A Creative Solution Ohio State Agency Crafts New Way to Deliver Document Technologies

Just as there may be many roads to a single destination, there are many ways to deliver document technology.

Common methods for distributing solutions run from direct vendor sales to the reseller channel. Nonetheless, there is always room for creativity to spawn a new breed. Hybrids can carry elements of direct sales, value-added reselling, systems integration, and Application Service Provider (ASP) models.

Such a unique endeavor developed at The Ohio State University, Columbus, where the institution’s organization and style differ markedly from many other centers for higher education. At Ohio State, the colleges, departments, and administrative offices often choose, install, and run their own technology systems. That contrasts starkly with other schools such as Big Ten-competitor Pennsylvania State University, which purchased a site license for a single solution and deployed it at myriad departments over 27 campuses statewide.

At Ohio State -- where enrollment runs over 54,000 students -- administrative units enjoy considerable autonomy and purchasing discretion, so efforts to promote integrated solutions have often been met with a reluctant skepticism. As document imaging, workflow, report management, and related technologies developed through the 1990s, various units at Ohio State looked at an array of solutions, but there was no consensus.

Clearly, there was an opportunity for a new model. University Retail Services, one of Ohio State’s Business Operations departments, provided comprehensive, conventional document services to the university. URS runs a large print shop, leases copiers, develops Websites for campus organizations, and offers addressing services with mailing lists. It places, supplies, and repairs printers on campus, and it connects them to networks.

“Between mailing, printing, and copying, we were right in the middle of documents,” states Jeff White, URS Manager. “My boss called me in one afternoon in 1996 and said he had been looking at document imaging for quite a while. He said now was the time to offer it as a service to the University.”

White and his staff launched a study: evaluating the marketplace, talking to vendors, going to trade shows, and searching the Web for solutions. Their research revealed that this was an expensive, complex technology, and too big a commitment and drain on resources for URS to develop and offer document technologies alone. White continues, “So we said, ‘Let’s buy the back end and operate as an ASP.’” Under the ASP model, end users buy software licenses for their front end -- the capture and entry of information as well as the PC-resident image viewer. An Application Service Provider leases the “back end” to users, hosting and maintaining the databases, indices, servers, and storage.

URS struck an agreement with a local imaging company and began offering image capture, storage, and retrieval. This worked well for about three years. As the customers’ need grew more complex, however, they began asking for additional, related technologies such as computer report management, workflow, and Web content management. These were above the capabilities of the local imaging outlet.

“We need full-featured, state of the art software, so we brought in multiple vendors and told them where we wanted to go,” White explains. “Our criteria were: we needed to leverage the investment we already had, including the legacy images, the indexes, and as much as possible, the hardware; we needed a whole, integrated suite with a consistent interface; and we needed a scaleable solution so we could start small and expand.”

One of the requirements was for robust Internet capabilities. URS’ service area includes Ohio State’s five satellite campuses, and White knew he would need the Internet to deliver document and content management remotely.

From the competition arose Optical Image Technology, www.docfinity.com, and its DocFinity® suite of content management products. It met all the criteria, and when White checked with OIT-customers Vanderbilt University, Penn State, and several others, “I got thumbs up across the board,” he reports.

Having validated the software and the company, URS sought a functional, appropriate business relationship with OIT. Although there was no existing model that exactly fit his needs, White found OIT management eager to hone and sculpt a mutually beneficial agreement. OIT President Scott Buchart recognized the value of a relationship that might not be replicated anywhere else. “They had no problem, in fact they encouraged us to start small,” White recalls, “with the possibility of building up to a site license. When we reach a critical number, then we will pay a flat fee and add unlimited installations.”

Empowered with a competitive product, White launched a marketing campaign to potential customers in the Ohio State community. Although it is a part of the University, URS receives no blanket preference in school procurements and must fairly compete against all interested vendors. “Our potential market runs from Admissions to Alumni Services with all of the administrative, academic, and student service offices in between,” White notes. He marketed through multiple media, including hosting a technology exposition. Existing customers of URS’ other services, like the print shop, were good candidates for document/content automation.

The sales process is familiar: “We push the life cycle of the whole document,” White reveals. “We analyze a prospect’s needs, decide on the appropriate technology, and draft a proposal. Our price is based on hardware (like scanners), software licenses, and our services such as access to servers, daily backups, security, training, and support. Additionally, there are maintenance fees for software upgrades and service.

“We partner with OIT, and University departments buy their licenses from us,” he continues. “We are a VAR for hardware and software, but we are an ASP for services and storage.

