What about document management challenges in the Cloud ?

And why is ECM necessary in the Cloud ?

Why Arender is a KEY product for the Cloud platforms ?

The cloud starts to liberate the internal infrastructure of companies, providing first temporary IT (Tests, performance, training) and now production with IaaS, PaaS platforms.

The Cloud model transforms the IT “Department” to an IT “consumer”. The SaaS (Software as a Service) is born, of course and inherently, with the emergence of the Cloud, as a natural evolution of “aaS”.

Thanks to the Cloud, the IT department could answer quickly to the growing IT demand of their users (internal or external), with an initial low investment.

CRM, Office suite, ERP, etc.. are already available directly in the Cloud with high success. The model have change in few years the IT market definitely.

However, the moves to this model is not so simple and so idyllic. And some customers start to pay the high price (Data ownership, reversibility, cost increase, ….). The dream can turn into a nightmare. For some, the wake-up is quite difficult.

Document management challenges in the Cloud

What about document management in the Cloud ? By the fact, the model changes slowly. Why is not so simple for Document Management ? What are the challenges ?

Document Management means “Document” files. The Document Size is a dual problem for the Cloud.

1. The storage.

   A document size is mostly important in general. Initially, the storage of file was really costly on the cloud linked to Cloud Storage policy (Replication). But now, it appears that the Storage cost start to decrease and became acceptable for customers. The lower cost enables/facilitates now Document Management on the Cloud.

2. Network bandwidth.

   The transfer (upload and mostly download for viewing) is real brake in the deployment of ECM system on the cloud. By example, a CRM transaction costs on average of 2-3Kb, a document file between 200-800 Kb. So the ratio is in general, between 100 and 800 for the Network. So we have to consider it before deploying an ECM system on the Cloud.

These factors generate a poor user experience, especially in the document viewing, and explain mainly the ECM poor adoption in the Cloud.

ECM Necessities :

Why is ECM necessary in the Cloud ?

Because ECM is an essential part of customer IT ecosystem. First, several companies did the choice to integrate their SaaS (CRM, ERP, etc…) with their ECM systems “on Premise”. That sounds crazy, but technically it wasn’t possible with the issues mentioned above.

This “Hybrid” situation is not the final solution, but it demonstrates that ECM is necessary in the customer landscape.

Like mentioned above, the two previous factors have restrained the Cloud adoption for ECM. But some technologies allow now this possibility.

ARender SaaS answers :

Why Arender is a KEY product for the Cloud ?

Arender SaaS is a part of the answer. From my point of view, it is an huge one. Arender (http://www.arender.io) is an HTML5 viewer that allows document streaming. And also, Arender is Web-responsive, so the Image rendition size is linked with the device

⇒ Small devices means small rendition size. So Arender preserves and optimizes the Network bandwidth.

The streaming and the “Zero Download” of Arender facilitate the User Experience. Our first Cloud customers didn’t make the difference between “On Premise” and “Cloud” Architecture. More than 3000 users live that experience everyday since 2 years.

⇒ Arender enhances and allows ECM architecture in the Cloud. That’s a fact.

Our first references in the Cloud demonstrate that the deployment of ECM in the Cloud is now possible and viable.

But that’s not all.

Arender SaaS may solve IT Architects nightmare.

Today, internally, Viewing documents is an huge problem for IT Architects. Viewing Documents, by definition, is unpredictable. So, the IT challenge is to solve these activity peaks. At this point, we have the choice between End-User Frustration and overrated platform (High TCO).

⇒ Every participant of an ECM project lived this kind of situation.

The Cloud allows the mobilisation of IT resources at one moment. So, during periods of high activities, the cloud can multiply the number of Arender servers to help and support viewing documents.

A potential business case is the viewing of bank monthly statements. This case may generate a high potential demand of viewing for customers. So previously, the customer managed a large platform and splitted the documents flows in order to avoid the demand peaks.

So Arender SaaS allows IT platforms to solve this major issue by mobilizing on demand and on-fly IT resources. It is possible in a pure Cloud or Hybrid model. That’s a real game changer.

To summarize, ARender is a key asset for the Cloud :

⇒ ARender minimizes the network traffic and enhances the User Experience (by speeding the viewing experience)

⇒ ARender SaaS takes the Cloud advantage by allowing a mobilization of platforms on-fly.