Most knowledge and information created by companies reside outside structured databases or data creation applications and are labelled unstructured data'.
Gaining control of this unstructured data is widely recognised as the key to enhancing operational efficiency.

In most businesses, unstructured data is typically made up of different file and format types: paper, microfilm, scanned images (TIFFs), computer report files (COLD), Adobe Acrobat PDF files, text files, Microsoft Office documents, colour images, video, audio and other binary files. The Internet explosion also has created a new class of unstructured data types, such as email and HTML files, that are threatening to overwhelm information management systems.

Alchemy addresses:

• reducing document risk
• improved customer service and operational efficiency
• facing the reality of constrained IT resources

Alchemy 8.0 is an integrated fixed content management suite providing organisations with one software solution and one repository for all fixed content needs. The term 'fixed content management' embraces enterprise content in its final (fixed) form, such as images, email, PDFs and COLD/ERM. This product suite handles multiple content types, managing content through the information life cycle management (ILM) stages -
including capture, workflow, document management, archive, records management, retrieval and distribution. Ideal for mid-market companies, the solution provides a far lower ownership cost than enterprise content management solutions.