Documented appeal

Documented appeal

eBridge Solutions keeps prices down to appeal to small

businesses, as well as large, who need document management help.

Leslie Haywood knew she was entering a competitive market when she started her electronic document management firm, eBridge Solutions, in Tampa in 2002.

But that hasn't stopped the firm from growing. And now it is one of the few document managers that offers a totally Web-based solution, meaning that the client does not need to house all the documents on his computer network.

Document management, electronic record management or scanned images, is an electronic way of storing paper records by converting traditional paper files into electronic images. A company's paper files are scanned, saved and organized on secure Internet-based servers.

The company has 16 employees, including Haywood's business partner, James Hanlon, the firm's chief information officer.

The company's other differentiators include its ease of use, prices and free technical support. "We're friendly to all sizes of companies," Haywood, 33, says.

She started eBridge to provide affordable document management to small, two- to three-employee firms. Today, eBridge has about 1,000 clients around the country, some with up to 500 employees. Some process a hundred pages a week. Others do a million pages.

If they are paper documents, the clients scan them. eBridge stores them on redundant data networks.

Clients pay a monthly fee based on the number of new items they put into the system, not on total storage size. eBridge sells them in packages, such as up to 10,000 pages or up to 20,000 pages.

"It's a fairly unique pricing model," Haywood says. "A lot of companies charge based on gigabytes, how big something is."

Looking ahead, Haywood wants to expand to serve new industries. Its clients include insurance companies, third-party medical billing firms and law firms.

This month, it did a soft launch for its new eAgent Program, a Web-based agency management solution for insurance companies to manage documents on their book of business and clients.

The idea behind electronic document management is that it makes businesses more efficient and saves them money. Going paperless means no off-site storage for documents. It also frees up space in an office building so it doesn't have to lease more space.

All files are accessible at the click of a mouse. Paper costs fall because firms aren't making as many photo copies. They also don't lose documents as often, so there is increased security.

The primary data center is in eBridge's corporate headquarters and the secondary redundant data center is in a secure facility in Atlanta. eBridge uses the latest server and security technology to ensure files are not lost or compromised. eBridge follows a backup schedule moving backup tapes to an offsite secure location. This ensures that your data will be available to you in any situation.

After a new client signs up, eBridge offers a two-hour telephone and online training session. It walks the company through the document-management program.

Before starting eBridge, Haywood was project manager for a local document-management firm, which sold more expensive client-server solutions.

That's why eBridge is Web-based and hosted, instead of using client servers. Document management can be cumbersome and expensive to begin with. Traditional document management requires servers, scanners and someone with good information technology experience. There had to be an easier, less costly way.

"With that in mind, we decided to start this company," Haywood says. "There are clients up and running in a couple of hours."

While Haywood wouldn't reveal revenues, the private company is debt free, started with Haywood's own savings. It is growing at 20% a year.

Her biggest CEO lesson: Listen carefully to customers and employees for new ideas. Don't assume you know what they need and that you've adjusted.

Her biggest challenge at eBridge: Being satisfied with the company's growth.

"I always want more," Haywood says. "The biggest challenge is growing the company in new industries and overall expansion."

- Dave Szymanski