Technology accelerates the pace of business innovation. That makes optimization an increasingly vital requirement for business workflows. Inefficiencies can hamstring productivity and rob a company of the ability to make quick, data-driven decisions to respond to market changes or consumer demands. To stay organized and agile in 2020, many businesses turn to enterprise content management (ECM) to keep their digital workflows streamlined.
ECM delivers a digital solution for a company’s paper records while also “providing additional layers of security, administration, and collaboration.” And the power behind ECM? Workflow automation. In this article, we'll explore why workflow automation is such a valuable tool for modern businesses, and how ImageNet can help deploy this robust solution.
Workflow Automation for 2020
Laserfiche is a content management suite that specializes in workflow optimization. Designed for industries with demanding document processes, Laserfiche’s ECM empowers businesses by transforming content into a cohesive data ecosystem. Built into that ECM is their workflow automation tools. With ECM and a well-designed workflow automation system, businesses remove their reliance on paper, reduce organizational risk, and achieve a higher level of efficiency in business processes, while saving valuable resources.
What is Workflow Automation?
According to our friends at Laserfiche, workflow automation is “the technological method of digitizing and automating business processes to reduce manual labor and workplace inefficiencies.”
The ebb and flow of information throughout the business - from billing approvals to new employee onboarding - all fall into the digital workflow. A workflow rife with bottlenecks and opportunities for miscommunication hamstring businesses. For example, if an approval is missed or forgotten by an employee, that task is held up in their inbox until someone follows up. Multiply this miscommunication across hundreds of daily tasks and the time and resources wasted by these bottlenecks can debilitate a business.
The Importance of Workflow Optimization and ECM
Solutions like Laserfiche go a step beyond simply reducing bottlenecks. They support workflow management within an organization to help it move faster and flawlessly in daily operations. With a powerful ECM and automated workflow solution, a business can:
1. Minimize Human Error
Some 90 percent of data breaches are caused by human error. Likewise, typos, blank fields, or things like misaligned tables can have dramatic consequences on a company’s ability to operate. Content management suites frequently deploy automation to eliminate these errors by taking over the repetitive tasks in which mistakes are most commonly made.
2. Accelerate Approvals
Waiting for approval can hamper a workflow. Workflow automation takes over this process, using a rules-based approach to identify whether a form or document adequately satisfies specific criteria.
3. Provide Accessibility
For almost a century, offices have stored their most critical information in filing cabinets. In 2020, that’s no longer a practical solution. An ECM suite can leverage cloud services to keep information accessible to anyone with the right credentials to access it.
4. Integrate Seamlessly
An office constitutes a plethora of platforms, services, and workflows. ECM integrates with each of these creating a cohesive ecosystem and paves the way for the free flow of information and processes throughout the company.
5. Organize Content Consistently
Workflow automation helps standardize file names, directory structures, and specific processes to keep the entire information ecosystem consistent. This ensures employees can find what they’re looking for quickly and that everything will remain in its proper place.
6. Deploy Automation in Document Processes
Laserfiche's workflow automation can route the right content to the right people at the right time, send out automatic alerts and notifications, plus identify errors before they make it into the content ecosystem.
Using ECM for Workflow Automation
Enterprise content management takes steps beyond simple document management and business process optimization. ECM provides more powerful tools for extracting business intelligence alongside enhanced security features. Companies with a robust document environment – such as those in government organizations or financial, legal, or healthcare industries – may find that they’re best served by the additional features that ECM provides.
A robust ECM opens the door to a customized workflow automation system. Within the workflow, rules and processes are designed to speed along processes like document routing and retention, employee onboarding, accounts payable processing, and vendor contracts management.
Enjoy Optimized Workflows With ImageNet Consulting
Businesses are turning to enterprise content services and workflow automation to improve and accelerate business processes. With workflow automation, businesses embrace the future and achieve operational efficiency in a digital environment.
ImageNet Consulting supports organizations in their quest for digital transformation through Enterprise Content Management. Contact us today to learn about the powerful impact enterprise content services can have on your business.