Move Over Cloud: Here Comes Sunshine!

Sunshine Software Saves on Subscriptions

Are cloud-based solutions raining on your IT budget? Are you tired of paying monthly fees for utilities that used to have a simple, one-time price? Do you long for software you can call your own?

Simple Software sweeps the cloud away with Sunshine Software solutions for document and data capture. While other capture platforms have moved to the cloud and require hefty subscription fees that increase the more documents you process, SimpleIndex gives you a license that lasts forever and lets you process as many files as you want on the licensed workstation.

We are using term Sunshine Software because it’s catchy and makes us smile, but also because there is no good term for this type of software. It is defined as an opposite to Cloud Software, but before the mid-2000s it was just known as “Software”. Later, with the development of Cloud Computing, terms such as On-Prem, On-Premise, On-Site, Offline, Local, Native, Self-Hosted, In-House, and so on, have been used to describe this type of software. But Sunshine Software is more than just software that you run on your own computers, it is software that you can own instead of rent, and keeps working even if you pay no subscription fees.

It has several different aspects: 

  • Local Processing: Sunshine Software is installed and operates on the organization’s own servers or computers. This means that sensitive or confidential data doesn’t leave the organization’s premises, which can be a critical requirement for companies with strict data security and privacy regulations.
  • Network Independence: Sunshine Software doesn’t rely on an internet connection for processing, making it suitable for environments with limited or unreliable internet connectivity.
  • Payment Structure: Sunshine Software is “pay once and use it forever”. Cloud Computing requires monthly or annual payments which make Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for it much higher then it seems on a fist glance.

Cloud is just someone else’s server that you have no control of.

Local Processing

On-premise OCR has the benefit that you have total control. This can also be its disadvantage–in case it does not work, you will be the one to deal with it. But this advantage is much more significant when dealing with Enterprise software that requires multiple servers and detailed configurations. Standalone utilities like SimpleIndex that can be configured in just a few hours and require little support don’t provide the soft IT cost savings that justify the additional expense of the Cloud.

However, one of the biggest reasons to choose Sunshine Software for OCR is regulatory compliance. We often find that the process of certifying that a comparable cloud-based solution will comply with all required regulations and SLAs requires more effort than it takes to fully configure a SimpleIndex workflow on-premise. By avoiding the cloud, you avoid all the legal liabilities of having all your documents sent over the internet and stored on a third party server.

The federal laws and statutes that are commonly implicated in cloud-based service contracts range from data privacy and security laws specific to financial transaction information, healthcare information and the like. In the U.S., these include:

  • The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which applies to financial services;
  • The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which apply to protected health information;
  • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which applies to educational institutions and their vendors; and
  • Federal and state laws and regulations that apply generally to third-party service providers in given industries, such as:
    • Third-party risk guidance for the financial services industry from the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and other regulatory agencies; and
    • FERPA, which in addition to governing data privacy, also governs the scope of permitted outsourcing in higher education.

Network Independence

Yes, today it is hard to find a place with no internet access, but in some countries and rural areas it is often not reliable or affordable. Document processing requires significant bandwidth, so a cloud-based solution isn’t viable when the Internet isn’t reliable.

Having a network independent OCR also allows you to meet the most stringent security requirements, where documents can only be stored locally or on a secure LAN, and workstations cannot be connected to the Internet.

Payment Structure

While Sunshine OCR provides greater control and security, it typically requires more substantial upfront investments in hardware, software, and IT infrastructure, compared to cloud-based OCR services. Additionally, organizations are responsible for maintenance, updates, and support.

However, many cloud solutions make you to sign contracts charging you annually. Because of that accumulated costs of cloud solutions are often more expensive than it seem. On-premise Sunshine solutions have a one-time fixed payment, though. 

Read this study on Total Cost of Ownership for OCR solutions to explore the long-term costs.

SimpleIndex: Sunshine Software for OCR

SimpleIndex is the Sunshiniest OCR software of them all! The main license model is a simple, unlimited use, workstation license, the way it has been for nearly 20 years.

SimpleIndex has some optional Cloud features like integration with AWS Textract and ChatGPT, for example.

Server-based OCR also requires an annual volume-based processing license. This license does not expire, and the page counter resets to zero each year automatically.

There is also a subscription option for SimpleIndex that lowers the up-front costs, but you can always choose to pay once and use it forever.

Technical Support and software upgrades require an annual maintenance subscription, but this only gives you access to our support team and doesn’t impact the software license.

Scan, file, and process document data quickly and efficiently with Simple Software's tailored OCR automation and one-click processing that fits your unique business needs
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