Elixir Technologies
IT service management company utilizes Hyland's Alfresco platform to develop next-generation client communication software.
The customer
Elixir has developed technology and proprietary solutions for critical, high-volume, content-centric business processes for global markets since 1985. Today, thousands of customers worldwide use Elixir software.
The company maintains a clear focus on helping mainstream users manage processes and digital assets associated with creation, management and delivery of customer and business communications.
Tango+ functionality includes application and template design, variable data management, business logic, production proofing and live preview modes, web content management, a system-wide, configurable GUI, open API interface, and workflow collaboration and governance at all levels — all accessible from a browser and integrated with a customizable portal framework.
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As an OEM partner, Elixir is able to integrate Tango+ applications with Alfresco platform to govern content and automate document retention policies. The platform also provides an archival solution that stores files in high-quality digital formats and can fetch variable data fast, and has flexible metadata applications to power hyperspeed search and retrieval for Elixir clients.
— Caroline Cantrell, Strategic Marketing Manager, Elixir
The solution
After evaluating multiple open-source document management solutions, Elixir selected Hyland's Alfresco platform as the best fit to integrate with its next-generation solution, Tango. Alfresco platform offered complete enterprise content management functionality in a stable product release backed by a leading company with a trusted management team and strong technical support. Other open-source technologies only offered subsets of the functionality required, community releases and lacked technical services.
Once Elixir selected Alfresco platform as its third-party tool, it began discussing an OEM partnership. Elixir was impressed with Hyland's partner organization and willingness to help Elixir achieve its goals with Tango. Working with Hyland on the OEM partnership further convinced Elixir that Alfresco platform was the right partner and technology.
Alfresco platform offers Tango rich functionality with document management capabilities, image management, a content repository and web content management features. Leveraging the platform’s APIs, Elixir’s development team was able to easily integrate document management functionality into the newly architected Tango offering and allow all types of content to be utilized across any client communication — paper or electronic.
Elixir used its own development team to do the integration without the need to hire additional experts or rely heavily on Hyland's support team. Because Alfresco platform used open standards, Java and XML, the Elixir developers could use existing skillsets. Elixir estimates it took only a few months to integrate Alfresco platform into Tango and begin layering its own technology on top of it.
With Alfresco platform seamlessly embedded in Tango, Elixir can offer its customers tight controls on content and versioning for tracking the availability and use of any discrete content element. All content stored in Tango is maintained in an Alfresco platform repository, thus making it easy to access, manage and account for.
By using a web-based architecture and adding in document management capabilities, Elixir is able to offer Tango as individual components rather than a "one-size-fits-all" package. Design, content creation, data management and logic creation is presented in a separate interface, allowing companies to divide the work efficiently and license exactly what they need.
The difference
Tango is the only solution in its client communication market to offer fully integrated content management functionality and be entirely web-based. Tango has achieved zero footprint on the client system by extending the user interface in the browser while also reducing the overall costs related to the hardware and software required for application development, document creation, data management and all other tasks related to the development of high-value client communications. Tango has replaced Elixir’s well-established client-server software solutions by offering the same functionally via a web interface.
With integrated document management functionality, customers are able to design and create new documents faster, route them to production more easily and distribute using email, the web and print. Using the advanced workflows provided by Alfresco platform, customers have more control over processes and can ensure that each communication meets company policies or external regulations.
For example, insurance organizations using Tango can ensure that specific clauses are included in any client communications with the confidence that each element on the document is the proper version.
Tango has also opened up new market opportunities for Elixir. Traditionally Elixir had sold its products to document services and technical departments. Tango offers a broader enterprise solution that is valuable to line-of-business managers, including those from marketing, legal, production and IT departments. Elixir also provides customized vertical solutions for healthcare, government, finance, education, retail and others.
With the help of Alfresco platform, Elixir now supports and connects every activity and business process in the document workflow — including print, web publishing and archival — while still servicing thousands of original customers using legacy print systems. Customers can now access Tango and develop or publish content anytime, anywhere and to any channel.