Ricoh Embraces SOA Technology To Expand MFP
Functionality
By Jamie Bsales, Associate Editor, July 8, 2009
At IBM’s Impact 2009 conference, Ricoh Americas Corp.
introduced its new Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) technology for MFPs
equipped with the company’s ESA (Embedded Software Architecture) platform. The
Ricoh SOA Portal will enable enterprise customers to leverage IBM's WebSphere
software in conjunction with Ricoh MFPs to drive complex business processes
right from the devices’ control panels. Ricoh is the first MFP vendor to
demonstrate SOA integration.
In an SOA environment, complex applications are built
out of complementary layers of software services that can be handled by the
various systems involved. So, for example, an MFP would handle the data capture
and routing, while a back-end WebSphere application would handle the document
processing, such as OCR functions or workflow.
With Ricoh MFPs, the SOA solution is a Java
application running on the ESA platform. The MFP does not hold any SOA
components; rather, it simply is a client that makes requests to the SOA
environment using the SOA standards of Web services. Ricoh reports that all
ESA-equipped models introduced since 2007 will run the SOA solution.
An Internet-like application on the MFP's control
panel will enable users to easily select from a customized list of tasks or
services that initiate business processes. Thanks to the bi-directional
communication enabled by SOA and ESA, the required actions are pushed to the
panel from the back-end system in the form of an icon that clearly represents
the business process. This enables complex operations to be handled by the
touch of a button, simplifying the workflow for the end user.
“We are providing a solution that easily plugs into an
existing SOA environment and complements current Web-driven business
infrastructures,” noted Mark Minshull, vice president and chief technologist
for Ricoh. “Ricoh is excited to be able to leverage the investments that
customers have made in SOA.”
According to a January 2009 study conducted by
Computer Economics, an Irvine, CA-based research and consulting firm, 58
percent of organizations surveyed say they have begun to make a transition to
the service-oriented model, versus only 20 percent of enterprises surveyed in
2007.
Bringing MFPs into the SOA fold is a natural extension
of the platform that should help companies experience a larger return on both
their SOA and MFP investments. At Impact 2009, Ricoh demonstrated a loan
processing scenario as an example of how business processes could be customized
by marrying ESA technology and an SOA environment. For example, when an end
user submits a document that requires additional information, such as
supporting documentation or a customer account number, the system will confirm
for the user that all of the required items are included. If more inputs are
necessary, the user is immediately notified and directed to fulfill the
requirement in order to complete the process. This ability can make paper-based
processes much more efficient, saving the company time and money while also
improving customer satisfaction.
Minshull pointed out that the Ricoh SOA Portal can be
applied to a number of different industries, such as applications for
insurance, government and healthcare. It can also help streamline internal
business operations such as invoices, contracts, purchase orders and expense
reports.
