NetDocuments Data Center Reliability

“NetDocuments SaaS service reliability has reached a remarkable level of 100% uptime for the past two plus years. It is true that every quarter NetDocuments may schedule a 4-hour service maintenance window on a Saturday night (Eastern Time Zone), always pre-announced several weeks in advance. It is also true that software upgrades planned roughly every other month represent no service down-time, even for those users who happen to be logged in during the very hour when the upgrade happens.

Other popular SaaS providers such as Google Apps and Microsoft Hotmail have not been so fortunate. It begs the question as to why NetDocuments has been so reliable.

It is because there is an integrated approach to continuous uptime which encompasses software development, release procedures, infrastructure architecture, and datacenter management. It takes several years of continuous effort and experience to fine tune a highly available business-class SaaS service. While there can’t be any guarantees on future up time, NetDocuments is fully committed to continue to refine its service and procedures to maintain this high standard of availability.”

           - Alvin Tedjamulia - CTO, NetDocuments August 2008

HP and NetDocuments Partner Up Again

HP has been an investor of NetDocuments from our beginnings in 1998 and since then we have gotten together at various times to integrate scanners or MFPs, or marketed together in the legal and real estate markets in particular. Back in 2001 we integrated NetDocuments with the HP Scan-to-Web solution that was included in most low-end scanners.  Last year we worked on a specific project to integrate with a line of HP MFPs.   Now, we have just completed an integration with HP ScanJets Smart Document Scanning Software (SDSS) which is bundled in about ten scanners that range from $499 to $3000.  Pricing of these scanners are basically determined by the volume that scanners can handle per month and the scanning speed per minute.  For example, the HP Scanjet 7650  (above picture) is $499 with a scan speed up to 12 pages per minute, an auto document feeder of 50 sheets and its duty cycle (recommended maximum usage) of about 500 pages per day.  the HP Scanjet N7710 is $999, (bottom picture) can scan up to 35 pages per minutes and have a duty life cycle of about 1, 500 pages per day.   

I am very impressed with what can be done with these scanners combined with our NetDocuments integration . You can create these pre-defined scanner profiles within SDSS to set the workflow process for how you want the documents to be scanned, e.g., page size, resolution, adjustment of the page such as auto-straightening, auto-orienting, auto-cropping, and bar code detection.  Then you can direct the output format to searchable PDF (OCRed so the text can be full-text searchable in NetDocuments), PDF-A, TIFF, etc. All a NetDocuments user has to do is download an add-on software that adds two of these scanned profiles to SDSS so that the user can immediately scan directly to NetDocuments to a PDF format. The user can, however customize these profiles anyway they want within the options available within SDSS.  It’s very cool and you now have a wonderful solution to go paperless and create procedures within our offices to get papers scanned and filed into NetDocuments for universal access and management.

 With the bar code recognition, a NetDocuments user can create and print a cover sheet (routing sheet) that can be placed on a document and have it automatically filed with the respective attributes (metadata) applied to the document. This allows users who know about their documents to create these cover sheets and then give them to a scanning clerk or someone who does not have knowledge about the documents to perform the scanning work.

What I like about HP scanners and NetDocuments is the low-cost and easy to get started approach they offer. HP scanners don’t cost very much, can easily sit on our desk for quick access, and then with a press of a button have it filed in NetDocuments. NetDocuments as a web-hosted, Software-as-a-Service application can be deployed and started as soon as you can count to 30…okay maybe 60 seconds…by filling out a subscription form at www.netdocuments.com. You immediately get into your account, then download the HP SDSS add-on software (a few seconds) and then your HP scanner is fully integrated. Your documents are available 24×7, from any Internet-connected device, backed up and protected and integrated with your desktop applications such as Microsoft Office–all for about $25 per user/per month.  I am always reminded how technology has advanced our productivity and efficiency in our everyday work.  

Going paperless is easy to begin. Think PDF, just get started and be practical about it and be a champion within your business or office.  Others will think you are a technology leader and will want to emulate you!

NetDocuments® Named to KMWorld’s “100 Companies That Matter In Knowledge Management”

“NetDocuments is pleased to be recognized as an eminent provider in the knowledge management industry,” said Ken Duncan, CEO of NetDocuments. “Going back to the early 90’s our team has been developing trend-setting products and services in the document and knowledge management space that have influenced the industry and more importantly improved efficiency and productivity in the lives of our customers.”  

Hugh McKellar, KMWorld editor in chief, said, “We have long held that the true essence of knowledge management is an attitude, a single-minded commitment to improvement. And companies on our list simply must emphasize an abiding determination to serve their most important constituency: their customers. They must also show agile innovation combined with a full understanding of the forces that affect, and will affect, their customers.”  

Designed and developed as an on-demand document service for the Web, NetDocuments is the first true SaaS offering for document and knowledge management. Its patented and scalable technology offers a centralized storage area for documents, emails and records that provide its customers with a “one firm view” across geographically dispersed offices, as well as enable users to access information from any Internet-connected device, including handheld devices. For more information about NetDocuments please visit http://www.netdocuments.com or call +1.866.638.3627.

