Digital transformations require investment and all companies are concerned about how their decisions will impact the bottom line and what they will get in return.

A recent study from information technology research firm Nucleus Research should help put some of those concerns to rest.

To calculate the value that small-to-medium enterprises could glean from document management systems (DMS), Nucleus examined recent ROI (return on investment) studies from the past four years. In each of the studies, an SME (small to medium business) deployed a DMS, realising a number of important benefits.

Nucleus found that each dollar invested in a DMS created an average return of investment (ROI) of $8.55.

 

Key benefits of a DMS

Although all SMEs create and share large amounts of digital data, most of them have been slow to deploy high-quality DMS solutions.

Until fairly recently, the decision has been a “no-brainer” for large organisations, which have the budget and workforces to justify the use of such solutions.

However, with advances in technology making DMS accessible to companies of all sizes, the landscape is now changing. SMEs must now look to harness their data and those that fail to do so will seriously lag behind their competitors.

According to Nucleus, the main benefits driving this amazing return on investment are: increased productivity, cost savings and reduced risk.

 

• Increased productivity: Nucleus found that the average productivity increase was 46 per cent, with some customers achieving more than 70 per cent increases. Post-deployment, employees were able to find and access content much faster, saving time and allowing them to focus on value-add tasks.
• Cost savings: Every company that deployed a DMS either redeployed staff or was able to avoid new hires, the study found. Companies with DMS’ were also able to scale faster without a corresponding increase in complexity or costs. One company was able to downsize the department responsible for managing its digital content by 35 per cent.
• Reduced risk: In an age of rising compliance requirements and digital threats, companies cannot afford to mismanage data. The study revealed that by centralising and digitising documents, companies were able to standardise the handling of sensitive information and reduce the risks of losing or mishandling it.

 

Best practices for SMEs

Nucleus also studied customer feedback in each case study, identifying the most commonly recommended best practices for other SMEs.

The top three most mentioned recommendations were to:

Embrace automation, Centralise content and Leverage consulting services.

• Embrace automation: Through automated business processes, companies can realise massive savings in both time and money. In addition, human errors can be reduced and more high-value tasks can be completed.
• Centralise content: Silos in an organisation restrict information flow and create inefficiencies. By centralising content in a DMS, organisations can maximise transparency, efficiency and productivity
• Leverage consulting services: As is the case with any initiative, staying on schedule and on-budget is crucial. Using the skills and expertise of an external provider to assist in the implementation of a DMS will yield the best results.

 

Docuworx is Australia’s only Platinum Partner of world-leading DMS provider DocuWare and perfectly placed to walk your company through its Digital Transformation.

With DocuWare’s DMS and Workflow Automation capabilities, you can digitise and secure your information to flow effortlessly between your decision-makers – from anywhere, on any device, at any time.

To find out how Docuworx can help your business

Request a free trial or contact us today.