Spotlight Shines on Intelligent Document at On Demand

Communications professionals eager to learn about the latest technologies and trends in on-demand publishing flocked to the On Demand/AIIM 2004 conference and exposition, held March 8-10 in New York City.

Officials of show producer Advanstar say that attendance levels for the show and the conference program were up significantly from last year.

Headlining the On Demand event as keynote speaker was Xerox Corporation chairman and chief executive Anne M. Mulcahy, who drew about 2,400 people on opening day to hear her views on intelligent document management.

"Wherever we go in the enterprise, we see documents that could be smartened up," she said. "The old world of 'I-T' was made up of a little 'I' and a big 'T,' reflecting that the focus was always on the technology, on the machines processing data."

Today, Mulcahy added, the focus is on information; in moving forward, there exists the need for ultra-intelligent document management systems, where users of information will be able to easily locate, use, and repurpose the data most relevant to them.

"[The Xerox theme of] 'The New Business of Printing' is a smarter way to produce and manage documents on demand, just in time. That's the only way to go," she asserted, adding that "smart" documents can pay off big.

"When you add an individual's name to a printed page, response rates go up 44%," she noted. "When you add a name and color, response rates go up 135%. But when you add a person's name, add color, and customize the content to the interests of the person named, response rates go up more than 500%. It's a genuine opportunity to breathe new life into an industry that otherwise offers a tough road of cost reduction, price pressures, and no return to the growth levels of the past."

Next year's On Demand event, to be held May 17-19, will move to Philadelphia.