Quadrant Updates IntelliChief with Web Forms

April 15, 2008 Alex Woodie

System i shops that use Quadrant Software‘s IntelliChief document and content management offering gained several new capabilities this month with the release of IntelliChief version 2.3. Leading off the list of new enhancements is support for Web forms, which will allow more interaction between the software and users. Other enhancements include better out-of-the-box integration with popular ERP packages, a new “intelligent” rubberstamp designer, an easier-to-use workflow creation system, and upgrades to its indexing feature, among other changes.

While each IntelliChief deployment is as unique as the organization adopting the software, there is usually one underlying goal that doesn’t change: digitize as much of the paperwork and its flow throughout the organization as possible. To that end, Quadrant says that the Windows-based IntelliChief offering and its collection of modules–ScanChief, PortalChief, WorkflowChief, ViewChief, and StorageChief–satisfy the six core tenets of paperless process management (PPM) as Quadrant sees them, including capturing, creating, distributing, retrieving, and archiving content and business documents, and executing the flow of these documents among the workers.

In recent point releases of IntelliChief since the software became available in November 2005, Quadrant has focused on widening the product’s connection to the various sources and targets of documents in the business environment, including scanners, ERP systems, legacy applications, service oriented architectures (SOAs), and other sources. Quadrant continues that trend with IntelliChief version 2.3, which the company unveiled at the recent COMMON conference in Tennessee.

Support for Web forms in IntelliChief 2.3 provides another way to input data into the system. Quadrant says it is now selling a new Web form module that allows users to fill out forms such as purchase requisitions, time-off requests, request for proposals, and other standard forms. Once the form is filled out in a Web browser and submitted, IntelliChief processes the form according to predefined rules, and stores the form in its archive, enabling users to pull it up later from within IntelliChief or their ERP application of choice.

The same module that allows IntelliChief users to create Web forms can also be used to create customized rubberstamps for use with the product’s workflow functionality, Quadrant says. Instead of just using the standard “approved” or “rejected” electronic rubberstamp functionality, Quadrant allows users to create rubberstamps that work well for their particular environment. Users can also create “intelligent” rubberstamps that automatically display variable data that’s calculated from an index or user-entered values.

Version 2.3 also introduces new “integration templates” that make it easy to hook ERP software from Infor and Lawson into the IntelliChief middleware environment. The new templates add support for Infor XA (formerly MAPICS), Infor HCM for iSeries (formerly Intentia), and Lawson ERP products, without requiring any programs, the company says. Previously, the company offered templates for Infor’s BPCS and System21 ERP products; Quadrant also has experience with Oracle JD Edwards environments.

Another new feature allows IntelliChief to serve archived electronic documents and metadata to other applications upon request. Previously, this could only be accomplished if the request came directly from within IntelliChief.

Better support for legacy content management systems that use the MODCA file format is another new feature of IntelliChief version 2.3. MODCA, which stands for Mixed Object Document Content Architecture, is an old file format used by IBM content management systems. The new release automates the bulk transformation of MODCA files into TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) image files and the loading of those TIFFs into the IntelliChief document repository.

The workflow creation and modification process has also been streamlined through the new capability to cut, copy, and paste existing workflows. Instead of creating a new workflow from scratch, users can simply copy an existing workflow and paste its functions into a new one, eliminating a good deal of setup time, Quadrant says. Execution of multi-stage workflows has also been enhanced, the company says.

Several new indexing enhancements were introduced with IntelliChief 2.3. The first introduces support for reindexing documents with multiple index sets, such as a check that covers two or more invoices. Previously, the software wouldn’t automatically update all indexes affected by a document when that document needs to be modified after the fact (such as a check written for the wrong amount). IntelliChief now automatically updates all document indexes when multiple indexes are involved.

This release also brings enhancements to IntelliChief’s Document Processing Profile (DPP), which is a file that tells IntelliChief what to do with documents that are captured into the system. When the DPP needs to be modified for a document type (due to an error or a change in the process flow), IntelliChief will automatically preserve the indexes previously created with that DPP, eliminating more manual work.

IntelliChief 2.3 is available now. Pricing for the product has not changed with this release, which means it still starts in the $50,000 price range. For more information, go to www.quadrantsoftware.com.

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