6 Shortcuts to Tear Away the Paper
Written in collaboration with AIIM Market Intelligence Analyst, Thomas LaMonte
Conveying a strong digital transformation strategy that lets a company transform its business, implement the right technologies and shape the true talent is a gigantic task.
Also, having the right strategy is not enough: you also need the right culture. Otherwise, your transformation will most probably end up being either of limited value or a complete waste of effort.
Here are 6 steps towards the right approach to digital transformation.
1. Can you spare some change (Management)
Change is a process: when progress stalls, focus on lessons learned
47% The human factor—a need to hold something physically—remains the primary reason for continued paper use as reasoned by respondents.
2. Follow the crowd
Tune in to customer or industry trends—know where the wave is going and manoeuvre accordingly
65% Demand for paperless communications is somewhat to rapidly increasing for respondents.
38% Respondents say that they now receive more digital invoices than those in paper form.
3. Mobilize your information
The ability to access information whenever/wherever is an invaluable competitive advantage
44% Speed of data availability is the greatest mobile capture benefit for organizations.
4. Define leadership
Identify who is in charge of radical process review and seek endorsement for paper-free policies
47%Lack of management initiatives to move away from paper is believed to be the primary reason for continued paper reliance by organizations.
5. Designate a pilot-process
No existing paper-free processes?: pick one to trial – AP perhaps–then monitor, reiterate, and learn
38%When it comes to converting key business processes, Accounts Payables (AP) is the top priority according to respondents.
6. Break down barriers
Look for ways to extend capture, access, and engagement activities beyond the corporate walls
20%of respondents are currently or plan to deploy capture in a cloud model in the next 12-18 months
Recommendations:
- Paper free doesn’t happen overnight; keep at it: ROI typically occurs within 6 months as reported by 45% of organizations.
- Technology is a tool, so be tactical. If enterprise wide system suites aren’t for you, consider affordable agile applications to meet your capture and digitization needs.
- People are most important. Aim for usability and quality user-experience.