Unstructured Content – a pain in the neck
In business today there is much talk about the desirability of Straight Through
Processing, Business to Business Integration and Information on Demand. However,
some 80 % of the information processed by businesses is not handled in line with
these highly desirable concepts. Such information falls into the category of
unstructured content in the sense that it is data which does not fit into the
structured tables of databases or columns of spreadsheets. Typically it is written
communications (hand-written letters, forms, emails, faxes etc.), pictures, sketches,
diagrams, voice, and other sorts of information not easily integrated with computer
based business processes and typically still processed manually.
Industry estimates of the quantity of unstructured data are constantly growing – including
several hundred billion emails, fax messages and SMS messages for 2006. The problem
for companies is how to accommodate this diverse and growing stream of communications
in a cost effective manner so that wherever possible a single processing system
can be employed which allows for a choice of communication channels (incoming
and outgoing) whilst ensuring compliance with all relevant regulations on data
retention processing records.
Management is constantly looking for economies in processing costs but diversity
and growth in communication channels adds to processing costs. However diversity
of communications channels can provide a potential competitive advantage. MessagePlus/Open
can help you manage the costs, integrate the processing and deliver the competitive
advantage.
A document management strategy
Built on a new highly flexible architecture MessagePlus/Open adds to the features
and benefits of FaxPlus/Open through
additional function specifically designed for complex messaging processing scenarios.
These include content analysis features to categorize documents
and extract digital data from unstructured content to realize tremendous cost
savings and significant streamlining of business processes.
Configurable routing rules allow the right information to be automatically and
immediately provided to the right person and business application. Rich rendering
and communication functions allow distributed content delivery through Web applications,
fax, email and printers.
MessagePlus/Open is tightly integrated with IBM DB2 Content Manager V8 and
DB2 Content Manager OnDemand. The synergy between the storage and workflow capabilities
of DB2 Content Manager and the communication and routing capabilities of MessagePlus/Open
uniquely allow companies to build a solution for the complete cycle of document
processing encompassing all communication channels used by customers - an exciting
infrastructure for any ebusiness solution.
Furthermore MessagePlus/Open includes as a standard feature a large number
of application integration modules for ‘out-of-the-box’ integration
with other major messaging platforms, application systems and document formats.
MessagePlus/Open is supported on Windows, AIX, Sun Solaris, Linux (Intel and
zSeries) and USS Operating System platforms and can also take advantage of the
high availability capabilities provided by Clustering, HACMP and other add-on
components.
Decision based message processing
Extending the scope of traditional messaging platforms the open, flexible, and
rules based capabilities of MessagePlus/Open are easily adapted to the specific
requirements of individual organizations and business processes. This capabilities
include the ability to:
•
Analyze
and categorize content
•
Take dynamic
routing decisions
•
Personalize
and evolve message content
•
Long business
cycles due to lack of automation
•
Tightly
integrate 3rd party applications with minimal
effort
Business processes can be improved by allowing MessagePlus/Open to manage
your entire corporate messaging traffic, archive received messages into your
document management system, route to mailboxes, printers, GSM devices, as well
as applications, and deliver information that is specifically tailored to your
customers, suppliers and partners. MessagePlus/Open provides you with the
ability to seamlessly integrate workflow, document management and business communications
regardless of the format or delivery channel used.