When purchasing a shiny new Laserfiche System, there are many things to keep in mind, and we've discussed some of them in this blog. If you are going to use Laserfiche as just a digital filing cabinet, you can buy from any partner. However, suppose you want to leverage all the features and functionalities of the product. In that case, you need a partner with a deep bench of developers, a history of technical expertise, and a library of migrations, customizations, and conversions in the field.
One of many reasons that Laserfiche is praised for its value is that it offers a RESTful API. An API is an application programming interface that conforms to representational state transfer. Specifically, if you want Laserfiche to interact with a business system, such as an ERP, an API helps communicate what you want to that system so the request can be fulfilled. If you are a developer, this means easier integration and that the architecture has many extension points for expanded functionality. That expanded "pluggability" is vital because ALL features are accessible, not just some features. The information silos you've experienced? Eliminated.
Organizations should work with a partner who is skilled in the Laserfiche API because they:
Are much more productive because they aren't logging into five different systems to find a record.
Have the ability to reduce time to project completion.
Can effectively leverage their existing infrastructure, with Laserfiche serving as information middleware.
Laserfiche Tools and CPS: Making the Impossible, Possible
Integrations are essential enough to ECM for Gartner, a few years ago, to rename ECM as a content services platform (CSP). Essentially, a CSP has everything that an ECM system offers, but in a package designed from day one to be integrated into other services. This open-API approach is new for some but has been baked into tools such as Laserfiche from their inception.
CPS also uses Laserfiche tools such as Workflow or Quicklfields to do integration work. For instance, database lookups using Workflow do some of the heavy lifting of an integration——which is to push data captured by Laserfiche into another system, such as an ERP. Or, envision the invoicing process, where data from a paper invoice can be captured at the scan and pushed into the accounting system, initiating a workflow that will issue a check.
There are many creative ways to use Laserfiche tools to provide efficiencies. If you evaluate a Laserfiche Partner, ask for client references for specific workflows, integrations, or customizations. A frank conversation with the partner's client should provide you with the intelligence you need to make the right choice for your organization.
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