Fujitsu has announced a collaboration with MindTouch, a vendor of open source collaborative networking. Fujitsu’s ScanSnap document scanners are now able to scan documents directly into a MindTouch collaboration site.
Since its inception in 2006, MindTouch has focused on enabling groups within enterprise networking environments to collaborate using Wikis, adapters for specialized information workflows like Customer Relationship Management (CRM), productivity tools, database interaction and more. MindTouch counts The Washington Post, Mozilla Foundation and others among its client base – the software is now used by more than 1,000 customers and 16 million users. The software is positioned as an alternative to Microsoft’s SharePoint document collaboration platform.
Fujitsu’s ScanSnap scanners enable users to scan both sides of a document at once. Available in Mac-compatible versions, the devices simplify digitizing paper documents into searchable PDF documents. Fujitsu has extended this utility by making it possible to scan documents and e-mail them into a MindTouch collaboration environment. They’re debuting this new capability with the newly-introduced ScanSnap S1300 portable scanner, a $295 model that scans up to eight color pages per minute at 300 dots per inch.
The net result is that paper documents are indexed, searchable and part of a collaborative workspace that workgroups can then access and share online. Users can edit documents while retaining a complete version history, including the original scanned doucment.
“This is getting a lot of traction with small legal offices, for example, or any business with a glut of hardcopy that has to be indexed and searched,” explained MindTouch CEO and co-founder Aaron Fulkerson.
Alternatives to MindTouch include Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems like Documentum with Captiva, which can run businesses $100,000 or more. A full-bore enterprise installation of MindTouch costs a fraction of that.
Fulkerson sees growth for MindTouch especially in the small to medium business (SMB) market increasingly dependent on the Macintosh – a market focused on by Fujitsu with its ScanSnap scanner.
“That’s directly what we’ve targeted with cloud.mindtouch.com,” Fulkerson said. MindTouch’s cloud collaboration service just got off the ground in November. It offers the same functionality as the MindTouch Standard package in a hosted environment, available without needing an IT department to set up and manage a system. Installations can be as few as 10 users or less for $10 per user.