The Key to a Successful Digital Transformation in the Work From Home Era

by | Feb 16, 2022 | Client experience, collaborative platform, contract management, customer experience, cx, Data Security, Digital transformation, Document Management, enterprise content management, high adoption ecm, M-Files, Uncategorized

Regardless of the type of business, you’re talking about, organizations invest in digital transformation for a myriad of different reasons.

Some turn to the power of modern technology to improve efficiency – empowering employees to communicate from department to department easier than ever before. Others want to guarantee that data can flow freely across the enterprise, making sure that the critical information that people need to do their jobs is always in the right hands. Others still do it for cost savings. Not only can a digital transformation save a tremendous amount of money upfront, but it’s an investment that will also continue to pay dividends for years to come.

All of these benefits have always been important – but they’re especially so given everything going on in the world right now with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March of 2020, as the pandemic first began to make its way across the world, millions of employees suddenly found themselves working from home indefinitely. As a result, many organizations suddenly realized that they lacked the infrastructure needed to support this revolution. In addition to not having access to the tools people needed to work as productively as possible, they found themselves in dire need of solutions that would allow them to share critical information as securely as possible. This is especially true in an industry like accounting and financial services, where firms are dealing with data that is decidedly more sensitive than most.

Even though vaccines are rolling out across the world, the number of remote workers isn’t exactly dropping. One recent study revealed that in August of 2021, about 13% of people were still working remotely full-time due to concerns about the pandemic and the newly emerged Delta variant, among others.

Indeed, working from home is a trend that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon – which means that organizations who were preparing for digital transformations prior to the pandemic need to seriously rethink their approach. The world has changed in a dramatic way and there’s no putting that particular genie back in the bottle. This is only a negative thing if you allow it to be. If you approach your digital transformation from the right perspective, you stand to gain enormously in a wide range of different ways, all of which are worth a closer look.

The Shifting Landscape of Post-Pandemic Life

Not too long ago, the team at M-Files partnered with Accountancy Age on a report that detailed what digital transformation – and business in general – has been like before, during, and (hopefully) after the pandemic. It featured survey respondents from a mix of organization sizes, ranging from those with 51 employees all the way up to those with 1,000 or more.

Overwhelmingly, the report revealed that accountancy firms in particular were simply not ready for the transition to fully remote work when lockdown restrictions were originally imposed. A massive 76.6% of respondents said that they initially battled significant challenges in terms of enabling staff to work productively from home – not to mention the difficulty they experienced in servicing clients as effectively as possible.

So much of this has to do with the fact that the accounting industry has long adopted a myriad of different applications and solutions to share, manage and store sensitive business data. This includes but is not limited to chat and video conferencing tools, enterprise content management systems, and more.

The issue here is that this almost immediately runs the risk of creating data silos that firms simply cannot afford to have existed. Again, information needs to be able to flow freely from one segment of the business to the next – regardless of where those employees happen to be. This is true not only in terms of allowing people to effectively collaborate with one another but with regard to empowering workflows as well. If critical data is trapped in a single repository and the person who needs it to do their job doesn’t have access to it – or worse, isn’t sure it exists at all – this only runs contrary to a firm’s goals.

Initially, in an effort to combat some of these risks, many accountancy firms took to sharing information with clients by sending physical copies in the mail. This was true of 44.4% of respondents. Another 79.4% of respondents said that they shared the same information via email. Not only do these methods pose a significant security risk, but they also affect traceability as well – leading to a poor client experience when the opposite should be your primary objective. 

The Future of the Workforce Has Arrived

All of these things underline the importance of digital transformation in the modern era – particularly during a time when the “new normal” that we’re all about to return to will likely have little resemblance to the one we left behind.

Case in point: data security. As stated, accountancy firms in particular lacked the infrastructure needed to truly support remote workers in the most secure way possible. In addition to email folders, respondents to the aforementioned survey said that they used files and folders across shared network drives, solutions like Microsoft SharePoint, CRM and ERP systems, dedicated accounting solutions, file sharing applications like Google Drive, and more to manage and share business and client documents within the firm itself.

The right approach to digital transformation is an opportunity to consolidate all of this down into one simple, easy-to-use system that is built with modern workflows in mind. M-Files, for example, is a document management system that allows information to be accessed based on not where a file is stored, but on what is contained within it. All data is stored via a system that can be accessed anywhere, at any time, on any device. More than that, permissions can be set to make sure that only the people who need a particular file to do their jobs have access to it – thus preventing that information from falling into the wrong hands.

Likewise, a digital transformation can be a great opportunity to create branded, customizable client portals that themselves can help accountancy firms better collaborate with clients. Not only does this guarantee the security and privacy of client documents, but it also improves the digital client experience as well.

In the end, a digital transformation is a massive undertaking, yes – but for most accountancy firms, the pandemic has proven that it’s an investment that is well worth making. “Change” and “disruption” are only negative words if you allow them to be. With the right perspective, you can see them for what they really are – opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of to propel the next decade of your firm’s success and beyond.

