The Generic Office automates the document life cycle processes. It leverages the value of the information by providing tools which enable anyone within the organization, based upon ppropriate access rights, to access the information, from any node of the enterprise, no matter what type of equipment they're using. Documents are a complex, highly unstructured type of sophisticated messaging, which provides a conduit for communication. A document may be many volumes large and may contain many images or technical illustrations, each of which may occupy significant data storage.
Documents have a structure , often difficult to extract.
They also have rules and processes that continually change. The information consumers within the organization are located throughout the enterprise and may have diverse needs and rights to access the same piece of information. It also represents the single most important investment an organization will make and the investment that will provide the largest return from the entire document life cycle process. A report may include data from financial databases, text from a variety of sources and graphics. Some documents may be empty templates that automatically extract data from databases or spreadsheets to fill in the informational content.