Bridging the gap between physical and digital workflows

Sharing information is a crucial foundation for all companies. Without this, most would fail to get anything done. Considering this, it is no surprise that document management is an important aspect of day-to-day business operations and can impact a business’s long-term productivity, success and resilience.

Working patterns have changed rapidly in recent years. The way organizations collaborate and manage information has evolved as employees can now choose how and where they work. Today, employers are managing a more ‘nomadic’ workforce, leaning on workplace technology to facilitate the constant demand for switching between remote, office and co-working environments. Now leaders must ensure that the infrastructure for sharing information and documents beyond the office walls remains fit for purpose, to ensure productivity remains intact wherever employees decide to log in.

Despite the tools available to achieve this, document management and access is not as seamless as it should be for many organizations. In fact, our research shows that while the majority of IT decision makers are confident in their digital infrastructure and approach, many employees still struggle to access documents. It’s clear that there is a disconnect between the way IT teams perceive their capabilities and the realities employees face every day. Closing this knowledge gap is an important part of driving, rather than hindering, progress toward achieving long-term business goals.

As employees increasingly move between different work environments, IT decision makers must recognize that a modern, efficient workflow is one that gives employees access to any type of document, both paper and digital, wherever they want. Only then can they create a future-oriented working environment that is flexible, takes into account all employee needs and makes business processes as efficient and problem-free as possible.

Combining paper with digital

In recent years, digital transformation has made these new ways of working possible. Digitization of documents gives employees access to everything they need to perform their roles remotely, improving efficiency and giving leaders more power and control over who has access to documents at every stage of the process.

However, a digital-only approach can create a significant barrier for employees who need to handle physical documents as part of their job. As a result, leaders are faced with the challenge of bridging paper and digital workflows for a significant portion of their workforce. To help support the longevity of flexible work strategies for employees, these decision makers must evaluate how their hardware and software integrate together to create a seamless employee experience.

Encourage efficient and secure electronic document sharing

Despite early predictions of completely paperless offices, the reality is that many companies still need paper communications with customers, staff or third parties – for example internal communications or promotional materials. Therefore, it is unlikely that companies will really be able to eliminate their need for paper in the future. Many existing business processes are handled primarily with paper, but still require a quick and easy transition from paper to digital workflows. Clearly, leaders are aware that a digital-only workflow cannot meet the diverse needs of an organization. Disjointed workflows can therefore limit the resilience of their business in the long term.

Fortunately, this balance is not something companies have to navigate alone. Suppliers observe the changes in work trends and adjust their product offerings to meet demand. In fact, some cloud scanners on the market today are compact, quick to set up, and can bridge the gap between paper and digital by facilitating file uploads directly to the desired location on one’s own device in minutes.

Document storage management and more

In addition to hardware, a wide variety of document management software are available to businesses today to help streamline collaboration among remote workers. Choosing the right options that ensure smooth and productive operations depends on the needs of each individual business.

For example, some systems are intended for enterprises that want to digitize processes that were previously only performed physically, while others want to promote the sharing of both paper and digital documents for collaboration and greater control over access rights. Due to the vast range of choices, it is crucial that options are carefully assessed to ensure that a document management system will make employees’ lives easier.

The nomadic workforce demands an approach that seamlessly combines physical and digital activities. An employee’s ability to fulfill their potential and work productively is linked to their ability to access optimized workplace services, especially when motivated by the freedom to work from flexible locations.

Companies that can bridge the gap between physical and digital ways of working to accommodate changing business and employee needs are the ones that will remain resilient in the long term.

We’ve listed the best cloud document storage.

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