« June 2005 | Main | October 2005 »

September 30, 2005

Importance of Mobile Notifications

With our lives becoming more and more hectic, it is nice to be tied to our work without physically having to be there. One particular way this is being addressed is through cell phone emails. Sure, actually receiving phone calls would be more efficient and accurate, but it wouldn't cover all possible aspects of your job. Let's say for instance you are waiting for an urgent email from a client, but you don't always have access to a/your computer. In most cases, you would miss this email, but having an email forwarded to your cell phone would solve this.

There are many more advantages of mobile notification. Taking from the example above, this can actually be applied to phone calls. If an important call was sent to your office, it can automatically be forwarded to your cell phone. Of course this can become overwhelming if you receive several calls a day, but inevitably it creates a virtual office no matter where you are.

If you are big into eBay or other forms of auctioning, notifications can be crucial. Getting outbid at the last minute because you didn't have access to a computer is something many of us have experienced. Being able to not only be aware of your current bid, but having the ability to change it through your mobile device keeps you on top of your auction.

Probably the one thing most of us enjoy is having the freedom to shop online from the comfort of our homes. So why would you want to do this elsewhere? Take the situation of going to your local store and finding something you just have to buy. After looking at the price, you realize it is a bit more than you are willing to pay. A quick look at Amazon online through your PDA shows the same item for more than 20% less. You can easily buy it right there, or notify yourself to buy it once you get home. The only disadvantage of this is having to wait for the item since it is being shipped, but the 20% savings difference should more than suffice.

There are many other ways to enjoy mobile notification for both personal and business reasons. How are you using this technology to receive notifications?

September 30, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Kenny

September 29, 2005

Why Web Document Management Just Makes Sense

Very few people in the 80's forecasted Microsoft and it's family of products as a dominant industry force. In fact, if one was to make a decision on what technology to standardized document management on in this era, it would probably be DOS-based thick clients, communicating via manual disk swapping; not very appealing by today's standards. This brings up an excellent question: What makes people think that the future will run like today? We have already seen a large leap forward in Linux adoption, and not just on the server side. There has also been a decent amount of people moving to Apple, especially in the younger laptop market. So what should we standardize on, or should we standardize at all? That's where the web comes in. Apple's OS X, Linux, Windows and many other operating systems can, and are used as clients. In fact, it is much harder today to find a network that has only one operating system being used as the client. The accountants and business departments use Windows, the graphics and media guys are on Apple OS X and the developers are working on Linux. The best solution is to use a method of application deployment that the overwhelming majority of operating systems can handle. That solution is using the web. For example, Say Joe needs to leave work (where he uses Windows) early to see his son play baseball but he wants to be able to get some work done at home after the game (on his OS X laptop); With a thin client application setup via the web, Joe can do just that. Likewise, Bill can do the same thing from inside his software development cubical using his Linux box. Not only does using the web allow people to access the system from the operating system of their choice, it also does not introduce the need to force one operating system on everyone (which generally doesn't go over well!). It also eliminates the need for a new operating system license, which is always a good thing.

September 29, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by

September 21, 2005

Document Management vs. Content Management

To better understand the pros and cons of Document Management and Content Management, we must be able to identify what they are and what purpose each serves.

A DMS is concerned with a document in its entirety and less interested in what the document contains, while a CMS effectively manages on a more precise level individual pieces of information that comprise a document or web page.

Despite the vagueness of the word document, the industry of document management is quite well defined and has enjoyed considerable success. Document management systems seek to organize files and in return make them more accessible. The first thing to notice is that document management systems have little to do with the general definition of a document. While they may often be targeted toward word processing and other office files, they place no restrictions on the type of files you put in them. Thus, a much more accurate description would be file management systems.

As a whole, DM and CM are basically the same, just packaged differently. Both of these systems create the need for an environment to store and access files. When it comes to security, both address it. If we are talking about scalability, both support it. The main differences, however, are how they use these features. A CMS addresses security by needing more dynamic control over resources. Examples of this are watermarking, authenticity, and user's reaction found in content. A DMS is more concerned with the legality/permissions over reading, updating, and deleting information. In reference to scalability, both systems are continuing to fulfill their obligations to accomplish this task, but a DMS is focused on pushing more documents through, while a CMS is trying to expand its resources to capture a wider audience.

I cannot say which one is better since each serves a particular purpose, but I can say they are converging, which is what they should do. Having both should only help increase productivity, not hamper it.

September 21, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by Kenny

The Cure For Missing Document Syndrome

If you move paper items like most companies you've probably encountered missing document syndrome. Documents occasionally disappear without a trace. Missing documents not only cause headaches for everyone involved, but also cost companies money in lost productivity. If the document was never lost to begin with, man hours would not be spent searching for the document or recreating the data. The problem lies in the fact that people forget things. Everyday people forget their keys, wallet, purse, etc.. so why would documents be any different? The fact is they are not any different, but there is a solution to missing document syndrome: Proper Electronic Document Management. When a document is inserted into an electronic document management system, it is stored in a central area that is accessible to those who need access to it. It also shows a 'paper trail' as to who has read, modified, or commented on the item. This cuts down dramatically on the need to search for lost items since users who need access to the documents have access. Items can even be set so that it is impossible for the user to delete it, making sure the document doesn't get removed from the system prematurely. Managers can also see who has signed off on the document and where it is in a business process allowing them to manage the process resources effectively.

