April 1999
Readers BEST Tips
Integration Help
Pitfalls to Avoid When Handling Large Projects
When you are overseeing a major company effort to integrate your departmental imaging applications, itıs easy to be intimidated by the size and scope of the project. Here are some tips to keep you on track by avoiding some common but critical mistakes.
one Determine as a group what your common goals are. Neglecting to ask all departments for specific requirements usually leads to critical omissions later on, when theyıre too costly to fix easily.
two Donıt be intimidated by the perceived overwhelming costs and major technological overhauls that are needed. Define the goals and requirements first, then look for innovative ways to achieve them. Let your study of technology track slightly behind your study of needs, progressing through successive levels of detail as you go. Lock into specific technology too early, and youıll drive up cost trying to force your needs onto that platform, plus youıll blind yourself to better, alternate solutions. Lock into technology too late and youıll drive up costs by dreaming up unrealizable solutions. Proper focus on your needs, allowing them to drive technology decisions, will reduce your implementation costs.
three Donıt just live for the present. Think about and determine what incremental growth or expansion the company may see. And then get a solution that will grow with you.
four Donıt assume that your existing systems are no good. Most still hold significant value. When coupled with the right new technologies, they can be part of a powerful new solution.
five Donıt be too eager to adopt a solution made up of all the hottest and most recent technologies. Itıs the other extreme, but these hot new technologies may shine brightly for a while, then burn out before they are even fully implemented.
Scott Ryser is the Chief Technology Officer of ManTech Advanced Systems International (410-579-8240), a privately held systems integrator and technology provider, and a
subsidiary of ManTech International.
Scanning Tips
Low-tech, Upside down Processing Technique
Having a problem scanning a particular piece of paper? Try rescanning by turning the page upside down. The scanner only recognizes patterns of light and dark, not data. When you turn the page upside down, you present the scanner with a different pattern to recognize. You can then rotate the final output at a later point in time. I found this useful for scanning things like old mimeograph sheets. Rightside up looked like a blurred mess, while upside down was just fine.
Gary Weimer, CDIA, is employed by
Cincinnati Financial Corporation and was responsible for document capture while employed with Andersen Worldwide.
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