EDSF RELEASES DOCUMENT COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY TRENDS FOR 2007 Survey Report from Doculabs and the Center for Research in Information Management (CRIM), University of Illinois, Chicago, Results from an EDSF Grant ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, Calif. U.S.A (May 30, 2007) - A new EDSF report reveals document communications industry trends and provides insight on changes in overall budgets for document communications, electronic document delivery, and the use of digital color. Titled “Document Communications Industry Trends: 2007 Survey Results,” the report results from an EDSF research grant and mentor program. An EDSF grant was awarded to the Center for Research in Information Management (CRIM) at University of Illinois, Chicago, where faculty and students collaborated with Doculabs to conduct the research. The report, which is now in its fourth year of ongoing research to identify trends in the document communications industry, is available as a free download at www.edsf.org. EDSF is the international, non-profit organization dedicated to the document management and communications industries. James K. Watson. Jr. Ph.D., CEO and founder, Doculabs, said, “This year’s study afforded us the opportunity to drill down into several important industry dynamics, including the use of electronic document delivery as a substitute for paper and the migration from bi-tonal print to digital color, particularly with the huge volume of transactional, service fulfillment-type documents. One of the striking findings is that these transitions may be slower than many industry insiders have forecasted.” Key Findings from the Report: Budgets for paper-based communications increased modestly, with more than 43 percent of respondents indicating that they expect a slight increase (approximately 10 percent) in paper-based communications. This expected growth will be fueled primarily by overall business growth and marks a significant departure from the study’s findings in 2005 and 2006, where only 33 percent and 32 percent of respondents expected a slight increase. Firms are stepping up their electronic document delivery efforts, with more than 50 percent of the firms making more than half of their documents available over the Internet. However, only eight percent of respondents deliver more than half of their documents exclusively electronically. Firms have changed how they promote electronic document delivery, many of them now offering financial incentives to their customers. Financial incentives have become the preferred mechanism for convincing customers to switch to electronic document delivery. This is a remarkable change from 2006, when companies were more passive about promoting their electronic efforts, relying primarily on advertising. Companies continue to grapple with managing both print and electronic modes of document communications. Print costs have remained largely flat even though firms are experiencing slight increases in electronic delivery. It is mainly legal and regulatory compliance requirements and security/privacy concerns that inhibit the move to exclusively electronic delivery. The use of digital color is expected to grow for both marketing and transactional documents. While the use of color in transactional documents lags behind marketing communications, this is likely to change in future years. The industry can expect a gradual shift to color in service-fulfillment documents, as more than half of respondents indicated plans to increase their use of digital color by five percent or more in the future. The reasons for this intended shift were the impact of color on customers and management’s willingness to increase investment levels. For a downloadable PDF of this report, visit www.edsf.org and click "Research and Publications" for the EDSF Industry Library. The report is listed under "EDSF White Papers." About Doculabs Doculabs, Inc. is a consulting firm that focuses exclusively on document-related applications, processes and technologies. Doculabs’ services lower the business risk of technology decisions through objective analysis, in-depth research, and client-specific recommendations. Founded in 1993, Chicago-based Doculabs provides consulting services that are based on our fundamental belief that in order to protect a client’s long-term interest, technology advisors should not be implementers. For more information about Doculabs, please visit www.doculabs.com. About The Center for Research in Information Management (CRIM), University of Illinois, Chicago The Center for Research in Information Management (CRIM) at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) provides a forum for industry-government-university collaboration in research, education, and service. CRIM’s mission is to promote the interchange of theory and practice of information management among UIC faculty and executives from business, government, and not-for-profit organizations. Founded in 1988, CRIM acts as a hub for research, education and service collaboration. For more information about CRIM, please visit www.uic.edu/cba/crim. About EDSF EDSF is a charitable foundation dedicated to preparing the next generation of professionals for the document management and communications marketplace. EDSF supports the industry's future by granting scholarships to students in support of their academic careers, by providing research grants to colleges and universities, by building awareness about industry careers, and by recognizing innovative educators and educational programs. EDSF serves vendors and users who design and implement document solutions for business applications. For more information, visit www.edsf.org. Note to Editor: Interviews and graphs available. Media Contact for EDSF: Aaron Kiel ak PR Group (for EDSF) 562-983-8113 akiel@akprgroup.com EDSF Contact: Jeanne Mowlds Executive Director 310-265-5510 jmowlds@edsf.org