In line with the general trend toward the integration of social networking, business processes, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), ABBYY says that the data-capture market is rapidly moving towards the SaaS delivery model. Specializing in document recognition, data capture, and language software, ABBYY is pointing to new on-demand delivery models in a market not previously characterized by the prevalence of pay-as-you-go structures.

"It is clear that SaaS-based data-capture services will dominate in the near future, however to what extent and where we can expect to see most prominent implementations remains to be seen," according to the company.

Highlighting the increasing data streams being fuelled by mobile-capture technologies, ABBYY says that camera phones are transforming into tools to digitize the analogue world and convert raw data into useful information — anywhere, anytime, and in any language.

According to ABBYY's forward looking pre-Christmas commentary, "The rise of mobile capture is expected to continue next year, offering data capture vendors the opportunity to expand this service delivery channel by selling new applications and services into mobile market space. Camera phones with ever advanced capabilities supporting data capture will be particularly welcomed by industries relying on fast processing of documents to boost quality of service. For example, in the insurance industry claimants will be able to file their digital claims immediately and consequently receive their benefits much faster."

Looking at the European data-capture market as an economic indicator here, the company says it has now certified over 80 partners for its own FlexiCapture 9.0 single platform transactional data-extraction technology.

FlexiCapture 9.0 is a tool for extraction of data from documents via a flexible and expandable architecture designed to meet the throughput needs of small departmental tasks to high-volume enterprise and governmental projects. It also offers a range of functions for document classification, indexing, data capture and document conversion.