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HOW CAN ELECTRONIC WORKFLOW ENHANCE BUSINESS

INTELLIGENCE?

The Information Age has provided enterprises with new ways to gain actionable data from various

sources and use them to stay ahead of the consumer market. Business intelligence is an

environment suited for electronic workflow, meaning that the knowledge residing in tangible

documents may not be effectively processed into analytics programs. Unbeknown to them,

employees may possess a hidden gem in the bowels of their filing cabinets.

Yes, machines are smarter than you

In the event that a company does come across

information on a tangible document, whether or

not they'll be able to correlate the newfound

intelligence with all applicable business

operations as quickly as analytics tools would is

up for serious debate. Parker Hansen, a

contributor to Firmology, claimed that many

small business employees cannot efficiently

handle the incredible amount of paper that

enters the workflow. It's not that humans are

inept, it's that they've created computing

technology for the express purpose of making

their lives easier.

According to a Q&A released by The Traffic Directors Guild of America, a good number of large

enterprises have turned to document management systems to give them a better idea on how

the actions of separate departments affect comprehensive business operations. Aside from an

influx of actionable data derived from electronic records, many of those interviewed by

TDGA claimed that it was easier to act upon customer inquiries or client concerns. The following

tasks became simpler:

Billing service subscribers and tracking payment records

Identifying market trends based on employee reports on consumer activity

Finding important documents when coworkers or clients requested them

Sharing information with department heads and their subsidiaries

Collaboratively reading and editing files in real-time

What to look for in a paperless document management system

As with anything else in life, there's not necessarily a one-size-fits-all electronic workflow

solution. Depending on the actions of each company interested in making such an investment,

the needs of each one could vary considerably. There's no doubt of the usefulness of the

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software, it just depends on how organizations plan on utilizing it. Hansen described five

characteristics companies should look for when considering switching to electronic workflow:

Those using a data analytics program should invest in document management software

that integrates itself well with the operations of the former technology.

Invest in a program that has concise, accurate file search capabilities. If locating basic

records comes as a challenge, then it's time to move on to the next option.

A basic level of protection should be provided. For organizations handling particularly

sensitive information, such as client account numbers or employee Social Security

numbers, authorization tools should be at your disposal.

In order to transfer several filing cabinets' worth of documents to the digital sphere, a

useable scanning feature should be available.

As if it needed to be mentioned, if the interface is difficult to use, then it's not worth

investing in. Many employees used to outdated paper-based processing may not be able

to effectively operate the program if it's too complicated for them to work with.

There's no reason to suffer through endless piles of paperwork, nor is it worth it to miss out on

the business-changing data within such documents. It's in the best interest of many companies to

consider the return on investment and step into the 21st century.

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Tags: electronic workflow