Q. What is SaaS?
A. SaaS stands for “Software as a Service”. Basically it means that an application is made available for use from a hosted location as a service and used on-demand rather than sold as a licensable software package for on-premise installation. On-demand services reduce the capital, operational and maintenance costs associated with the purchase and installation of on-premise technology SaaS enables software to become a variable/operational expense, rather than a fixed cost at the time of purchase. SaaS means that the customer need not worry about the operational and administrative costs associated with implementing and supporting complex high availability infrastructure.
Q. What is Document Transformation?
A. Document Transformation can simply be defined as the conversion of a source document format to a target format. For example a document is produced in and AFP format for printing on IBM printers but now the customer wants the documents stored as PDF in their corporate ECM solution for online presentment to customers. This type of transformation is known as an AFP to PDF document transformation. Documents are typically “transformed” for the following purposes:
- Transform and Index documents for load into Enterprise Content Management (ECM) archives
- Transform document formats for high volume print
- Extract contents from documents for downstream straight-through processing
- Recompose documents with current branding and trans promo messaging
Q. What document formats does Xenos OnLine transform?
A. Xenos OnLine for Document Transformation supports all major print stream and image formats including: AFP; Xerox Metacode/DJDE; PCL 5 & 6; PDF 1.0 to 1.6; PDF/A; ASCII & EBCDIC Line Data; Tiff; PNG; JPG; PostScript.
Q. What data formats can Xenos OnLine process?
A. Xenos OnLine for Data Transformation provides data mapping, translation, routing control and secure reliable transport between trading partners and/or back-office applications and databases. It supports corporate Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) and Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) initiatives as a service. Support exists for virtually any format through XML-based dictionaries including: COBOL Copybooks (text and binary data); CSV; Databases using JDBC and ODBC technology; EDI HIPAA; EDI X12; EDIFACT; Flat Text; HL7; Java Objects via JAXB, Castor, or XBean; PDF Forms; SWIFT; SAP IDOC; SQL; XBRL; XML.
Q. Why should I use a service rather than an on-premise installation?
A. Xenos actually provides technology as either a service or as on-premise licensable software. By providing choice we offer flexibility to choose what best suits your needs. The typical advantage of service technology is the reduced capital expenditure required for licenses, hardware and the environments to support the solution. Also, for niche technology solutions, it eliminates the need to train and retrain employees already over-burdened with numerous technical challenges.
Q. How can I be sure my documents are safe?
A. Xenos OnLine uses modern security technologies to ensure your data is secure during transit and at rest. Internet transmission is possible via secure FTP, ebXML, or VPN implementation. Xenos OnLine is housed in a secure, audit-compliant data center with redundant power and cooling systems. Modern intrusion detection systems and data backups are deployed with 7 x 24 human administration.
Q. How do I know the technology that you use is reliable?
A. Xenos’ award-winning technology has been developed over a 25 year period and is deployed at over 350 of the largest organizations around the globe. We have an industry-leading reputation for providing the highest performance and reliability of any vendor in our space.
Q. Do I need to learn how to operate your transformation technology?
A. No! Xenos OnLine’s professional services team works with you to determine your business requirements and then handles all aspects of the solution implementation from document and data transformation setup; to systems integration, quality assurance testing, and production administration.
Q. Can I extract content from Documents into XML or CSV?
A. Absolutely! Xenos OnLine has the ability to extract individual index information or to completely parse tabular contents and repurpose them as XML, CSV, or any other structured format you may desire. In fact this is one of the unique capabilities that positions Xenos as a technology leader in this space. Go ahead and challenge our professional services team. See what you can accomplish!!!
Q. What integration options do I have with the Xenos OnLine solution?
A. Xenos OnLine provides the maximum flexibility when integrating with your back-office applications and internal business processes. The following options are available: SOAP (Web Service), HTTP(S), FTP(S), File/Watch Directory, Virtual Print Spool, JMS, IBM MQ Series, Java API and ebXML.
Q. Can you process Kanji or Arabic character sets?
A. Yes! Xenos technology has been uniquely developed to handle both Chinese and Arabic languages.
Q. Who is monitoring my business and will I be notified if something fails?
A. Xenos OnLine is monitored 7 x 24 x 365 by trained professionals. Automated alerts and audit logs will indicate if significant processing failures occur. Email alerts can be sent to defined business contacts in real time in the event of failure and automated reprocessing can be configured if technically possible.
Q. What level of service can I expect?
A. Xenos OnLine provides a 99.5% online availability assurance. We reserve 4 hours a month during off-peak business hours for application and infrastructure maintenance and publish these well in advance.
Q. How will I be billed?
A. Depending on the services you are using there are potentially four billing components: initial setup fees; a transactional-based document or data processing fee; a storage fee; and an online user fee. Invoices are processed on a monthly basis.
Q. Do I need to sign a long-term contract?
A. Repetitive processing customers and customers who are housing their content with Xenos OnLine typically sign-up for a 12-month to 3-year period.
Q. What if I just need a one-time transformation of content?
A. If you have a lot of content and merely want to transform it as part of a single content migration project, we can work out specific terms based on the volume, complexity and timeframes. Bring it on!
Q. Do you have any questions we haven’t answered here?
A. Challenge us! We’d love to address your needs.
For frustrated line-of-business and IT managers in larger organizations, whose document and data projects are stalled due to IT budget constraints, Xenos OnLine offers a viable zero-capital solution that resolves immediate issues and assures rapid time–to-market.
Go ahead and challenge our technical specialists. You will be amazed at what really can be done with your documents and data!
