Decreasing bandwidth cost increasing digital appeal

The international Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) defines ECM as “the technologies used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organisational processes. ECM tools and strategies allow the management of an organization's unstructured information, wherever that information exists.”

“The exchange rate, interest rate and petrol price are indices that South Africans watch like hawks because they change often and are vital to our economic wellbeing. South Africans are realising that the cost of exchanging information is also vital to our wellbeing and more of us are taking an interest in the cost of bandwidth,” says Ronald Melmed, MD of Digital Archiving Systems (DAS).

Compares favourably

The high cost of international bandwidth has historically inhibited the local ECM industry as it has been unable to cost-effectively move high volumes of images to SA for processing. Five significant reductions in international bandwidth prices during the last three years have meant SA's bandwidth pricing now compares favourably with bandwidth pricing globally.

“Outsourcing business processes like accounts payable to South African ECM firms can save overseas companies as much as 80% on data capturing. Add the steady decline in bandwidth costs and you have compelling reasons to make the transition from in-house hardcopy to outsourced softcopy,” explains Melmed.

In a typical South African accounts payable environment, it can cost as much R50.00 to process an invoice because of the time it takes to manually capture the data and match it to purchase orders. According to Melmed, “If you're looking at processing 100 000 invoices annually, that's going to cost you over R5 million.”

The ECM industry takes the headache out of mountains of paper by turning them into useful information that integrates seamlessly into company processes. One American medical scheme sends its 50 000 daily claims to Bangladesh, simply scanning the paperwork and waking up to find the claims ready for processing. Outsourcing to South African firms is an attractive option for international firms struggling under the weight of compliance issues and high salaries.

Time and costs saved

ECM software can recognise an incredible 95% of data from hardcopy documents and data completion clerks are employed to verify that the remaining 5% of data has been correctly captured. Many blue chip companies appreciate the huge time and costs saved on managing their own invoices, purchase orders, accounts payable and other business process paperwork.

While welcoming the possibility of further bandwidth cost decreases, Melmed concluded: “With smart savings flowing from ECM, no one needs to hold their breath for further bandwidth decreases.”