About Us

Allison Consultancy is the UK's leading independent consultancies specialising in:

The Issues

• Information into Knowledge
• How Can EDM Help?
• What are the Benefits?
• What You Need to Know
• Why Us?
• How Can We Help?
• Introductory Workshops
• Contact Information

Information into Knowledge

All organisations are rich in information about themselves, their competitors, the market etc, but much of this is locked away in files and no one knows it exists. Information can only become useful knowledge if it is accessible as and when it is relevant, even if the person searching is unaware of its existence. This matters to your organisation because you want:

• Improved customer service
• Competitive advantage
• Greater efficiency and effectiveness
• Greater job satisfaction for your staff
• Regulatory / Charter compliance

All these come from effective management of your information.

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How Can EDM Help?

Electronic Document Management (EDM) is a proven tool which enables you to manage all of your organisation’s information in one system, irrespective of its origin. Through seamless integration with your existing applications, you can access:

• Images of any paper document
• Word processor documents
• Drawings and graphics
• Faxes
• Photographs and video
• Spreadsheets

Plus:

• Powerful tools to search for all relevant items
• Workflows to route documents as needed
• Optical character recognition (OCR)
• Automated forms processing

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What are the Benefits?

• Choice of traditional or intranet approach
• Improved productivity and cash flow
• Improved flexibility and responsiveness
• Security control over access to files
• Information can be accessed at distant sites
• Several people can read a document at once
• Documents can be automatically routed to relevant people
• Annotations can be made without altering the original
• You have control of the version on view and can ensure instant updates of controlled documents
• Automated audit trails of actions
• Improved management statistics
• Improved disaster protection

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What You Need to Know

To ensure a successful implementation, you need to consider carefully what business need you are addressing and the outcomes you are looking for.

Having made the case for EDM / Workflow, you must define the needs of your users and how they are to integrate with your organisation’s existing IT. Your specification for potential suppliers should describe accurately the system you want, and define the document usage and flow patterns within your organisation.

You need to prepare the people who will use the new system and those who initially will not. New technology and the change it brings can be intimidating, and as EDM / Workflow systems are now mature and reliable, the greatest risk comes from failure to manage the change carefully and considerately.

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Why Us?

We take a client-centred approach, listening carefully to your needs and constraints. We work with you to enable you to define your requirements and a successful implementation plan. Our approach throughout is to ensure you understand the issues and are empowered to define and own your solution.

We will discuss your plans with you and offer you a costed ‘shopping list’ of tasks we could undertake to help you achieve your goals. You are free to choose which of the items you would like to involve us in. Each item typically takes a few days and is charged on completion.

We recognise that our success is your success and we care about our relationship with you. Directors Dik and Joy Allison and John Wilson manage all client relationships personally.

We work with a team of expert associates who are all experienced professionals. All have many years experience in a wide variety of market sectors. We select the people with the most appropriate skills for your application to join the team working with you.

The reduced risk which results from informed decision making more than offsets the cost of our assistance. We keep our overheads to a minimum without compromising quality to ensure our rates are competitive. We are proud of our excellent reputation and we do not ask you to pay until you are satisfied with our work.

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How Can We Help?

We help you manage the change in your way of working as you introduce EDM and/or Workflow by supporting and empowering you to:

• Make your business case
• Develop records management strategies and guidelines
• Build your project team
• Educate, inform and involve your staff to ensure their commitment
• Draw on expertise at all levels in your organisation
• Define your users’ requirements and document usage patterns/ workflows
• Define your functional specification
• Define your retrieval criteria
• Draw up your invitation to tender
• Consult a range of appropriate suppliers
• Evaluate vendors’ responses
• Plan your implementation and migration to the new system
• Define your backfile conversion needs
• Evaluate your achievements
• Protect against disaster

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Introductory Workshops

If you are unsure about how EDM could help, or where best to make a start, we are happy to offer you an introductory workshop. This is tailored to your specific needs, allowing you to explore the possibilities in confidence and without obligation. We give an overview of the technology and facilitate a discussion about the potential benefits and issues in your organisation. Workshops typically last about half a day and are run at a venue of your choice.

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Contact Information

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This page was last updated on 28-Feb-2007.

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