Leveraging the vast array of enterprise data into meaningful information is no small task, especially when you consider that over 80% of that information is locked up in paper documents and unstructured data files. Transforming this data through traditional document management and workflow solutions clearly adds value, but at a very high cost.

Alero's repository services address this very problem. By providing a rich set of repository services, including services for capture, document imaging, document management, content storage management, records management, high performance import, and WebDAV, Alero simplifies the implementation of complex ECM initiatives, characterized by high-transaction, production-level business requirements capable of handling millions of documents in a day. And deployment is a snap: Alero's repository services can be embedded into a business application in a matter of hours or days, making ECM capabilities immediately available.

Imagine being able to manage vast amounts of content and access it transparently, providing an efficient and productive environment in which employees, customers, vendors and suppliers exchange the right information in a secure, reliable, and accountable manner. Alero can do just that without the complexities imposed by other ECM solutions.

The Alero repository services implement the enterprise content management (ECM) capabilities of the product. Following is a brief description of the repository services provided with the product.

• Capture services facilitate the capture of content and include services for scanning, re-scanning, form recognition, OCR/ICR, indexing, barcode recognition, etc. Alero provides its own scanning application and has interfaces for best-of-breed capture solutions in the market like Kofax Ascent.

• Document Imaging services, or content management, facilitate the management of small (hundreds or thousands) to very large (millions) number of documents per day and include services for small to high-transaction, high volume document imaging (content management) environments, indexing, foldering, retrieval, storage (provided by the Content Management Storage service), security, and, in general, the management and storage of content.

• Document Management services, or library services, facilitate the management of documents that require strict control, including the history of each document and its versions/revisions, and include services for checking-out/checking-in, version control, security, and revision history. These services are a layer on top of the content management (document imaging) services.

• Content Storage Management services facilitate the storage and life cycle of content from its capture up to its destruction, and includes services for the storage, migration, retention, duplication, and optimized retrieval of content. It supports centralized or distributed storage; single, mirrored, or redundant copies of content (online backup and disaster-ready storage), and support for the following storage devices and appliances: disk, RAID, SAN, libraries (DVD/Optical), EMC Centera CAS and Hitachi HCAP.

• Records Management services facilitate the management of physical and electronic records and include services for file planning, file disposition, and all the services required to tightly control and manage a piece of information as a record. These services are a layer on top of the content management (document imaging) and document management services.

• High Performance Import services optimize importing large quantities of content and include services for batch-oriented import, statistics, error handling, graphical reports (using business activity monitoring), and customized data collection.

• WebDAV services facilitate accessing Alero from other WebDAV-compliant applications as a WebDAV server. It also integrates Alero with Microsoft Office® applications, Windows® Explorer, and any other WebDAV-compliant application.

Although Alero's repository services can be acquired and used independently to meet specific content requirements, when used together with the other services provided by Alero, you gain the synergistic benefits of leveraging your entire enterprise information resources and data—objects, documents, records and transactions—into your enterprise processes, creating an integrated business environment in which employees, customers, suppliers and vendors can most effectively and securely exchange information.

Contact us now for more information.