Imaging Is Good, But A Document Management Collaboration System Is Better

A servicer of real estate loans started out pursuing an imaging solution to replace its legacy system. However, after iManage (Foster City, CA) demonstrated a document management collaboration system that included workflow, the company realized it needed more. And, with a six-month payback period on the system, the company will expand and upgrade with iManage.

Extinguish The Paper Trail
In November 2002, the loan company began reviewing vendors to find an imaging solution to replace its legacy imaging solution. After introductory meetings and demonstrations of iManage's solution, a pilot was installed. By March 2003, the company selected iManage because of its open Java architecture, low cost of ownership, and positive customer references.

With the loan company's legacy system, documents such as mortgage loans, commercial property loans, and legal documents were imaged and filed away. "If a document needed to be approved or reviewed for documentation it had to be printed out again," says Dan Carmel, VP of marketing and corporate development at iManage. The company wanted to share information across departments and make it happen quicker and less strenuously by automating business practices. "By capturing the images of the documents and routing them to a secure repository, they can be viewed on a permission-based system electronically," says Carmel.

Take Charge Of Integration Processes
To solve the loan company's workflow process woes, iManage's complete document management automation system was installed. This included its iManage WorkSite server and suite. The suite includes WorkDocs, a document management module; WorkTeam, a collaboration module; WorkRoute, a workflow module; WorkPortal, a portal module; and MailSite, an Outlook integration module.

WorkDocs is a Web-based document management solution that allows users to capture, organize, store, publish, and review documents using a standard Web browser. The WorkTeam application provides geographically dispersed teams with virtual workspaces to discuss and collaborate on a project via an intranet, an extranet, or the Internet. Fujitsu Software Corp.'s (San Jose, CA) i-Flow Business Process Management engine, which iManage OEMs, is embedded in WorkRoute, the component of the WorkSite suite used to create and manage business processes. The WorkPortal application provides a view of business content from multiple data sources and applications. And finally, MailSite provides e-mail management as part of a unified content repository. To complete the system, the loan company integrated Kofax Ascent Capture for image capture and Legato's EmailXtender to help with archiving controls.

Six-Month Payback Leads To Future Contracts
Since the installation, all of the loan company's important documents are stored in a central repository. "There is an incredible amount of content decided upon through the life of a loan and property [documents, comments, links to information that may have indirect relationships]. Having everything available to work from, comment on, and route for approval brings efficiencies to the company," says Carmel. For example, using this system, the loan company can submit a credit application and be sure it is sent to the right people for evaluation. That application is then routed back to the main contact that controls the deal. Any communication that takes place is electronically tracked, so every step of the process is recorded. Using the electronic workflow system eliminated the need for paper documents to be sent.

According to Carmel, the success of the implementation can be seen in the payback period. "After implementing this WorkSite system, the investment was paid for in six months because of cut costs," says Carmel. To illustrate this, he points to a litigation case. "Having electronic document discovery saved the company about $500,000. This is what it would have cost the loan company to locate all of the paper documents, e-mails, etc. without the electronic system. Instead, all of the necessary documents were available in a workspace," says Carmel. He believes as the company grows, the system will be expanded to support additional users.