Future Proofing Your Online Photo Submission Workflow
The technology landscape is ever-changing. New hardware, software, system updates, and more can leave your current online photo submission (OPS) workflow lacking and unable to perform as you hoped. This is why future-proofing should be a major consideration when searching for an online photo submission solution for your organization.
Ideally, whether you are building it yourself or buying from an outside vendor, the future proofed OPS workflow you choose will provide technical, procedural, and strategic flexibility.
Technical Flexibility
Technical flexibility means that your workflow has been built in a way that allows for easy updates without having to do an overhaul of the entire system. Modular architecture allows different parts of the workflow to evolve without throwing off all other components. Ensuring that well-documented APIs (Application Programming Interface) are used also contributes to a future proof design; trusted APIs make it easy to integrate new tools and services as they become available. You should also be looking for something cloud-based because of the cloud’s storage, processing, and analysis capabilities. Additionally, they can scale much easier and faster than a solution that is premise based. Finally, your future proof workflow should utilize industry standard protocols so that compatibility with future technologies is ensured.
2. Procedural Flexibility
A future proof online photo submission workflow should have established procedures that allow for growth, flexibility, and continuous improvement. Continuous Integration and Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines can help facilitate quick adaptation to improvements in software and AI. You can also implement regular training for employees regarding new technology and updates; it keeps your team flexible and able to adopt new methods as they become available to you. Getting continuous feedback from those who will be interacting with your OPS workflow is important because it helps identify areas of improvement and keeps you on the industry forefront of usability and customer experience. Make sure those feedback mechanisms are firmly established!
3. Strategic Flexibility
Some experts say to avoid lock-in with one specific vendor or software tool. In some cases this can be helpful, but if you find a vendor whose core values include providing a future proof solution to their clients, it is not necessary to remain agnostic towards your vendor or their tools. Another strategy for future flexibility is establishing scalability plans from the outset of building/outsourcing your OPS solution. Take into consideration your estimated future data volume, user growth, and addition of new features; ensure your workflow can handle whatever you’ll need to throw at it before you commit to that long-term relationship. Finally, building strong partnerships with other software and AI players can go a long way in allowing you to have access to new technologies right as they become available. If you are outsourcing your OPS to a vendor, ask them about what other partners they work with and discover whether or not they have access to that new, cutting edge technology.
Specific Technologies and Practices to be Aware of When Future Proofing Your OPS Workflow
AI and machine learning are vital for a future proof online photo submission workflow. You’ll want to look for a vendor who is using AI to proof and edit the ID photos that are collected. AI eliminates the need for a person to click through hundreds or thousands of photos, taking countless hours to manually approve, deny, and crop to industry standard sizes.
Automation must also be emphasized as a vital part of future proofing your workflow. You want your OPS solution to work seamlessly in the background while you and your staff are focusing on more important tasks; automation is the technology feature that makes this possible. In the case of online photo submission, automating welcome emails, prompts to take or send in an ID photo, photo approval and denial, as well as background removal and cropping are all possibilities with the right solution for you. Automation technology will continue to improve and you need your workflow to be flexible enough to implement those upgrades.
Build or buy an online photo submission solution that boasts a robust data management system so that your data remains useful and secure over time.
We have a blog post on building vs. buying that you can read here.
Finally, focus on security and compliance protocols to remain in line with the relevant guidelines and regulations. If you choose to go with an outside vendor for your OPS workflow, make sure they are passionate about the security of your data and operating in compliance with the current legal and security landscapes.
We know you’re processing a lot and are possibly looking at spending a large amount of time and resources on this project soon. We’d love to help you think through all of this information. Schedule a call with us! We won’t get all “sales-y” on ya, just a real conversation about your specific needs and the solutions available to you - even if it’s not ours.
