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Many
large companies and governmental agencies in the US have implemented
paperless office projects. MOHAN BABU says that software
designers and architects are fascinated by the concept because of
the technical challenges involved and opportunities available for
innovation
In
a previous write-up, I had talked about the responses that I regularly
receive from readers of this column. Many of these mails are very
thought-provoking, sometimes providing ideas and fodder for my columns
and even work since consulting is nothing but the ability to think
outside the box. Among the e-mails I received in response to my
recent article on Linux vs Microsoft was an interesting mail from
L C Mohan, a scientist with a premier research institution in India.
I will dedicate this column to Mohan’s query and my response
to his mail.
Following
is an extract of the e-mail I received:
I
have been planning to introduce paperless office concept and its
operation in the lab where I am a scientist. We have Microsoft based
facility. If in future, Linux is adopted, what changes are required
to be introduced to practice paperless office? Paperless office
concept and operation are planned to be extended to all activities
of project management, administration, finance, and communication.
There has to be built-in transparency also.
Awaiting
your views on the subject.
—L
C Mohan (scientist)
Your
question is tremendously thought-provoking. Your effort to embark
on a paperless office project is laudable and in the lines of international
trends in e-governance and e-business. Interestingly, a number of
large corporations and governmental agencies have already either
been successful in this endeavour or are embarking on paperless
office projects. The latest being the US Patent and Trademark Office
which recently began testing an all-electronic patent and trademark-processing
system that’s expected to cost the agency more than $50 million
to develop.
The
patent office estimated that the system would generate an annual
return on investment of 30 percent during the first five years of
use, due partly to technology upgrades aimed at eliminating more
than a half-million paper files each year!
Giving
due credit to Microsoft and Bill Gates, the idea of “paperless
office” was expounded in depth by Gates in his book Business@the
Speed of Thought, a few years ago. However, with the trend moving
towards open systems, one is not dependent on Microsoft technologies
while envisioning paperless office projects.
Software
designers and architects dream of exactly the kind of project you
are embarking on because of the technical challenges involved and
opportunities available for innovation. Paperless office, including
the use of workflow engines and other tools, is a very interesting
field, and involves networking myriad tools, techniques, systems
and technologies. A comprehensive answer to your question would
require extensive research and analysis. It is hard for me to give
a “one shot” answer to the question without analysing
all the facts. However, in a nutshell, here are my two cents:
a)
Linux—as with other server software technologies, including
Windows—has a whole suite of products and software applications
that run on it. With most large vendors including IBM, Oracle and
Sun throwing their weight behind, the Linux bandwagon of applications
is bound to grow.
b)
Before working on the blueprint for your project, you need to start
by auditing your applications that you think will aid in your effort
to work towards a paperless office (maybe even consider Web-enabling
them).
c)
After a successful audit, when you have an extensive list of products
and applications along with your requirements for integration, you
should contact the individual software vendors (or consult product
documentation) to determine their compatibility with the server
operating system, specifically Linux.
d)
You might also want to explore the possibility of using software-on-demand
(a.k.a. Web services) being provided by third party vendors, which
will help you achieve the desired objective with little initial
investment and cost.
e)
Consideration for extensibility and future growth: As with most
applications and business systems, you too must be experiencing
growth in your lab, especially changes in budgets, applications,
products, people, etc. During your analysis, you will need to give
due weightage to extensibility of the systems and processes.
f)
Successful integration of the different applications including project
management tools, administration, finance, communication etc (that
you suggested), will ensure transparency. There are several EAI
tools and technologies in the marketplace, including workflow management
tools (with or without built-in adapters) that will help connect
your disparate systems.
As
I mentioned earlier, these are mere guidelines to get you thinking
about the scope and depth of your endeavour. I’m sure that
you and your able colleagues—with extensive knowledge of your
systems and applications—will be in a good position to adapt
the best-practices and benchmarks of other successful attempts to
enable systems towards paperless offices. All the best.
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