Daniel Jenab:
Hello everyone. Welcome to another one of RPI’s Webinar Wednesdays. Today, the topic is the much-anticipated release of Perceptive Content, formally known as ImageNow, 7.3, and the release of Perceptive Experience Content apps version 3.0, as well as why you may consider upgrading soon.
Before we get started, we do want to feature a few more upcoming webinars in our new live workshop series. Join John Marney, RPI’s Manager of Solution Delivery for the Content and Process Automation practice, on Friday, July 19th at 2 p.m. central for our first Live Workshop. John will be providing a short demonstration of ImageNow workflow, and the rest of the session will be open to QA and free advice.
Then, in August we will have a special Kofax RPA, or Robotic Process Automation, series of webinars, which include Bryant Bell, Director for Product Marketing at Kofax. First, we’ll be talking about Kofax RPA for accounts payable, then a best practice tips and tricks for Kofax RPA, formerly known as Kapow.
Just a brief about me. My name is Daniel Jenab. I’m a Project Coordinator here at RPI consultants. Just a bit about myself. I received my Master’s Degree in Communications Management from the George Washington University. I am certified as a Kofax Technical Solutions Specialist in Kofax TotalAgility, and I’m the defacto office personal trainer and nutritionist, because remember, a personal health check is just as important as a solution health check.
Quinn Huntsman:
My turn. Hello everyone. My name is Quinn Huntsman. I’m a Business Analyst on the CPA team here in Kansas City, Missouri. A little bit about myself. I have a background in web development, and I’ve worked on successful upgrade and enhancement projects for Perceptive Content and related products. Additionally, I am certified solution specialist for Kofax’s Robotic Process Automation product.
A fun fact about me. I’m the biggest Queen fan at RPI.
Daniel Jenab:
You know, Quinn, I’ve always been wondering, what actually is your favorite Queen song?
Quinn Huntsman:
Bohemian Rhapsody, hands down.
Daniel Jenab:
You work with a guy for nine months and learn something new every day.
On the agenda for today’s webinar, first up is a brief about me session for RPI Consultants. Who we are, and what we do. Second, we’ll get into the What’s New in Perceptive Content, version 7.3. Next, Quinn will discuss the new release of Perceptive Experience Content Apps 3.0. After that, I’ll be discussing some helpful steps for planning your next upgrade, and why you should pick RPI Consultants to help you upgrade. Finally, we’ll have our summary and questions wrap up session to conclude the webinar.
A little bit about RPI Consultants. RPI Consultants is a full-service professional services provider and software reseller for the industry’s leading enterprise content management and business process automation technologies, including Infor Lawson, Kofax, and Hyland Software.
Here at RPI, we have over 100 full time employees, including technical and solution architects, and project managers who are ready to take your business to the next level. We are based out of Baltimore, Maryland, however we have offices in Tampa, Florida and Kansas City, Missouri. Quinn and I are presenting from Kansas City today.
Some technical and professional services that we at RPI offer include technical, strategy and architecture, new installations, upgrades, and migrations, process analysis, system design and implementation, managed services and staff augmentation, and project and change management.
We are a Hyland Authorized Solution provider, and just a few of the Hyland specific solutions and licenses we provide include Perceptive Content, formerly ImageNow, Enterprise Search, Brainware by Hyland, which was formerly Perceptive Intelligent Capture, or PIC, as well as OnBase by Hyland. Additionally, our industry and solution expertise is uniquely broad, with successful projects occurring in accounts payable and financial process automation, human resources and human capital management, or HCM, student transcripts and applications, and healthcare and manufacturing higher education, public services and government, and more.
Quinn Huntsman:
What’s new in Perceptive Content 7.3? First, we’ve got some new compatibility options for the server itself, some new Business Insight modifications, including a new report, and several exciting updates to the Perceptive Experience Content Apps product line. Let’s go ahead and get into that.
First off, we got some system enhancements. Perceptive Content now supports Windows Server 2019, as well as 64-bit based Linux operating systems. Next, we’ve got native ODBC driver support now, so this means that you’ll get all of the latest security updates and patches for those drivers without having to install a new version of Perceptive. Outside of that, we’ve got support for TLS 1.2, which means that things like iScripts, Business Insight, and content server communication in general come a little bit more secure.
