Marathon Oil, a fully integrated oil company with offices based in Aberdeen, Scotland and Houston, Texas recently purchased Cimage's DM-Net product to gain access to their document management system via a web browser. Alf Michaelsen, Document Management Services Supervisor, Marathon Oil commented, "We already have documents available on-line to a limited number of users, through DM Desktop, Cimage's client document management solution. The installation of DM-Net, however, will mean that information and documentation is accessible from everyone's desk."

The cost-effectiveness of the DM-Net Intranet solution was highlighted by a major US electrical components manufacturer located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The project manager explained, "DM-Net has lowered our costs overall, because instead of installing Cimage desktop clients in all our sales offices, web access provides everyone with what they need. Yes, I pay a license on the server, but I do not have to worry about the client side."

Installation is also easier. If the user already has a web browser on their PC, no additional software is required. A Project Engineer in Boston, MA, USA comments, "We found that the install demands to get another image user on board was a lot easier to handle. All someone has to do to access images with DM-Net is to use his or her user ID and password". A further benefit is that training is virtually eliminated, since the majority of users are already familiar with Web browsers.

Essentially, these business advantages allow organizations to increase the user base of their document management system. Before purchasing DM-Net, Texaco's Document Management System had two server licenses, one for ten concurrent users and one for four registered users. Now with DM-Net, they have made access available to some 200 users throughout the company in the UK. This is likely to increase in 1998 as other non-technical based applications come on-line.

Expansion of the system into other departments, enabling additional document types to be included on to the system occurs as a natural progression. This leads to further integration with complementary information systems propelling the benefits to many more applications than previously possible.

Scottish based John McArthur, Texaco's Technical Document Controller, predicts that, "… the availability of DM-Net on the Texaco Intranet will allow us to invoke document queries from other applications such as SAP. Currently the system is principally used for accessing asset information on the engineering side. However, the Accounts, Petroleum Engineering and Contracts departments are all now actively considering other applications. The plan is that eventually all network enabled users will have access to at least one application within Texaco's Document Management System to assist with their daily work."

With Intranet applications providing global and remote access to corporate information systems, companies throughout the world are integrating their regional systems and providing access to them via the Internet.

Another Cimage DM-Net customer in the US sites an additional benefit, "Any of our sales persons visiting a client is able to retrieve specific documentation packages by accessing them remotely via the web. A customer is impressed when they have examples of exactly what the job is going to look like, not just in theory how the job will run and what we think it will look like."

In today's competitive environment it is essential that organizations maximize the benefits they receive from their existing business information systems. By increasing access to vital business documentation to external as well as internal users, return on investment, operational efficiency, product quality and customer service will all increase dramatically. In this regard Internet technology is a tool no organization can afford to ignore.