Laserfiche has released Version 9 of its namesake software, offering tightly integrated BPM and ECM tools. 

A major feature of the new release is the integration of Laserfiche Forms which extends business processes to the point of capture by allowing organisations to collect, process and route information electronically via Web-based forms.

For business processes there are new “super workflows” that enable users to start workflows on a document from the Laserfiche Client or Web access and report on that workflow’s progress at every step.

Users can now access Laserfiche features when working with Microsoft Office files in native applications through Web Access; while Laserfiche SDK 9.0 also includes a new Client Automation Tools (CAT) feature, a .NET assembly that supports the handling of multiple instances of the Client, launching of business processes, etc.

Upgrading to Laserfiche 9 from Version 8 does not require a full migration procedure. Laserfiche 8 repositories will be automatically updated to 9 upon upgrade.

Kenneth Chin, Gartner vice president of content, collaboration and social, says the expectation from ECM buyers is  for lower cost and quicker implementation. 

“They are looking for a solution that requires less services and takes  less time to deploy. There is also a generational refresh – lots of products and platforms need to move to the next generation. And a lot of the focus is on the end-user interaction (i.e. how user friendly is the product ? )

“Organizations are less concerned with technologies and more concerned with solutions.

“Solutions that meet needs where transactions drive the process. Social content management is also a focus for many organizations. 

"By enhancing the workflow capabilities to the Laserfiche Rio and Avante, customers can digitize and automate more of the complex business processes. Also, by providing solution frameworks for the more common business processes such as accounts payable, loans processing, and permitting, Laserfiche also enables quicker deployment which results in quicker ROI," he explained.