Don't look for your documents, manage them!

September 21, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by

September 20, 2005

Experts: Electronic medical records could have aided evacuees

A database of electronic medical records could have helped emergency medical workers care for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina and would have resulted in fewer disruptions in evacuees' medical needs, according to speakers at the 11th National Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Summit, held Sept. 7-9 in Washington, D.C., and sponsored by the eHealth Initiative.

Many of the evacuees' original medical records, which were housed in health care providers' offices in areas affected by the storm, are currently inaccessible, and many likely were destroyed. As a result, emergency medical care providers are having trouble determining what medications evacuees were taking and in what dosages.

A database of electronic records "would have been useful" for emergency medical workers trying to administer care to people displaced by Katrina, said Susan McAndrew, senior adviser for HIPAA privacy policy in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Civil Rights.

Such a database would grant patients greater access to their medical records and would allow them to "become real partners with their physicians in managing their own health care," McAndrew added.

William R. Braithwaite, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the eHealth Initiative, who spoke at a previous session, told HR News there are lots of reasons for having an electronic database for medical records. One that has become especially apparent lately is that "water destroys paper."

However, unlike paper, an electronic system that is backed up appropriately can survive a disaster such as Katrina, Braithwaite said.

Of course, establishing privacy provisions would be a "main priority" in developing such a system, McAndrew said.

Braithwaite, known as "Dr. HIPAA" for the instrumental role he played in authoring the medical data privacy act as former senior adviser on health information policy for HHS, said it is his belief and the belief of the technical community that if electronic information is secured properly and access to the database is limited to the appropriate people, an electronic system actually "can be safer than paper" from a privacy perspective.

McAndrew noted during her presentation that HHS issued a bulletin after Katrina hit to assure providers that HIPAA's privacy rule is not meant to impede the process of caring for patients in the wake of a disaster. The bulletin, dated Sept. 2, states that health care providers and health plans covered by the HIPAA privacy rule can share patient information in the following ways:

- Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to provide treatment. This includes coordinating patient care with emergency relief workers or others who can help find patients appropriate health services. In addition, it includes referring patients for treatment, such as linking them with available providers in areas where the patients have relocated.

- Health care providers can share patient information as necessary to identify, locate and notify family members, guardians or anyone else responsible for the individual's care regarding the individual's location and condition. Health care providers should get verbal permission from the individual when possible.

- Providers can share patient information with anyone as necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of a person or the public—consistent with applicable law and the provider’s standards of ethical conduct.

- Health care facilities maintaining a directory of patients can tell people who call or ask about individuals whether the individual is at the facility, their location in the facility and their general condition.

By Erin Binney

September 20, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by DocuVantage

September 14, 2005

Physical Disaster Without Data Disaster?

Nobody thinks a disaster is in their future. In fact, most companies think they are immune from disasters. After all, very few companies are making proper backups. Of course, a backup is no good if the medium can not be accessed or the data becomes irrelevant before being recovered. What's the solution? Simple! Proper off site document/information management.

With a good document management system in place, documents (read: data) can be held in a safe off site location. The majority of colocation companies today have many safeguards in case emergency situations arise. I recently took a tour of a colocation facility which housed servers controlling content for many different companies. Not only could the location promise no downtime in the event of a hurricane, they also had safeguards in case of earthquake, fire, long term power outage, heat wave, looting, etc.. They also, of course, had video cameras everywhere, a multilevel physical access system along with locked cabinets in server cages for security. Picture having your information managed off-site knowing they had that kind of protection! With the document management piece running on the server you can be assured your documents can be searched, retrieved, and worked on in a timely, cost sensitive manner.

With a server in place with a protected colocation service as well as having a good document management solution in place your company can continue or resume working prior to the disaster. If a disaster were to hit tomorrow and your business was destroyed, could you resume business in another location tomorrow? How long could you afford to be closed?

September 14, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by

September 13, 2005

Safer Programming; Safer Programs

Many programmers today still code primarily in C/C++ when writing applications from the ground up. The problem is, many developers think of security as an after thought. The last thing a company wants to do is to hire a PR firm to handle their data theft fiasco or worry about lawyer fees because a 'script kiddie' got his kicks on your servers. One way to greatly lessen the probability of having such an event occur is to have your developers write their applications in a 'safe' language such as Java.

Java implements many safety features allowing the programmer and the client/end user to relax. For instance, Java has buffer bounds checking which makes buffer overflows nearly impossible to accomplish. When programming in C/C++ you are expected to write your own code to check bounds. Not only can this add development time, but it is a step which many younger programmers generally skip so they can move on to the areas that interest them more. With Java's type of low level protection occurring for the programmer, it is easier to work on higher level problems which are generally more apparent from the developer's perspective. It also allows the programmer to move to the areas that they find more interesting without compromising model security.

What language(s) are running your infrastructure?

September 13, 2005 | Comments (0)
Posted by