Source: https://resources.m-files.com/blog/the-key-to-a-successful-digital-transformation-in-the-work-from-home-era

Regardless of the type of business, you’re talking about, organizations invest in digital transformation for a myriad of different reasons.

Some turn to the power of modern technology to improve efficiency – empowering employees to communicate from department to department easier than ever before. Others want to guarantee that data can flow freely across the enterprise, making sure that the critical information that people need to do their jobs is always in the right hands. Others still do it for cost savings. Not only can a digital transformation save a tremendous amount of money upfront, but it’s an investment that will also continue to pay dividends for years to come.

All of these benefits have always been important – but they’re especially so given everything going on in the world right now with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March of 2020, as the pandemic first began to make its way across the world, millions of employees suddenly found themselves working from home indefinitely. As a result, many organizations suddenly realized that they lacked the infrastructure needed to support this revolution. In addition to not having access to the tools people needed to work as productively as possible, they found themselves in dire need of solutions that would allow them to share critical information as securely as possible. This is especially true in an industry like accounting and financial services, where firms are dealing with data that is decidedly more sensitive than most.

Even though vaccines are rolling out across the world, the number of remote workers isn’t exactly dropping. One recent study revealed that in August of 2021, about 13% of people were still working remotely full-time due to concerns about the pandemic and the newly emerged Delta variant, among others.

Indeed, working from home is a trend that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon – which means that organizations who were preparing for digital transformations prior to the pandemic need to seriously rethink their approach. The world has changed in a dramatic way and there’s no putting that particular genie back in the bottle. This is only a negative thing if you allow it to be. If you approach your digital transformation from the right perspective, you stand to gain enormously in a wide range of different ways, all of which are worth a closer look.

The Shifting Landscape of Post-Pandemic Life

Not too long ago, the team at M-Files partnered with Accountancy Age on a report that detailed what digital transformation – and business in general – has been like before, during, and (hopefully) after the pandemic. It featured survey respondents from a mix of organization sizes, ranging from those with 51 employees all the way up to those with 1,000 or more.

Overwhelmingly, the report revealed that accountancy firms in particular were simply not ready for the transition to fully remote work when lockdown restrictions were originally imposed. A massive 76.6% of respondents said that they initially battled significant challenges in terms of enabling staff to work productively from home – not to mention the difficulty they experienced in servicing clients as effectively as possible.

So much of this has to do with the fact that the accounting industry has long adopted a myriad of different applications and solutions to share, manage and store sensitive business data. This includes but is not limited to chat and video conferencing tools, enterprise content management systems, and more.

The issue here is that this almost immediately runs the risk of creating data silos that firms simply cannot afford to have existed. Again, information needs to be able to flow freely from one segment of the business to the next – regardless of where those employees happen to be. This is true not only in terms of allowing people to effectively collaborate with one another but with regard to empowering workflows as well. If critical data is trapped in a single repository and the person who needs it to do their job doesn’t have access to it – or worse, isn’t sure it exists at all – this only runs contrary to a firm’s goals.

Initially, in an effort to combat some of these risks, many accountancy firms took to sharing information with clients by sending physical copies in the mail. This was true of 44.4% of respondents. Another 79.4% of respondents said that they shared the same information via email. Not only do these methods pose a significant security risk, but they also affect traceability as well – leading to a poor client experience when the opposite should be your primary objective. 

The Future of the Workforce Has Arrived

All of these things underline the importance of digital transformation in the modern era – particularly during a time when the “new normal” that we’re all about to return to will likely have little resemblance to the one we left behind.

Case in point: data security. As stated, accountancy firms in particular lacked the infrastructure needed to truly support remote workers in the most secure way possible. In addition to email folders, respondents to the aforementioned survey said that they used files and folders across shared network drives, solutions like Microsoft SharePoint, CRM and ERP systems, dedicated accounting solutions, file sharing applications like Google Drive, and more to manage and share business and client documents within the firm itself.

The right approach to digital transformation is an opportunity to consolidate all of this down into one simple, easy-to-use system that is built with modern workflows in mind. M-Files, for example, is a document management system that allows information to be accessed based on not where a file is stored, but on what is contained within it. All data is stored via a system that can be accessed anywhere, at any time, on any device. More than that, permissions can be set to make sure that only the people who need a particular file to do their jobs have access to it – thus preventing that information from falling into the wrong hands.

Likewise, a digital transformation can be a great opportunity to create branded, customizable client portals that themselves can help accountancy firms better collaborate with clients. Not only does this guarantee the security and privacy of client documents, but it also improves the digital client experience as well.

In the end, a digital transformation is a massive undertaking, yes – but for most accountancy firms, the pandemic has proven that it’s an investment that is well worth making. “Change” and “disruption” are only negative words if you allow them to be. With the right perspective, you can see them for what they really are – opportunities just waiting to be taken advantage of to propel the next decade of your firm’s success and beyond.

