Partnerships with three software providers are carrying Optika's eMedia closer to its goal
of providing an e-commerce solution that handles paper and electronic transactions together over the
Web.
e2e-Business Paks are the latest enhancement of the eMedia system from Optika
(www.optika.com). This
Web-based, three-tier imaging, workflow and COLD-ERM package gives users a "gallery" view of
documents and transactions. They can also see and execute mainframe sessions and third-party
applications from within the gallery.
The e2e-Business Paks released late last year provide integration with J.D. Edwards
(www.jdedwards.com) enterprise resource
planning (ERP) software, Harbinger's (www.harbinger.com)
electronic data interchange (EDI) software and UWI.com's (www.uwi.com) InternetForms software.
Resource Locator
· The UWI.com web site
features demos, case studies and white papers that
demonstrate the advantages of paperless forms and transactions. Articles are also available on recent
federal legislation that makes digital signatures as legally binding as their paper-based
counterparts.
· Sunoco is using Harbinger's Express Web e-commerce software and
harbinger.net processing technology to create a payment request processing portal for its network of
more than 200 wholesale lubricants distributors. Sunoco expects to achieve cost savings, faster
transaction turnaround and improved cash flow as a result. Read the details at
www.harbinger.com/news /1999/12151999.html.
· To keep up with standards and rules affecting electronic payments, including
EDI and EBPP, check in with NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association, at
www.nacha.org.
InfoBytes
· Xplor's 1999 Technology Directions Survey found that e-commerce is
now the top future investment at the organization's 5,000 user and service
bureau members. Ninety percent of Xplor member companies use Web sites to describe
products and services, and 32% have Web sites with order-taking capability.
· "We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million
typewriters will eventually reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to
the Internet, we know this is not true." — Robert Wilensky, professor at
the University of California, Berkeley.
· For more information on Optika eMedia and e2e-Business Paks, click on
ProductInfo 207.
Optika created out-of-the-box links to the accounts payable and accounts receivable screens of J.D.
Edwards' OneWorld and WorldSoftware ERP systems. The Business Pak also includes tools to link to
other modules of the J.D. Edwards software.
EDI is fast, efficient and entrenched, yet it
doesn't let you send supporting documents with an EDI transaction. The Optika/Harbinger
integration lets customers integrate EDI transactions into their workflows and look up related
documents.
The UWI.com e2e-Business Pak will enable eMedia users to send out electronic forms and pour the
results directly into their existing databases. "One reason we chose UWI is because of their
extensive use of XML and stringent security components," says Steve Maegdlin, vice president of
product marketing and management at Optika. The UWI.com product also works with digital signature
technology, so processes that require signatures, such as expense reporting or purchasing, can become
paperless.
Arvest Bank Group, a multibank holding company based in Bentonville, AR, integrated eMedia with the
help of local VAR Critical Technologies. Their first eMedia project was to scan and index signature
cards and present them to tellers. Arvest has myriad plans for eMedia and the new e2e-Business Paks.
"The next [project] to come online will be XML forms and UWI integration," says Jon Pascoe,
Arvest imaging manager.
Optika and Critical Technologies used the UWI.com e2e-Business Pak to build a paper-free new accounts
system for Arvest's retail brokerage unit. When a new customer visits an Arvest office, brokers
will type their information into an electronic form. The customer will sign the completed form using a
digital pad powered by digital signature software from PenOp (www.penop.com). Any supporting documents
will be scanned into eMedia.
"Optika's workflow tool is the glue that's going to take our electronic forms and
associated documents and route them to a new account setup person for review," Pascoe explains.
"Next, it will route the document to a principal of the firm to be approved and then set up [the
account] on the brokerage system." Arvest's future plans for the software are wide open.
They might let customers open their own banking or brokerage accounts over the Web, and they're
looking into using the system to process mortgages.
The e2e-Business Paks are priced at $35,000 for
the ERP integration, $37,980 for the InternetForms Pak and $47,500 for the EDI Pak. EMedia itself
costs $212,800 for a 100-concurrent-user server/100-production-client configuration.
The
e2e-Business Paks give useful new capabilities to eMedia, and give Optika a promising e-commerce
future.
