Office Document Processing Platform Emerging

Digital document processing is one major focus of Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office (VSTO 2005), currently in beta testing. Digital document processing speeds business processes and reduces errors by replacing paper forms and documents with electronic ones. VSTO 2005 delivers an Office platform and tools that extend document processing beyond forms solutions offered by vendors such as Adobe, the current leader in the field. However, the VSTO 2005 technology is missing some pieces and will have to make its case against competing forms technologies both inside and outside of Microsoft.

A Method for Gradual Automation

Digital document processing is a method of automating business processes by replacing paper documents with digital documents that incorporate data from an organization’s key applications. Instead of filing and distributing paper documents, an organization distributes digital documents, especially forms, and creates automated solutions to generate documents from application data, extract data from documents, and route documents to the correct people for approval and input. The resulting solutions can reduce errors and shorten turnaround time for business processes. (See the illustration “A Digital Document Processing Scenario“.)