Drivve, Inc. officially joined LRS on December 5, 2018, and I wanted to share my perspectives on LRS’ latest acquisition.
Drivve specializes in document-related products, with a specific focus on distributed data capture solutions. With this acquisition, LRS now offers customers additional workflow capabilities that increase the business value of our Enterprise Output Management (EOM) solution.
Today, our middleware captures application output and delivers it to a logical destination or print device. Now, turn that data flow around – capture electronic documents created by a digitalization process (e.g., scan), convert the documents to a required format, and deliver them to one or more applications or storage locations.
Digitalization and document process automation are important topics in the industry today. Organizations want to realize the benefits of digital workflows to improve operational efficiencies, increase worker productivity, lower costs, and reduce manual errors.
What exactly is digitalization? It is simply the process of converting information into a digital format. A common example is scanning paper documents into electronic documents, where they can be more efficiently stored, protected, managed, and used in a variety of business processes.
Digitalization also plays an important role in the “digital workplace.” The digital workplace is a broad term that can include any business using computers and software, but the main concept is using digitalization to align technology, people, and business processes to improve operational efficiency and meet business objectives. Organizations are looking for new, innovative ways for their workers to collaborate, improve communication, and perform their job responsibilities in the most productive and efficient way possible.
A great example of digitalization and the use of electronic data formats is found in the healthcare industry with the broad adoption of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. For example, to achieve HIMSS Level 7 certification in the US, a healthcare provider must ensure that all paper medical record documents are scanned and made available through the EMR system. Once all patient information is in digital format, it can be better safeguarded, managed, distributed, analyzed, and shared with applications and healthcare professionals to deliver optimal quality care. Makes perfect sense, given the phrase “electronic medical record.”
However, digitizing documents is not the whole story. Automation and process improvements make workers more productive and efficient, which can drive significant business benefits. For example, imagine the simple business case of driving worker productivity (quantity) and efficiency (quality) 10% higher for those business processes and work tasks that depend on digital documents as part of the workflow.
To make all this a reality, businesses need a solution that automates the capture, digitalization, and delivery of paper documents. With the acquisition of Drivve, Inc. and its “Drivve | Image” data capture product, LRS extends its value proposition by providing a “print and scan” workflow solution that lets organizations maximize the business benefits from their fleet of intelligent, multifunction devices.
As we have done with technology from past acquisitions, we will integrate Drivve | Image with our existing print/output management solutions to address the distributed printing and data capture requirements of enterprise customers. The obvious starting point for integration is with our MFPsecure software, a secure pull printing solution that authenticates users at multifunction devices.
To select a scan workflow, a user must first authenticate at the device. This is done using MFPsecure software via the same methods supported today for pull printing. The authentication process lets the Drivve | Image application know which user is logged on, so it can present the workflows for which the user is authorized.
What exactly is a scan workflow? A scan workflow is comprised of three major steps:
- Interaction with a user to select options and/or enter information at the MFP operator panel
- Processing and conversion of the scanned image documents to the requested format. For example, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology can convert the scanned documents to searchable PDF format. Other functions include image cleanup, extracting text fields for meta data, separating a stack of documents into individual documents, and barcode recognition.
- Delivery of the document(s) to one or more specified destinations; for example, folders, email recipients, fax servers, SharePoint, cloud storage repositories and applications.
Existing MFPs are turned into scanners with email/distribution function into various workflows. Different users may have other workflows defined, depending on their job responsibilities. The workflows can be simple or complex. For example, a single workflow can process and deliver a document to one destination, or it can route the document to multiple storage and application destinations. Some workflows may dynamically interact with a database, allowing users to validate information or select metadata. It can function as one click scanner software or comprise of various clicks to deliver a document to it destination.
I’m very excited about the expanded value proposition that LRS now offers the market. It’s the start of a new adventure that will require continual investment into the future. LRS has the financial strength and resource bandwidth to make this happen, as our historical track record shows.
Mergers and acquisitions are always more successful when both parties share a common vision and are excited to work together. Such is the case here. We’ll learn some things from our new Drivve colleagues. and they will help us create better integrated solutions. Together, we’ll adapt faster to changing market conditions and capitalize on new business opportunities. In turn, our customers will benefit from new capabilities that will make them more agile and competitive in their respective industries.
As Director of Product Management for LRS, I see lots of potential synergy with Drivve that will improve our future business and product strategy. I’m also confident that the LRS and Drivve leadership team has the right attitude, commitment and vision to make this business venture a success for our collective employees, customers and partners.
Buckle up for an exciting ride. I’m looking forward to it.