“OIT has been extremely accepting of our need to be a little different and to address the varying needs of our customers,” White adds. “Frequently, our clients ask for a new feature or additional function, and we pass on the request. OIT considers it, and usually it appears in the next release.

“For something truly unique,” he adds, “they will offer the feature for a price, and our customer can decide whether it is worth it.”

As of early 2003, URS’ customer list included Ohio State’s Accounts Payable department, the Office of Enrollment Services (Admissions, Registrar and Student Financial Aid), Facilities Planning and Development, Undergraduate Student Academic Services, the Marion regional campus, and the Ohio Supercomputer Center.

The Accounts Payable office receives invoices for the university. Before installing DocFinity from URS, clerks entered invoices into a PeopleSoft system where workflow notified offices that they had a bill to pay. Workers saw the data but not the bills. If they needed to see an invoice, Accounts Payable made three copies, filing the original.

URS jettisoned the paper. “We set them up with a system where, in PeopleSoft, there is a custom button [linked to DocFinity],” White details. “The invoices are all scanned and indexed, so when a worker clicks on the button, it launches a browser and calls a URL with the voucher number. Our database picks up the voucher number, goes out, and finds the scanned image of the invoice, delivering it to the desktop. Once there, workers can save it, print it, or send it as an e-mail attachment.”

Accounts Payable scans about 300,000 invoices a year and keeps them for four years, so total storage will reach 1.2 million files with most having multiple pages.

“The Research and Medical Centers also use PeopleSoft for Accounts Payable, and they will be adding the imaging system soon,” White adds.

At Enrollment Services, much of the information entered into the legacy mainframe system doubles to index DocFinity images. Terminal emulators connect the desktop. “We put in some screen scraping to automatically populate the imaging index fields,” White describes. “That eliminates keystroke errors, shrinks the time necessary for entry and quality control, and insures that data and images are in sync.”

The satellite campus at Marion, Ohio uses an OIT/URS solution for academic advising. Staff members there scan and index all counseling notes locally. When they key in the “save” command, the software sends the images over the Internet to the URS repository in Columbus. URS stores images and information magnetically in RAID 5 towers with a nightly back up to Digital Linear Tape, which is stored offsite.

Each of URS’ customers has unique needs, so flexibility is a key component of the system’s success. White notes that between the comprehensive abilities of DocFinity and OIT’s openness to additional features, he is never at a loss for a solution. He feels that URS has barely tapped the potential market. “For example, there are 13 undergraduate academic counseling offices,” he states. “We could scan all the records into a single system. Then if a student moves between colleges, the records would be integrated and follow.”

Until the entire university, with all its disparate schools and departments, is under the DocFinity umbrella, White sees no limit to growth. The software can easily handle the load, he asserts.

“For OIT, it didn’t matter whether we were a VAR, an ASP, or some other initials,” White concludes. “They accepted us for what we are and put together a positive program.”

Just as there may be many roads to a single destination, URS and OIT have proven there are many models for delivering document technology.

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A version of this story originally appeared in the December 2003 issue of University Business magazine.

Making Room at Admissions

William Karl, Senior Associate Director for Undergraduate Admissions has 17 years experience at Ohio State, 13 in Admissions. “Initially, I was responsible for imaging in the registrar and financial aid offices, and I administered the procurement” he explains. “URS competed against five other vendors and won it fair and square.”

While Karl was a bit surprised by URS the first time, he felt only confidence when the OIT partner won the contract for the Office of Undergraduate Studies, of which Admissions is a part. The first project there digitized all transcripts dated before 1977 – a backfile conversion of over a million records.

The current project creates electronic files of all transfer-student applications. While most of those applications arrive as PDF or TIFF images, supporting documents such as transcripts and letters of recommendation typically arrive on paper. When a worker scans a transcript, it launches a workflow to take the image to the Transfer Credit Center for an evaluation. That report flows to the appropriate college office where it is available for academic counseling.

“Our office moved to its current location a year ago,” Karl reports. “We underestimated the amount of office space we would need, but we knew getting rid of paper storage could make up the difference. Jeff [White] and I worked on identifying needs for hardware, staffing, training and budget. All of our records were to be on his servers, so we had to be precise.

“We don’t see imaging as saving staff,” he continues. “The real benefit is being able to find a student file faster from anywhere. The document system enhances our services to students and college offices.

“Our ultimate goal is to get all parts of all student applications online,” he concludes.

-- GEJH

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