In today’s data-driven world, businesses handle a seemingly endless influx of documents daily—contracts, invoices, customer forms, compliance records, and more. Managing this influx manually is not only time-consuming but also prone to human error. This inefficiency can lead to bottlenecks, missed opportunities, and increased operational costs.

Enter Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)—a powerful solution that automates the extraction, classification, and interpretation of data from documents. But when implementing IDP, organizations face a critical decision: should they build a custom solution or buy an existing one?

In this blog, we’ll delve into the key aspects of IDP, explore the pros and cons of both approaches, and provide practical insights to help you decide.

What is Intelligent Document Processing (IDP)?

At its core, IDP combines advanced technologies like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML) to automate document handling. Unlike traditional automation tools, IDP goes a step further by understanding context, processing unstructured data, and continuously improving its accuracy over time.

Use Cases for IDP

IDP finds applications in a wide range of industries and tasks, including:

• Automating Invoice Processing: Extracting and categorizing data from invoices for faster payment cycles.
• Extracting Data from Contracts: Pulling out key clauses, dates, and terms for legal or financial purposes.
• Managing Compliance Documentation: Ensuring accurate, efficient record-keeping to meet regulatory requirements.
• Streamlining Customer Onboarding: Verifying and processing forms and IDs seamlessly.

Building an IDP Solution

Creating a custom IDP platform involves designing, developing, and deploying a system tailored to your organization’s unique workflows and requirements.

Advantages of Building IDP

1. Complete Customization
   A custom-built IDP solution aligns perfectly with your workflows, document types, and business processes. For example, if you handle specialized legal contracts or niche financial reports, a custom solution can be fine-tuned to your needs.
2. Scalability
   A solution you build is designed to grow alongside your business, accommodating increased document volumes or new features.
3. Control and Ownership
   By building the system in-house, you maintain full control over the solution, including data ownership, algorithms, and any future modifications.

Challenges of Building IDP

1. High Initial Costs
   Development requires a significant investment in infrastructure, AI expertise, and ongoing maintenance. This can be a major hurdle for smaller organizations.
2. Time-Consuming Process
   Building a robust system is not a quick endeavor. It can take months or even years to design, test, and deploy a fully operational solution.
3. Technical Complexity
   Expertise in AI, ML, and document workflows is essential. Without the right team and resources, the project could face delays or underdeliver.

Buying an IDP Solution

Alternatively, businesses can purchase an off-the-shelf IDP solution and integrate it directly into their operations.

Advantages of Buying IDP

1. Rapid Deployment
   Pre-built solutions are ready to use, allowing businesses to get started in days or weeks rather than months.
2. Lower Upfront Costs
   There’s no need to invest in development, infrastructure, or hiring specialized teams. The financial barrier to entry is lower.
3. Vendor Support
   With an off-the-shelf solution, you gain access to ongoing updates, training, and troubleshooting from the vendor. This support can be invaluable for businesses without technical expertise.

Challenges of Buying IDP

1. Limited Customization
   Pre-built solutions may not fully address your organization’s specific workflows or document types. This could lead to inefficiencies over time.
2. Dependency on Vendors
   Your organization becomes reliant on the provider for updates, changes, and long-term support, which may limit flexibility.
3. Recurring Costs
   Subscription fees or licensing costs can add up over time, potentially making the solution more expensive in the long run.

Key Considerations for Making the Right Decision

Choosing between building and buying an IDP solution requires careful consideration of your business’s specific needs, resources, and goals.

1. Document Complexity

• Build: If your documents are highly specialized, complex, or unstructured (e.g., legal contracts or medical records).
• Buy: If your documents are more standardized, like invoices, receipts, or basic forms.

2. Budget

• Build: Be prepared for a substantial upfront investment, as development, testing, and maintenance are costly.
• Buy: Better suited for organizations with tighter budgets due to lower initial costs, though recurring expenses should be considered.

3. Timeframe

• Build: Ideal for long-term projects where you can afford to wait for a tailored solution.
• Buy: Best for immediate needs, allowing businesses to automate processes quickly.

4. In-House Expertise

• Build: Requires a skilled team with expertise in AI, ML, and document workflows.
• Buy: Minimal technical expertise needed, as the vendor handles most of the complexities.

5. Scalability and Control

• Build: Provides complete control over customization, scaling, and data management.
• Buy: Scales depending on the vendor’s capabilities, but you may have limited flexibility.

Examples of Popular IDP Solutions

If you decide to go the “buy” route, here are some industry-leading options to consider:

• ABBYY FlexiCapture: Known for its advanced OCR and data extraction capabilities.
• Kofax TotalAgility: A robust platform that combines automation with document processing.
• UiPath Document Understanding: Ideal for simplifying unstructured document processing.

Final Thoughts: Which Path Should You Take?

The decision to build or buy an IDP solution depends on several factors: the complexity of your documents, your budget, the urgency of deployment, and the expertise available within your organization.

• If customization, long-term scalability, and full control are your top priorities, building a solution might be the best choice.
• However, if speed, lower upfront costs, and ease of implementation are more critical, purchasing a pre-built IDP system makes sense.

Regardless of your choice, adopting IDP is a transformative step toward greater efficiency, reduced errors, and streamlined operations in today’s fast-paced business world. So, which path will you take?