Boost Workplace Productivity with Electronic Document Management

Two nearly universal focuses within the modern business climate are increasing productivity and decreasing waste. In some cases, these two goals can be achieved at the same time. For example, converting from physical filing to a cloud-based electronic document management system can eliminate the majority of your office’s paper use while cutting down on energy expenses by moving your data storage offsite.

Moving operations to the cloud increases workflow and reduces waste

The cloud has completely altered the way the business world functions, according to Entrepreneur contributor Andrew Lavoie. In addition to significantly cutting down on paper use, and sometimes eliminating it altogether, the use of cloud document management software can offer employees increased access to files. Paper is restrictive in that you have to be holding it in order to read its contents, but with a system that allows users the flexibility to retrieve information remotely, workers do not have to be confined to the office in order to complete time-sensitive projects.

Business 2 Community contributor Jonha Revesencio backed up this idea, referencing a statistic reported by Andrew Reichman in 2011 which indicated that on average, businesses that switched from a traditional approach to one that is cloud-based cut costs by 74 percent.

Lavoie noted that part of the cloud’s elimination of expenses can be traced to automation. Software can complete tedious functions that take humans far longer to do themselves, and this freed-up time creates new opportunities for employees to focus less heavily on paperwork.

Despite escalating costs, many companies still use traditional document storage

Given the inherent advantages of document management systems, one might be surprised to learn that many businesses are resistant to joining to movement. Indeed, apprehension appears to have consumed some decision-makers – Revesencio cited a statistic from Medical Practice Insider which indicated that 85 percent of companies still use some method of paper documentation. She emphasized that businesses continually lose money by failing to implement an automated system, and lamented that 300 million tons of paper are produced each year, a staggering number that can be greatly reduced by eliminating paper from the office.

For those seeking to improve workplace efficiency and sustainability, the most practical option is to implement cloud-based solutions that can automate and streamline tedious processes, in addition to cutting down on paper waste. The cloud has proven to be cost-effective and to facilitate workflow, rendering it a worthwhile investment for executives.