Our ways of working are constantly evolving. One way your organisation can stay ahead of the curve and retain a competitive edge is by digitising your business processes.
In a post-COVID-19 era, digital transformation has accelerated and impacted businesses across the board. A recent article by McKinsey reveals that 85% of businesses accelerated the implementation of digital solutions as a result. Forbes goes a step further, positing that digitising business processes is no longer an option for businesses who want to succeed – it’s a must.
The benefits of digitisation are ready and waiting for your business to seize them. Digital solutions not only boost workplace productivity and tighten
document security, but they can also help you cut printing costs and facilitate hybrid working.
For leaders seeking to streamline their operations and ensure their organisation remains at the forefront of their sector, digitisation is the way forward.
What is digitisation?
While paper documents remain an essential component of traditional office workflows, digital solutions are growing in importance. These solutions typically incorporate paper documents into digital workflows or create ways to carry out important tasks online rather than via physical files.
One example would be a bank implementing electronic signatures. This enables customers to complete simple transactions via their desktop or mobile banking app, avoiding the hassle of finding the time to visit their local branch.
Another way to digitise your business processes would be by scanning physical files and storing them in a central repository. This way, the tasks surrounding this file can be completed online, rather than passing the file from colleague to colleague, increasing the possibility of confusion and misplaced documents.
How to increase productivity
The better your workplace productivity, the greater your results will be.
While hitting the nail on the head with the perfect way to boost productivity is tricky, there is a simple way for your organisation to achieve this.
Imagine you have a team of colleagues collaborating on a long contract to reach the best version. With pages being passed around, employees needing physical files to work on the document from home, and copies being made at random, it’s easy for content sprawl and document chaos to arise. Soon enough, there’ll be confusion around which is the latest version of the document, and perhaps sections will even be misplaced.
By scanning the paper document and incorporating it into a shared digital
workflow, collaboration becomes a breeze. There’ll be no doubt about when the document was last edited and by who – your software will handle that for you. It’ll also be easy to find the document, and there’ll be no need to ask around to figure out in whose drawer the contract lies.
Digitising your processes therefore not only makes collaboration easier, but it also increases workplace productivity by ensuring that valuable time is spent completing tasks, rather than searching for files.
Improve document security
One of the main benefits of digitisation is that you can bolster your organisation’s document security and reduce the risk of data breaches. A data breach can cause devastating financial and reputational damage. However, digitising your processes can tighten your document security and minimise this risk.
Paper documents left on employee desks, in clear view, provide an easy way for confidential information to leak. Unless a physical file is locked away in a secure cabinet, any personal information it contains is vulnerable to a leak.
By scanning your files and storing them in a secure repository, any sensitive information contained is encrypted. In addition, document management software such as Kyocera’s Smart Information Manager
even gives you the power to manage who can access a document and view its history.
Cut your printing costs with cloud software
For business leaders looking for a way to cut their printing costs, digital solutions are the way forward. Although print remains a highly valued and trusted medium, digitising your processes where necessary can be an easy way to save money.
Cloud software offers a new way to step into the digital realm while also staying on top of your costs. Once you’ve incorporated your paper documents into a cloud storage platform, administrators can create quotas and group print policies to prevent unnecessary prints and reduce printing costs at the very source. Kyocera Cloud Print and Scan, for example, combines both the benefits of digitising your processes with the peace of mind that quality cost control creates.
Tool for hybrid working
Hybrid working continues to thrive – 59% of workers across Europe and North America operate in hybrid work environments. However, how can business leaders ensure that remote workers have the same productivity as colleagues who are in the office?
By digitising your processes and using cloud storage platforms, you can make sure each document can be accessed easily by workers, wherever they are. If paper documents are accessible via the cloud, all remote workers require is an internet connection to get started and collaborate with their colleagues. Employees no longer need to wait until they can come into the office to work with a colleague or print out a document they need to review.
This is one of the key benefits of digitisation – no matter where your colleagues call ‘the office’, they can continue to work with the same productivity as they would on site.
Why digitisation is important
Digital transformation is here, and businesses who fail to recognise its potential risk being left behind in the wake of their competitors. Thankfully, business leaders can turn to a wide variety of digital solutions that streamline their processes and bring countless benefits. If you’re ready to explore how a document solutions partner can propel you into the future, Kyocera is here to help.
