Newsletter December 2008

Currently, the Research & Development team at Aia software is working on release 3.5 which will be due in Q1 2009. A great deal of new functionality has been added since release 3.2. This article highlights the most significant changes. »

We went to Mamelodi, a township near Pretoria. Here we taught basic computer skills to underprivileged people, who were mostly in their early twenties.
Since a great deal of our students had never used a computer before, we had to start with the absolute basics. In this day and age, many positions require at least basic computing skills such as word processing. »

Some of the major work involved with ITP implementation projects can be in regard to document templates (ITP Models). New ITP clients often have hundreds of templates and text blocks that need to be converted to ITP Models. Over the years, we at Aia Software have gained a great deal of experience in both manually converting existing templates into ITP Models as well as automatic conversion. »

Text blocks play an important role as dynamic content of ITP Models. Text blocks are stored in the ITP/MDK Repository and retrieved at the moment a document is generated. Sometimes, not all the text required to create a document is present in the ITP/MDK Repository as a text block and the user needs to add text during document creation process. »

It’s no surprise that with ITP it is possible to arrange all documents according to the company style of our customers. Defining and establishing the company style is a permanent part of the design phase when implementing ITP. From the extensive feedback from our consultants we have created: the Aia company style checklist. »

We recently signed a contract with IT Freedom, a British vendor of claim management software for the insurance industry. ITP will be integrated in the web-based ICE Claims software of IT Freedom. ICE Claims offers the insurance industry a tool for the online management of claims. »

Uniserv is a professional outsourcing partner which enables clients to sell and administer all forms of life insurances, pensions, saving and investment products via the internet. For this Uniserv develop applications and services with which organisations can significantly improve their performance. »

Volkswagen PON Financial Services (hereafter VWP-FS) and Aia Software have started the implementation of a joint project aiming to implement correspondence functionality into the Daybreak system based on ITP software. »

Still recovering from a busy fall, we would like to look forward to the first few months of 2009. Naturally we will be participating as the main sponsor in “Elektronische Formulieren”, an event which is hosted in our home town of Nijmegen. This period is a very exiting period with a variety of events: the election of the VIP application of the year and the publication of the Forrester Wave on Document Output Management.

Aia Software has appointed Peter Valckx (28) as a Junior Account Manager. This appointment further expands Aia Software's sales team. Peter will be actively involved within Sales Support. With the experience gained in this department he can rapidly grow into the position of Account Manager with the responsibility for a number of own customers.

"Document Output Management (DOM) is a new market for me", says Peter Valckx.  "I have reviewed in great detail the market in which Aia Software is involved. It is clear that any organisation that takes document composition and production seriously gains a huge advantage, especially in connection with adherence to corporate style guidelines. I consider it my personal challenge to represent Aia Software and the ITP Document Platform well."

Aia Software UK has appointed Andrew Oldham (31) as account manager. With past experience in business to business sales Aia Software is confident that Andrew will tap into the growing demand for proven document composition solutions especially within the London Insurance Market. As such, one of the first tasks for Andrew was to exhibit at Xchanging's Insurance Conference on 5 - 6 November 2008 in Brighton. The conference was focussed primarily on Market Reform to bring the London Insurance Market business processes more in-line with other insurance markets around the world. As a heavily document-centric industry the benefits of using ITP such as smarter working, compliancy, agility and flexibility were promoted as well as presenting specific demonstrations in regard to the Market Reform Contract Endorsement (MRCE) and claim document production.

Andrew: "As the London Market insurance sector is a very important market for Aia Software UK; it was an invaluable learning experience attending this event. I met numerous customers for the fist time as well as other interested parties. I felt that the event helped raise the profile of Aia Software in this market sector."