10 User Perspectives Document Management Service Providers, VARs, BPOs, MFP Sales and Integrators Need to Know.
Fighting the paper invasion is a constant battle for organizations. Your products and service can help them Win the Paper Wars.
Scanning paper records to keep down the sprawl of file cabinets and archive shelves has been common practice for many years. But what about the hundreds and thousands of external paper documents that pour through the door every day and bog down active business processes. They create many more problems than paper records – slowing down response, restricting access, and making additional demands for re- keying, copying and filing.
Almost all business improvement initiatives can be augmented by a paper-free project and the paybacks can be dramatic in terms of improved response times and greater productivity of back-office staff. Here are a few user perspectives from AIIM research that can give you a competitive advantage and win business.
User Perspectives*
- 74% of respondents have business improvement campaigns that would benefit from paper-free initiatives.
- The amount of paper flowing through business processes is decreasing in 41% of organizations. But for 19% it is actually increasing.
- On average, respondents feel that driving paper out of the process would improve the productivity of process staff by 29.7%, rising to 35.4% for those with more experience.
- Nearly half (47%) of organizations have made only 5% progress towards processes that could be paper-free. 18% haven’t even started yet.
- HR, accounts payable and customer correspondence are the most popular paper-free processes, with 70% reporting that AP and AR have “Excellent” or “Good” ROI. “Contracts and procurement” is also proving to be a successful candidate.
- Physical signatures and legal admissibility are given as the biggest paper-free concerns amongst staff, with Legal Counsel, and to an extent Finance, being most resistant. Yet overall, even Legal Counsel are 37% pro and 26% against, with most line-of-business and C-levels broadly in favor.
- 31% scan pre-process, with 10% using digital mailrooms. 26% use paper in the process and then scan for archive after the process. Consistent across all sizes of business, but digital mailroom is twice as popular in Europe (14%) compared to North America.
- Nearly a third of organizations are processing electronic documents, forms and PDFs separately from scanned paper. 20% print them out – including 13% who print them out and then scan them back into the capture system.
- Organizations say the benefits of paper-free processes are “Better records for audit trail or compliance”, “Faster response and improved productivity” and “Better monitoring of process status and workflow”.
- Spend in the next 12 months is set to increase strongly for mobile capture, with OCR, BPM/workflow and AP/AR also set for a steady increase. Spending on scanners, MFPs and outsourcing will generally be flat, although outsourcing is set for a steady increase outside of North America.
Our industry is being massively disrupted by 3 big trends.
The consumerization of technology is transforming what users expect from applications. The move to cloud and mobile technologies is leading to an expectation of anywhere, anytime access. The changing nature of work is forcing organizations to think flat and agile, not hierarchical and slow. Managing content from these “disrupters” is THE business challenge of the next decade.
Are you prepared to help your customers adapt?
This is no time to be complacent. Learn exactly what effect these forces are having on your clients and their business processes. Acquire new skills and approaches for resolving their challenges. Grow your business.
Join the best and the brightest in document imaging, conversion, integration, and preservation at the 38th Annual Service Provider Executive Forum. You’ll also get the opportunity to “rub elbows” with the over 700 end-users at the AIIM Conference 2014.
The agenda will be packed with how-to, interactive sessions. In addition, General Sessions will cover these and other topics:
- The State of the Document Services Industry: Perceptions, Predictions, Partnerships
- Not If, But When: Implications of the Cloud on My Business
- What Does Lead Generation Mean for a Small/Mid-Sized Company in a Social, Mobile, Local Era?
- Out of the Comfort Zone: Making the Challenger Sale for Consumerization, Mobility, Scalability
For leaders in advanced document services & solutions.