The most exciting update, in my opinion, is the updates to Integration Server API, so with that, and we’ll get more into it, but, it’s now exposing user privileges to be worked with in other applications that communicate back to content. For the content client itself, there’s a small change in the installer, so it no longer comes bundled with the Java access bridge, so if you are using Java learn mode integrations or something to that effect, you will need to preinstall that.
Moving on to Business Insight, we got a couple new support options in general product enhancements. First, Business Insight now supports Oracle 12CR2, and TLS 1.2 as I mentioned earlier, as well as there are some minor updates and enhancements to the existing Business Insight reports. There’s also a new report that allows you to list the OSM object extensions in your Perceptive environment. This might be useful for determining why your OSMs are excessively large or just giving you a better idea of what kind of files you’re storing to begin with.
For the exciting part, there’s a bunch of updates to Perceptive Experience Content Apps, version 3.0, such as Capture, Workflow, and Tasks. Almost every app’s gotten updated, and there’s a new app called Folders, so let’s go ahead and get to that.
First, let’s go over the overall system enhancements once again, and then we’ll go on to the individual app updates. Content Apps is able to now leverage user privileges, so that means that it can dynamically present the user interface based on a user’s privileges, so if for example, if a user can’t see a certain toolbar action in the thick client, they won’t be able to see that in experience as well. Other than that, we’ve got a refreshed jQuery library for eForms, and some other UI enhancements, such as an improved breadcrumb navigation that allows you to move throughout the application a lot easier. A shared toolbar that I believe the idea there was that since the Folders app came out, it’s time to unify that, clean it up a bit, and that kind of changes based on the context of where you are in the application. There is some configuration and customization available for that toolbar with in the config.json file.
For the individual apps themselves, for Capture, we have the ability now to capture multiple documents in a single scan session. An important note here is that this setting is not enabled by default. You need to go into that config.json file and enable it there. Outside of that, there’s a new image processing filter called auto rotation, that allows you to correct the orientation of scanned or imported images when they come in.
For the new app Folders, what Folders allows you to do is group documents and folders together, view related documents’ folders, and view MiFi folder properties. Outside of that, you can perform workflow and task actions on folders in Experience now.
Here we’ve got a couple important updates regarding timeline for end of life for previous versions of Perceptive Content. With version 7.1.5, limited support is going to start August of this year. For 7.2.2, limited support will start in May of next year, and then for 7.2.3, it will start in August 2021. Now, the actual end of service date for each of these versions will be a year after the limited support starting date.
A couple of other important notes here. There’s not an incremental upgrade script for the database for the release of 7.3. it would still use that same 7.2.3 schema using the previous version, as well as the WebNow is no longer supported after 7.3, so that’s a great reason to upgrade right there.
Daniel Jenab:
If at this point in the webinar you’re thinking Perceptive Content 7.3 and Content Apps 3.0 sounds amazing, sounds great for our business. Well, this is the section for you. Here, we’ll discuss some need-to-know topics about upgrading and how you can best prepare your business for an upgrade.
For those of you on the fence about whether the jump to 7.3 from your current solution makes sense, we have a list of reasons why you should upgrade. You should upgrade if you have a version of Perceptive Content older than 7.1.5. If you are an active user of Perceptive Experience Apps. If your organization uses WebNow, or have plans have plans on upgrading Perceptive Content in the future, because as Quinn talked about, WebNow will be no longer supported after version 7.3. If your organization is a heavy utilizer of privileges within Perceptive Content, or if you’re planning on continuing with Perceptive Content after 7.3.
Quinn Huntsman:
Here we’ve got a few helpful tips for preparing for an upgrade. These things help you, they help us. For instance, one thing you can do is remove redundant and unused workflows. Perhaps you had a test workflow that you’re no longer testing with, it’s always good to clean those up. Can give you small boosts in performance throughout the system.
Next, it’s important to perform regular database maintenance. This can assist our consultants in setting up your pre-production environment, because we’ll have a fresh copy, ideally, of your database backup that we can use for that stand-up. Outside of that, it’s always good to run retention policies to remove unnecessary OSMs and clean things up like that, as well as the last two kind of tie together, which is cleaning up log files in your archive directory, as well as reviewing and maintaining iScripts.