Chutes & Ladders - Getting Docs into a Web Application

NetDocuments has continued to focus on making simple and easy ONRAMPS or CHUTES to get both paper documents and digital documents located on your servers or PCs into NetDocuments. And once they are in NetDocuments, your working life is enhanced, your productivity expanded and your customer/client loyalty enriched. The most recent enhancement has been with Hewlett-Packard scanners.

EXAMPLES: 

1.  Install the NetDocuments application integrations - Users can simply save from within Word (or Excel or Powerpoint 2007) and NetDocs will seamlessly direct the user down the CHUTE to import the document to your online folder—ALL FROM WITHIN WORD.  File Open, File SaveAs are all captured by NetDocuments.

2.  HP scanners:  If you own an HP scanner that supports the HP Smart Document Scan Software (SDSS) you can customize and define unique scanning profiles (how you want to scan your paper such as searchable PDF), and the scanned document will go down the CHUTE to direct the user to seamlessly file the document into your online folders.

3.  Any MFP or Digital Sender - If you don’t have an HP scanner but you do have a Multifunction printer with email sending capability, you simply email the scanned document to your NetDocuments online folders using the folder’s unique email address.  A CHUTE if there ever is one.  No more filing to your server and then having to locate it to file into the DMS, or installing any special software to integrate with your DMS. Simply email it.  This goes for any FAX to email service you may be using as well such as eFAX to get faxes down the CHUTE to your online folders as well.

4.  Exporting from Salesforce.com to ND.  For businesses who have lots of documents in their Salesforce.com databases and costing too much money and bogging down the system, simply install the ND App Exchange integration to get the “Export Attachments” button to mass import (or per Account) all the documents down the CHUTE from Salesforce.com to your ND online folders.

5.  Our Import from PC feature…We’ve recently made it a CHUTE by allowing users to select a batch of documents at ONCE.  And we’ve always had the ability to create a new document directly from within NetDocuments interface–don’t know of any other web-based service (than NetDocuments) that allows this feature, do you?

 6.  ND also has folder import utilities to capture all your folders and enclosed documents in one big, massive CHUTE to get them all imported at once.  ND also has a customized mass import process to import tens of thousands to millions of documents if larger organizations. ND does this weekly which is why we have over 60 million documents in the global NetDocuments repository and its growing every week…

 Slippery slopes instead of ladders…. IF there is a will there is a way… Contact our Customer Service reps and we will assist you in your needs. If we don’t have a CHUTE for a specific requirement you have then let us know as we are getting pretty good at making CHUTES.

SaaS a trend in Utah as well as worldwide

This is an article written by Danny Johnson, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah Nov. 9 2007 

The Software-as-a-Service business model or SaaS, is one of the fastest growing trends in the business world and Utah companies and investors are quickly catching on.   

Software as a Service (SaaS) is when an application is hosted online. For example the company that develops the software is also delivering the software through the Internet. The user does not need to install anything to his/her computer; they just access the application online.   

Nick Efstratis, a venture capitalist from Salt Lake City has followed the SaaS industry very carefully. He said that experts predict that this industry will continue its rapid growth and by end of 2007 will be over a $5 billion industry worldwide.   Efstratis also said that SaaS will have significant impact on local companies. “Every software company in Utah is evaluating an on demand model.”                

This idea of software on demand is not a new idea to consumers.  Companies like Google who provide free web-based applications like their search engine, e-mail, word processor, and spreadsheets are examples of software accessed via the Internet.               

The success of this model in the consumer industry is now carrying over into the way companies do business.  One company that provides software on demand is NetDocuments, an Internet based document management company based in Orem, Utah. Leonard Johnson, the VP of Marketing said, the SaaS model makes sense for three main reasons: it saves companies money, provides universal access to applications and allows for client/customer collaboration.”

Johnson said that “SaaS is so much cheaper than buying traditional software because companies don’t need to buy software and the servers to store that software.” More than just saving money, SaaS applications can save time. “With SaaS you can get what you need anywhere, anytime,” Johnson said. “You can be anywhere and get your job done: on the road, at home or on sight with a client. In the past you would have to have access to your business’ network to do your job.”               

Johnson also likes the ability to get instant product upgrades with SaaS. “With traditional software, every year or two you have to buy new software to upgrade like you do with Microsoft Office,” Johnson said. “With SaaS it’s automatic. You wake up and the upgrade is here.”               

Though SaaS sounds very good, there are some factors that scare some big corporations away. “The risks associated with going with software-as-a-service are control, security, customization and service level agreements.”  Efstratis said.  Johnson said “there is a risk associated with storing your confidential data on someone else’s sight but if you make sure that the vendor is reputable you don’t need to worry.”  

Matthew Mouritsen, a business professor at Weber State University said that the SaaS industry will “probably grow at a faster rate than prior years.” He also stated that business graduates starting small businesses “can really