The one constant of the IT industry is change.
While the main focus used to be how we capture, manage, retrieve, and share documents, this focus has evolved. Today, the focus isn’t on how we use documents, it is more about the value of data. As fast as business is moving, any data we use needs to be conveniently accessible the moment it enters our systems. When this instantaneous access happens, employees are more productive and efficient, which makes companies more profitable.
In order for this idea to succeed and become the standard that all offices follow, technology has to go beyond focusing on single parts and start looking at a holistic solution. The key will be finding solutions that are user-friendly, reasonably priced, and widely available.
A recent study found that executives can spend up to 25% of their time looking for data. When you pair this massive soft cost with a shift from manufacturing to service-based business, the need for easy access to data becomes abundantly clear.
Noteworthy information technology experts have estimated that information and document management costs businesses 15% in revenue every year. The even more staggering estimation is that the number of information companies needs to manage doubles every five to seven years. The three top reasons businesses invest in better information are:
- Improving efficiency (74%)
- Better customer service (29%)
- Risk management (27%)
These are three pretty good reasons, especially when you consider there has been more data created in the past 30 years than was created in the last 5,000. The massive growth in data creation calls for a massive overhaul in how we manage this ever-growing mountain of data. If businesses hope to be profitable, investing in IT needs to be a top priority.