Daniel Jenab:
I may be a bit biased here, but I’m of the opinion that you should upgrade with RPI consultants, and plenty of satisfied clients agree. RPI has industry renowned Perceptive Content upgrade and integration experts. We have successfully integrated Perceptive Content with software such as Brainware by Hyland, Infor Lawson, RPI’s own proprietary Yoga platform, and a variety of Kofax products. We have broad industry experience with successful upgrades performed for higher education, healthcare, manufacturing, construction, government, utilities, and public services, and a whole host of other clients. We have experienced technical and solution architects ready to optimize your current and future business processes, along with a dedicated PMO, ready to help manage the project from project start to successful project close.
Additionally, we have already kicked off our first 7.3 upgrades.
Daniel Jenab:
Here’s a sample case study of a satisfied client, Western Michigan University. They are a higher education client. The RPI project team included myself as the project coordinator, Adam Kinney as our senior consultant, and Jim Fall as the senior account executive. We helped them through technical and solution services, and their upgrade from version 6.7 to 7.2.3, closing the project on the 26th of June this year with a successful upgrade and a future-state recommendations document.
Now, we’ll open up the floor for any questions regarding what Quinn and I have discussed today, with the assistance of our moderator.
Speaker 3:
Hello, thanks guys. Anybody who wants to submit questions, please feel free to do so via the GoToWebinar questions pane. You just type it out and hit enter, and we will see it.
A few questions to kick us off. If I’m on 7.2.3 right now, do I need to move to new servers or original machines?
Quinn Huntsman:
Not necessarily. If you’re using Windows Server 2012, you absolutely will want to upgrade to at least 2016, but if you’re already on 2016, it’s not a hundred percent necessary to move to new hardware.
Speaker 3:
How long does the typical upgrade take, say from 7.2.3 to 7.3?
Daniel Jenab:
A typical upgrade, we usually scope for eight to 12 weeks. However, the biggest issue with scoping upgrades is the user testing. The best way to prepare yourself for a quick upgrade is to be ready for testing.
Speaker 3:
Do I need any additional licenses for the Experience Content Apps?
Quinn Huntsman:
You do need combo licenses for Experience. There is a web scan toolkit that also requires obtaining that, which is outside of the typical Experience download, but outside of that, you just need combo licenses for Experience.
Speaker 3:
Okay. Very good. Next, what is the difference between Experience and Content Apps?
Quinn Huntsman:
Experience is more of a framework or a box that you can build in, whereas Content Apps is a product that runs within there.
Speaker 3:
All right, so we can actually do custom application development inside of Experience, outside of the Content Apps.
Quinn Huntsman:
Absolutely.
Speaker 3:
Will we be able to use WebNow in 7.3?
Quinn Huntsman:
In 7.3 it is still supported. Releases after 7.3 will not support WebNow.
Speaker 3:
Did you notice, is there a product upgrade for WebNow specifically?
Quinn Huntsman:
I don’t believe there are release notes on WebNow.
Speaker 3:
Okay. Can you show the slide of when support stops? Can we back up to that.
Daniel Jenab:
Yeah. Yeah. I will go ahead and back up to that one.
Speaker 3:
This is in a document available on the Hyland community portal called, I think it’s End of Life Release Policy, or something like that, so you can log in and look at that any time, and it lists all sorts of other products and sub products, but 7.1.5 is probably a little surprising to some folks. Feels like it just came out, but limited supports starts August first of next month, and then it will actually hit full end of life next year.
We’re going to move on, and if you have any further questions, feel free to submit them. You can leave it on that slide for now.
Please clarify, we are on 7.2.2, is there a database schema changes for 7.3, 7.2.2.
Quinn Huntsman:
I believe the database schema changes between 7.2.2 and 7.2.3.
Speaker 3:
I think so.
Quinn Huntsman:
There’s not a change between 7.2.3 and 7.3.
Speaker 3:
Right. It is a relatively minor one. There is a big change between 7.1.5 and 7.2, but 7.2.2 to 7.2.3 is pretty small.
