The output management world is in the throes of change. Electronic channels are fast overtaking the formerly dominant forms of customer communication, in particular postal mail and even traditional e-mail. The new mobile systems are becoming more and more important for business communication. Output managers are therefore facing major challenges. That was one of the key takeaways from this year's Comparting, held November 17–18 in Böblingen near Stuttgart.

Comparting 2011The event, now in its seventh year, was attended like never before. Approximately 300 attendees from eleven countries joined Compart at the Congress Center Böblingen. Interest has grown steadily since the very first Comparting in 2005. In the annual survey of participants, the technology forum usually gets the highest ratings. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive this year, too; some thought it the best Comparting ever, due in no small measure to the caliber of the presentations.

First and foremost were the remarks from Compart CEO Harald Grumser on the future of output management. Audience members listened attentively as he declared a hyperlink to printed documents off course, yet indicated a link as essential for the future survival of electronic documents. And therein lay the keyword for the indispensable component in electronic document structure: metadata must be included and offer interactive options.

Then Grumser turned to the topic of documents in the future. As once e-mail had all but supplanted the business letter, now it too was feeling the pressure. Social media platforms like Facebook, Xing, Twitter, etc. were making steady inroads into the business communication sphere. Mobile devices from the iPad to the Smartphone are among the input and output systems playing an ever greater role. This has rendered the once dominant A4 page display practically obsolete, which Grumser characterized as an extremely pressing issue.

Harald Grumser: PDF has overtaken AFP

Yet another of point of discussion by the Compart CEO was the need to separate content from the form of display, as well as the difference between object mark-up and formatting for the diversity of presentation media. During these times of change, letter volumes would drop significantly even though they were still quite high – Grumser cited the 20 billion letters the Deutsche Post alone delivers annually. In particular, transactional mail like invoices, notices, dunning letters and account statements would take a hit. In view of the dramatic changes in customer communications, the challenges companies in output management face are legion. Grumser offered these concrete recommendations:

  • Build bridges between old applications and delivery
  • Link multiple input channels with multiple output channels
  • Be prepared for new channels

Because the traditional output management workflow – format, optimize and print – will not be enough in future.

Grumser also had a good deal to day about white paper solutions. He weighed the advantages and disadvantages, as well as discussed roadblocks. His presentation concluded with a wrap-up of the major challenges the industry faces in converting to this new form of document output. Color would need to be introduced and investments made in all process steps.

In his words of welcome, the Compart CEO briefly spoke about current developments at the company and ventured prognoses for the coming year, among them:

  • Rental software will grow.
  • Pay-per-use demand will drop.
  • Share of toolkits will rise.
  • Implementation projects will get bigger.
  • Proportion of Linux installations will grow.
  • Demand for host version will fall.
  • For the first time, PDF surpassed AFP as the output management data format.

Grumser also gave a look ahead at Compart activities. He explained the company would be concentrating more on electronic channels, offering more flexible pricing models, and expanding professional services.

Intense networking

Board member Jörg Palmer, who heads up Services, moderated a developer team presentation on the new releases DocBridge Pilot 2.13 and DocBridge FileCab 1.1. The new Workbench for Mill tool for graphic-supported configuration of filter profiles also met with great interest.

This year's Comparting program included 14 presentations overall, a podium discussion on new trends in digital color printing, and an exhibit put on by Compart partners Deutsche Post, Océ, Kodak, Kendox and Intarsys. Among the highlights were the presentations by LVM and the Versicherungskammer Bayern. Both companies have successfully implemented Compart solutions, thereby realizing tremendous savings. The presentation by AXA Technology Services, the IT services provider of one of the world's largest insurers, was likewise stimulating. The talk revolved around how to successfully implement a multicommunication channel concept in a large company and then implement it technologically. AXA Technology Services related how they not only substantially improved paper communication, but also made possible cross- and up-selling in transaction documents. Overall the company concentrated on integrating all the communication channels in document and output management in order to generate content that could be enhanced independently of context.

Other talks, given in English and German, dealt with the latest developments in the PDF universe with its many specifications such as PDF/VT and PDF/UA as well as document production using XML and XSL-FO. The two-day workshop finished up with a topic that goes well beyond the bounds of the industry: the creation of barrier-free documents. Considering the German government's plan to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the discussion focused on the need to create media completely accessible to all, regardless of disability. This would affect the structure and format of documents so that they could be correctly reproduced both syntactically and logically, whether in Braille or as an audio file or screen reader. Several examples were cited.

During the breaks, and especially during the exclusive evening event, attendees had ample opportunity for intense networking.