Source: https://resources.m-files.com/blog/the-key-to-a-successful-digital-transformation-in-the-work-from-home-era

When it Comes to Digital Transformation and Remote Work Enablement: Adapt or Perish

by | Aug 7, 2020 | contract management, Digital transformation, M-Files, Uncategorized, work remotely

The following is a guest post from one of M-Files partner Iron Mountain Europe, authored by Andrie Neocleous.

As we try to assess the impact of the pandemic, our thinking inevitably revolves around how this epidemiological crisis will affect the work of each of us, but also what consequences it will have on the professional scene as a whole. This year, the world faced one of the worst public health crises, disrupting all aspects of our lives.

So, what are the implications for the business world?

What experiences and possibly lessons can we learn from this pandemic?

Undoubtedly, the professional scene will change drastically.

The current situation has already forced many organizations to adopt new work practices and shift to remote work. Concepts like efficiency and productivity, which have always been a priority for businesses are still as valid as ever, resulting in the urgent need of diversification of many aspects of business operation, particularly enhancing the need for digital transformation.

Without any warning, companies were faced with the challenge of finding ways to help their people work from home, while providing them with access to documents and systems regardless of where they are physically located. Of course, the practice of remote work has been around for a while now, but the unprecedented conditions we are experiencing have accelerated the need for either its implementation or its further development. But how is it ensured, in the midst of a lock down or an unexpected temporary closure of the business, that employees will remain productive?

Thanks to the smart technologies of intelligent information management (IIM) as well as scanning, several organizations can already manage, organize, and securely store large volumes of electronic and physical documents.

It’s faster to search and find documents through the IIM systems. It’s a more efficient use of employee time with less paper management and more digitization.

And it all has a positive effect on the operating costs and business continuity of a company.

At the same time, IIM systems have the potential to enhance the company’s business continuity readiness and help restore professional normalcy as quickly as possible. At the same time, with the digitization of documents, which is very important, the correct analysis of the needs that will be covered is also crucial. Specifically, by digitizing business processes, we ensure the upgrade and automation of existing processes and the planning of others.

Document scanning services are offered by Iron Mountain, either as a Backlog Project level or even as a continuous flow — an Ongoing Project — in conjunction with the electronic document management service, as a complete service. The best way to manage a handwritten process may not be to simply “translate” digital workflows into a modern information system. Perhaps the best way to manage this is to re-evaluate practices and how to manage them, as well as redesign them, which will optimize production and make better use of human resources.

Adopting an integrated electronic document management solution also offers the following:

  • Minimizing the distribution of printed material among employees
  • Automation of document handling — incoming and outgoing
  • Improving the speed of searching, sending, and receiving documents as well as minimizing any delays, taking into account the volume of documents
  • Safer storage and security of important document content
  • Reducing the required storage space
  • More efficient and flexible access to archived documents
  • Automation of the assignment and monitoring of task implementation

My ten-year experience at Iron Mountain, has taught me that business transformation and particularly digital transformation has not been as high a priority as it should be, although organizations have been researching options and solutions for some time. Market conditions, however, have revised these priorities due to the pandemic and their transformation has become imperative. Most companies have taken no precautionary measures, proving that they are not only unprepared to carry out their work remotely, but also face enormous challenges. Challenges like:

  • The difficulty of employees accessing documents and managing the volume of documents
  • The inability to maintain the security of their files
  • And, fatally, the inability to provide adequate services and support to their customers

A typical example is that of accounting documents and data. Invoices can be sent electronically to customers, while other documents, such as invoices, which are received in hard copy, can be digitized and processed electronically. Thus, an accounting department can easily process and evaluate the company’s finances, speeding up procedures. Same processes can be applied to email management, data of customer, staff and suppliers, contract management, quality management, project management, task management… the list goes on.

The implementation of the M-Files system in conjunction with document digitization, ensures not only the operational continuity of many companies but also the maintenance of a productive and efficient environment, even remotely. It is therefore imperative that companies realize how high the stakes really are. It’s not IF they will use the technology to transform but HOW, in what way, and how quickly they will do so. Organizations and businesses that insist on investing in digital modernization, while at the same time offsetting short-term strategies with long-term measures, have all the background to succeed and emerge from this crisis with significant competitive advantages.

In conclusion, perhaps what we have gained most in the current period is how crucial adaptability and flexibility are in relation to the survival of a business. As in all aspects of our lives, in its business aspect, those with quick reflexes — those that adapt, innovate and transform — will not only survive but also gain an advantage over the rest.

Now more than ever it is necessary to become innovative and creative! As the English writer H.G. Wells very poignantly said, “Adapt or perish.”

Source: https://www.m-files.com/blog/when-it-comes-to-digital-transformation-and-remote-work-enablement-adapt-or-perish/