Why Your Digital Transformation Journey Can’t Wait

Digital transformation is one of the buzziest terms out there, as well as one of the most misunderstood. Digital transformation is about more than adopting modern technologies; it’s about the shift from analog, a complete overhaul of the fundamental way business is run, if you will. More importantly, it’s often a necessary undertaking for businesses to adapt and thrive – it’s essential to building a competitive edge. Digital transformation is something that every organization can’t and shouldn’t wait to do, which has become abundantly clear even more so in 2020.

Accelerate Digital Document Processes

One of the first steps to consider is an extremely old-fashioned system: paper. Believe it or not, many organizations still use paper-intensive, largely manual processing in their day to day operations. Not only is this costly and has high risk of human error-related data loss, but it’s also plain, unsustainable and hard to scale.

A crucial step in any DX is the digitization of paper files – making it infinitely easier to find and share information. OCR software can be leveraged to make documents fully searchable, which is a huge time and cost saver as well. In fact, IDC data shows that knowledge workers spend about 2.5 hours per day (roughly 30% of the workday!)  searching for information and recreating content they can’t find. Modernizing your approach to document conversion can enable your organization to create much faster and digitally transformed processes, leading your business to be more efficient while saving on labor costs and hours.

Modernize Document Conversion

Not only are paper-based processes inefficient, but they are on their way out the door. According to the Harvey Spencer Association, electronic-borne capture and mobile is trending more than paper-related capture, with email expected to double within 5 years. More and more often, born-digital documents such as emails, Word files, and hybrid PDFs are being used from the start, which requires a new approach to capture. Many solutions are optimized only for scans, while the electronic components in born-digital documents may require different specifications such as additional coding or professional services engagements.

The move to the cloud is also becoming less of an option and more of a ‘Why haven’t you done it yet?’ This can bring new challenges as well. Cloud egress and storage costs can creep up on you, so compressing your files is a good thing to consider – with Foxit, for instance, you stand to reduce the amount of content you need to migrate by as much as 50%. This will also help drastically reduce the file transfer and open times that employees will face later, improving business efficiency. Implementing smarter cloud migrations should be kept in mind when setting up a modern document processing workflow, as they are all connected.

Increase Customer Satisfaction

Organizations in government, financial services, legal, and more have increasingly had to turn to digital in order to keep up with the demands of customers and industry standards. With how fast-paced the world has become, customers are asking for more, faster. Digital transformation is critical here to win and retain customers. Implementing faster, leaner document processes is one step, as it will hugely help staff respond to client requests more quickly, giving an advantage over slower competitors.

As more customers submit documents via mobile devices and email, it’s become crucial to support digitally generated content efficiently. With their relationship with your organization changing from face-to-face to interface, seconds of delay can cause users to lose patience and come away with a negative experience. Document compression is again helpful here, as it provides faster ways to display documents onscreen, and can enable employees to help more customers, more quickly.

Digital transformation looks different for every company – it’s not a one-size-fits all. Done correctly, it can boost business efficiency and productivity company-wide. As you may have garnered by now, it’s also not an easy or quick fix, but a long-term project that should be started now. The longer you wait, the more you stand to fall behind.