Digital Transformation and the Future of Work

This post is the first in a series on how digital transformation will impact the future of work. Let’s begin by thinking of digital transformation as the result of actions taken to move your organization away from the traditional or manual way business is transacted, to new ways-of-working in the digital era. Since the bulk of information is created or born digital, it stands to reason that the processes associated with that information should be carried out digitally, keeping the information in its digital form throughout.

For example, review and approval processes, and contract negotiations and signings, can be managed completely digitally using cloud applications and mobile devices. Yet for many businesses, if a signature is required, the document is printed, signed, and scanned back into the system to proceed along the workflow until the end. The disruption this causes, slowing down the business process, can prove costly and result in a loss of business if the transaction cannot be completed in a timely manner. Not to mention the potential risk the document could be lost or missing and accessed by unauthorized personnel when in its physical form.

One thing is for sure, digital transformation is a significant issue for many businesses. A recent report by AIIM finds that 81% of enterprises believe digital transformation is “important” or “very important” to their organization.¹ Yet even with this number so high, the same study finds that “less than 1 in 5 organizations report being near their goals of digital transformation by 2020.” This should be of great concern for companies seeking a competitive advantage in the marketplace and given the heavy fines for non-compliance with regulatory mandates like the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GRPR), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), and many others related to specific business segments. So, what is needed to help with your digital transformation journey?

In my next post I’ll highlight some answers to this question based on a notion that AIIM introduced in early 2018. The concept is that business effectiveness and profitability are tied to and impacted by the organization’s level of information management and digital transformation maturity. The premise is that that organizations with strong information management practices and digital business processes—especially those using automation to manage core business processes—increase their operational effectiveness, reduce costs and increase profitability.

In the meantime, feel free to visit the Business Process Outsourcing page of our website. There you will find additional insights on industry trends and best practices including case histories, whitepapers and more.

1. AIIM Industry Watch. “State of Intelligent Information Management: Getting Ahead of the Digital Transformation Curve”