We’ve had some interesting discussions already in the first two cities of this year’s ILTA Roadshow, “What’s Your Scanbition? Scan with a Plan.“  Scanbition is our latest coined word from DocSolid, intended to challenge our thinking about why the legal industry is still overburdened with paper, despite having a scanner on every corner. Scanbition is a specific plan for firm-wide scan capture. Scanbition is hard to find. In Cleveland, the audience generally agreed that their firms didn’t have an implemented or stated Scanbition. So the question was asked:  Why not, you knuckleheads? (more…)

‘Tinker Tailor Soldier – Scan’ is the story of how law firms scan their paper.

In a shameless rip-off of my wildly popular blog themes, it appears there has been a recent movie release of a similar title, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, and a 1974 British spy novel of the same name by some hack named John le Carre. My attorneys will handle that matter. Let us regain our focus…

Scanbition™, as soon-to-be-defined by Webster’s New World Dictionary, is an organization’s ambition for enterprise scanning.

Law firms have a persistent inflow of paper burdening their business process. How they apply document scanning to fix this condition is the measure of their Scanbition. All law firms need document scanning. And all firms already have some type of baseline scanning at their office machines. Most firms don’t have any clear Scanbition. Scanbition establishes the critical objectives for scanning, and ultimately determines the benefits derived.

Back to our story, about law firm scanning as a Tinker, Tailor, and Soldier.

Tinker – Some firms just use whatever scanning comes with their office machines, as is. They don’t apply controls, productivity techniques, security or any standards to their scanning activity. At best, this tinkering approach is risky and inefficient. At worst, this approach to scanning results in lost information, compromised work, and related liability. Tinkering with scanning is like using email without folders or archiving – it appears to work on an ad hoc basis but it is not sustainable for the business. The Tinker is a stinker when it comes to enterprise scanning.

Tailor – When a practice, an attorney, or a particular matter demands scanning of related paper documents, job-specific requirements emerge. Scanned images must be profiled and stored in the related electronic matter in the document management system. Ongoing work must be done by the people who know the documents, when and where the documents arrive. Because the scanning solution is tailored to a specific set of job needs, and because this approach often is built upon existing hardware and software, the tailored solution tends to be narrow in scope, and often lacking in the robust features found in an enterprise class solution.

An example of Tailor scanning would be integrating a specific copier keypad to the network, security system, and the document management repository so that users at that machine could login and type filing instructions for each individual document to be scanned. This process can work, but it is tedious and error prone to type at a copier keypad, and of course it’s not feasible to replace the file room with scanned images using this type of firm-wide, machine-dependent technique.  But at least the Tailor is helping to clarify the challenge and rewards of enterprise scanning.

Soldier – The firm declares war on paper. It decides to integrate scan capture with the document management system, the accounting system, and the records system, firm-wide. It uses scanning to replace the file room, and to eventually eliminate off-site record storage. That comprehensive, long-term battle plan defines the enterprise scanning Solider.  A Soldier understands the challenge, and prepares to win or avoid the battles that lead up to winning the war on paper.

In our last blog, “What is Your Scanbition for Enterprise Scanning?”, we defined Enterprise Scanning and outlined the methods for achieving it. This is the work, and the reward of the Soldier. Ultimately, every firm must become the Soldier, unless it is acceptable to operate a paper file room that separates information from the electronic document management system. Ultimately, every firm must become the Soldier, unless it is acceptable to grow offsite paper records storage and retrievals, endlessly.

Conclusion – Paper capture is an information management process. It requires a best practice approach, implemented as an enterprise scanning platform. What is your firm’s approach to scanning firm-wide? Is your firm a Tinker, or a Tailor, or a Soldier?

Law firms are discovering they need Scanbition to harness the potential of document scanning and overcome their paper burden. DocSolid has presented to nearly 100 law firms in its ILTA Road Show around the country this year regarding enterprise scanning. What do we mean by ‘enterprise scanning’ and why do we even have to define this solution concept?

First, let’s set the stage. We asked our attendees these questions, and got these answers, with at least a 95% answer rate:

Bottom line:  We know law firms manage too much paper, and they all have baseline scanning capability. Yet almost none of the law firms we talk to have an operating plan for enterprise scanning that is intended to overcome their paper burden. They’re not even trying, as if it’s not possible. But it is possible!

Here’s DocSolid’s definition of Enterprise Scanning for a law firm:

1. Firm-wide scan capture makes scanned images part of the electronic matter file
2. All scan capable devices in the enterprise are turned on, to maximize the scan facility
3. User interaction with the scan device is made simple to encourage use
4. Scanning productivity is enabled (scan stacks, make it easy for someone else to scan for you)
5. Best practice methods provide:
   • Security
   • Process integrity
   • Integration with the firms’ application software

Why isn’t your firm doing this?

Here’s DocSolid’s definition of Scanbition for a law firm:

1. Scanbition is an organization’s ambition and plan for enterprise scanning.
2. Scanbition goes well beyond basic convenience scanning, to optimize benefits from enterprise scanning, resulting in:
   • A culture that values the storage and use of images instead of paper
   • Standardized process for capturing in-bound paper, for document management storage, and for records management paper retirement policy
   • Reduced, and eventually eliminated offsite storage and retrieval of paper archives
   • Hard ROI on process improvement and cost reduction
   • Defined support of the green initiative

It is surprising that most firms don’t have Scanbition. DocSolid’s upcoming release of KwikTag Legal can help you get there. But, as proven by a few of our Scanbitious, successful firms, Scanbition takes a plan and commitment, and plays out in a multi-year pursuit, based on these ingredients:

• Executive leadership and enduring support
• Disciplined execution and a focus on user adoption
• The right scan capture technology platform