to Maintain or Grow Their Use of SaaS Through 2010.” Gartner, Inc., April 29, 2010. 2 Marion, Larry. “What’s Driving SaaS Adoption?” Internet.com, October, 2009. 2 Automating with confidence Taking care in the cloud While cloud services offer clear financial benefits and operational advantages, the thought of handing off management of core business processes still makes some companies nervous. Companies are well-advised to proceed with caution because outcomes are dependent upon the provider’s ability to safeguard network connections and information flow. Data privacy, access control, and business continuity are key considerations for any company in choosing a provider. The good news is that cloud service providers have worked hard to ensure protection of sensitive information and support for compliance with privacy regulations, and those efforts have paid off. Top-tier SaaS facilities combine physical and virtual infrastructure to secure enterprise information within and outside the walls of the organization. Lingering apprehension about security is addressed by cloud services specifically designed to safeguard document processing. Data security and confidentiality Key features to ensure that your data is handled securely and confidentially include vendor-hosted data centers with key card entry, biometric recognition, digital surveillance, secure protocols (HTTPS, SFTP, SSL) for data and document transfer, logical security and physical security controls, application security measures, and process auditing capabilities. Access control Secure login and password protection, folder-level and document-level restriction to specific users or groups, identity administration, role management and user provisioning all help control access to cloud services. Reliability and scalability To deliver highly reliable and scalable performance, a cloud service for document process automation should offer automatic 24/7/365 system monitoring to ensure operational continuity. In addition, a solution leveraging multitenant architecture facilitates easy deployment of new technologies and additional capacity so you will benefit from system updates and improvements automatically. Availability Cloud service availability is enhanced by a redundant disk array subsystem architecture for high performance and fault tolerance. Clustering and load balancing promote server efficiency and continuity assurance, as does redundancy of servers, networks and telecommunications. SaaS facilities should have backup generators for the electrical infrastructure as well as active and passive fire prevention measures and temperature control for humidity and pressure. Recovery Essential safeguards for disaster recovery preparedness include data mirroring, replication and synchronization, and failover capabilities. The cloud service provider should have a rapid response team available around the clock in case of emergency. Additional detail about cloud services and SaaS security is found in the white paper, Securing the Flow of Information: Software as a Service and Your Confidential Data, available from Esker. 3 SaaS and Document Process Automation Order-to-cash and procure-to-pay All processes within the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycles of business rely on documents. The pains of paper handling are concentrated in a few key areas: sales order processing, accounts receivable, purchasing and accounts payable. Cloud services offer the opportunity to integrate end-to-end automation with existing business processes, encompassing entire document lifecycles — from inbound receipt and data capture to workflow, archiving and outbound delivery. ORDER-TO-CASH PROCURE-TO-PAY SALES ORDER PROCESSING E-PURCHASING Customer Purchase Order Order Payment Payment Your Customers Your Company Your Vendors Customer Vendor Invoice Invoice ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE Why the cloud makes sense SaaS offers the ability to implement document process automation solutions rapidly and cost-effectively, without the need to build or expand an in-house network. With a mature and well-defined SaaS model, cloud services can put the most powerful document processing technologies at an organization’s disposal — and the enterprise can dynamically adapt to new business challenges and deploy solutions quickly. With the right cloud service: . Users anywhere in an organization can leverage the automation platform at any time to process customer orders, vendor invoices, customer invoices and purchase orders efficiently and consistently . Geographically separate business units can all share in the benefits of visibility, tight controls, support for effective process management and operational cost reduction . Services can be customized easily so that each user only has access to the components he or she needs . Minimal implementation cost brings the benefits of automated document processing to organizations of any size — so small and medium businesses can gain process efficiencies once practical only for large corporations . Managers can accelerate execution of document automation projects without the need for deep involvement of IT resources or large budget allowances for implementation cost 4 Cloud Services for Inbound Document Automation Vendor invoice and sales order management Simply put, cloud services can enable more people throughout the organization to operate more effectively when it comes to accounts payable and sales order processing. A cloud-based SaaS approach allows enterprises to expand automated invoice or order entry and approval workflow beyond the walls of the company — to subsidiary offices, remote employees, manufacturing facilities, and other locations — with best-of-breed security. A key point of value here is that the SaaS approach does not require a company to open the corporate firewall. Document is Verification is Document is Document is Data and 1 submitted 2 done through 3 routed to 4 passed to 5 image are web application staff for approval manager for final uploaded to ERP Order or sign-off Invoice With a cloud service, scanned documents or those sent via fax, email