COLD Becomes An Even Easier Sale

Several trends are making COLD even more utilitarian than in the past. (COLD [computer output to laser disk] is a high-volume, archival storage system.) To learn how, Business Systems Magazine spoke to two industry vendors. Sean Donegan is president and CEO of Westbrook Technologies, Inc., a 42-person manufacturer of document management and COLD software, in Branford, CT. Glenn Magnell is president of Minolta Information Systems, a Mahwah, NJ-based, 100-person vendor of document imaging and information management products.

Where COLD & Data Warehousing Meet
Magnell stresses the trend toward the use of COLD in data warehousing. (A data warehouse is a database designed to support decision making within an organization.) He describes COLD as essentially a structured data warehouse, whereas standard data warehousing is unstructured. Essentially this means that standard, unstructured data warehousing offers more flexibility, but is far more complex, whereas in COLD warehousing, you use the data the way you stored it.

There are advantages to both and, in fact, the two forms of warehousing - structured versus unstructured - compete. One of the biggest advantages to using COLD, however, is the fact that COLD can be deployed very rapidly, literally within days. Unstructured data warehousing, on the other hand, can literally take years to develop and implement.

COLD Integrates With Other Technologies
Another trend which Magnell sees occurring is the move toward the total integration of COLD with document imaging, word processing documents, e-mail, and so on, in transaction-based markets. He cites the example of a financial officer of a large discount retailer, like Wal*Mart or Home Depot. Because of a dispute with a supplier, the officer might require all the documents associated with a given transaction, such as the request for proposal, purchase order, invoice, etc. Using a document management system, he can assemble all the documents at one time in one place, thus optimizing management of all his resources.

Donegan puts it a little differently. He maintains that COLD is really nothing more than the organized output from a computer system. A COLD document is simply another piece of information one uses to make a decision. COLD allows a user to manage documents. He adds that, in the past, certain fonts and codes, sometimes referred to as ‘intelligent data stream', created problems for COLD technology to handle. He adds that COLD has to be able to handle all data types in order to maximize its potential.

Design COLD Solutions To Fit Customers' Specific Need
When BSM queried the spokesmen regarding how VARs should be selling COLD technology, they were in emphatic agreement. Both stressed the importance of understanding what the client's business is and does, because the solution must be application-driven. Magnell stated that VARs must thoroughly analyze a customer's business and understand the business' priorities before they can make intelligent decisions about what the customer needs. Donegan phrased it as an analogy, "Often, a customer wants to drill a hole in the wall. All too often, VARs are selling him the drill, when they should be selling the hole."