DocuTech Sees 'Smart Docs' Win.

Though many mortgage executives still don't know what XML is and few believe predictions that electronic transactions really will outnumber traditional paper-based ones in the next few years, DocuTech (www.docutechcorp.com) has been making SMARTdocs the cornerstone of its business offerings.

"We truly believe SMARTdocs is going to be the next generation of doing business for the mortgage industry," said Tim Anderson, DocuTech's EVP for e-mortgage solutions.

Mr. Anderson, who came to Idaho Falls, Idaho-based DocuTech this year from Freddie Mac's Ignition technology subsidiary, said the fact that Freddie Mac has joined Fannie Mae in endorsing the SMARTdoc solution promulgated by the Mortgage Bankers Association's MISMO group validates DocuTech's strategy.

When the GSEs endorse SMARTdocs, he said, "that is the kind of validation that led earlier to general mortgage industry adoption of automated underwriting. We think that's huge."

The SMARTdoc solution (SMART stands for Securable, Manageable, Archiveable, Retrievable and Transferable) combines HTML and XML for Internet data delivery that also preserves documents in electronic form.

"There have been three technology waves in producing paper forms and docs," Mr. Anderson argued. "Great Lakes once owned the world for consumer and mortgage paper-based forms, then along came VMP with a little technology to make things more automated with machine-generated forms. Now comes the third generation with SMARTdocs, where the data and ...