We are on 7.2.3. Any updates to the Brainware application? We have a separate webinar on that specifically, that we did a couple months ago. Brainware has had some really big updates recently, so we’ll make sure to reach out to you with a link to that, but the core, if you’re using it for invoices, the core product has had a significant update.
Okay. This is a long question, which we’ll do our best to fill here, but we may have to reach out and answer it individually. Regarding privileges slash API rest calls, does this mean that it will be possible to use server action under the credentials of a specific user. In 7.2 it seems that iScripts will be run under elevated privileges which might be unwanted or a security risk.
We have to look at the update in server action call, I think.
Quinn Huntsman:
Yeah.
Speaker 3:
Because, I think, unless it’s asking for that user context, which I think the answer to your question is no, but we have to double check. Unless it’s asking for that specific user context, it’s just going to use whatever the integration server is set up to use, natively.
That one, we probably need to follow-up with our developer to double check.
Are there any major look and feel differences between 7.1.5 and 7.3?
Quinn Huntsman:
As far as the management console and the thick client overall, there’s not a whole lot, no.
Speaker 3:
No. There would be nothing. The major look and feel difference is going to come from a-
Quinn Huntsman:
From Experience.
Speaker 3:
Yeah. From rolling out Experience. Which, for anybody who doesn’t know, just to make sure we throw it out there, Experience is an HTML5 future WebNow replacement. It covers most of the WebNow functionality now.
Hosted 7.2.2, any reason for me to upgrade now or wait for next version?
That’s a little more complex answer. If you’re hosted by Hyland, you’re on their release schedule for that, and you can work with them to do that. If you’re hosted by a third party, then it’s really whenever you elect to do it. I don’t believe that there are any special considerations for a hosted version, between 7.2.2 and 7.3.
Quinn Huntsman:
Yeah. Regardless if you’re hosted or not, I’d say the main reason to upgrade from a somewhat recent version like 7.2.2 to 7.3 is depending on if you are a very folder heavy process so you can utilize some of those updates to Experience with the Folders app.
Speaker 3:
All right. I’m not seeing any other questions come in. Those were all great. Feel free to submit them now, and if you have anything else, any other follow-ups to those, but otherwise, wrap us up guys.
Daniel Jenab:
All right. Fantastic. Those were excellent questions. Thank you for the audience participation there. Just to summarize what we discussed today, we talked about the specifics of Perceptive Content 7.3, and Perceptive Content Apps 3.0 releases, strategies for planning your next upgrade, and why you should upgrade with RPI Consultants.
Thank you for attending another of RPI’s Webinar Wednesdays. To find future webinars and access all of our previously recorded webinars, please visit RPIC.com/webinars. Just to call back here, as a reminder, we have some upcoming webinars and training that’s going to be very interesting. John Marney will be hosting the new Live Workshop on Friday, July 19th, for Perceptive Content Workflow.
Additionally, in August, we’ll be discussing Kofax Robotic Process Automation, with Bryant Bell, Director for Product Marketing at Kofax. Finally, we have two exciting events coming up. The first is a two-day Kofax RPA workshop taught by Quinn here. We’ll be holding it onsite in our Kansas City office, and next will be an RPI happy hour during Hyland’s Community Live 2019 event in Cleveland. Please, join us for that, we’re excited to be meeting our clients.
Speaker 3:
The Kofax RPA workshop is a really exciting new thing that we’re doing. It is free to all attendees. You just need to get here. It does come with a one-year free trial license of Kofax RPA, which we’re going to show you how to use and set up inside of your environment. Space is limited, so if you’re interested, please hit up our website and get registered.
Finally, we did have one final comment, not so much a question, that Queen’s best song is White Queen.
Daniel Jenab:
Oh.
Speaker 3:
Which I’m not even familiar.
Quinn Huntsman:
I’m not either, I’m a pretty big Queen fan. I have to go listen to that. We know what we’re turning on after this. [crosstalk]
Speaker 3:
All right. Thank you everyone.
Daniel Jenab:
Yeah.
Quinn Huntsman:
Thank you.
Daniel Jenab:
Last here, just some additional resources you could use to find further information about Perceptive Content. Thank you for joining the webinar.
Quinn Huntsman:
Thank you.
