In the past three years we have seen an unprecedented acceleration in digitisation. Certainly, COVID-19 prompted organisations to view digitisation as a means of achieving a more agile and scalable IT infrastructure to both streamline business processes and allow for contingencies.
A combination of recent events and emerging challenges mean that 2023 is likely to be a transformational year in digital document management.
Jason Field, Integration Director at Document Logistix, predicts 5 document management trends for 2023
1. Organisations will seek technology to manage leaps in data volumes 2. Businesses will introduce more automation
3. Purchasers will scrutinise Cloud and software security
4. CIOs will investigate the place of AI and ML in business processes
5. Organisations will embed green practices
Managing staggering data volumes
It is hard to comprehend the vast quantities of data generated today and predicted for the immediate future. According to Techjury, internet users generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data a day and the world will generate 180 zettabytes of data by 2025.
In business, the amounts of data held by organisations – on staff, customers and suppliers – is also expanding exponentially, and a growing problem is the multiple formats in which it is acquired and held. Techjury reports that 95% of businesses cite the need to manage unstructured data as a significant problem.
Organisations will have to review current, and turn to new technologies to simplify workflows, as well as to access and analyse data, and to manage data in compliance with strict regulations.
Automating for productivity and compliance
The proliferation of data, its formats, and its associated compliance schedules, mean that manual processes are obsolete. Consider the case of an average-sized HR department and the multiple documents it holds, each with their own data sensitivities and retention/deletion schedules.
Automation for compliance and risk management will be a board level priority in 2023. According to data compiled by Finbold, the EU GDPR fines for 2021 Q3 hit €984.47 million, which is almost 20 times higher than cumulative fines of €50.26 million imposed during Q1 and Q2.
On a productive note, automation plays a key role in helping to optimise standard documentation procedures, from ingesting data into business workflows, to improving customer experience in processes such as insurance claims.
Automation helps on two fronts – productivity and compliance – to reduce human error and enhance efficiency, which ultimately facilitates the goals of the organisation, be they corporate profits or NFP community welfare.
Heightened attention to security
How often do purchasers conduct due diligence on the security of a Cloud service or software product? Do you know how often your mission-critical document management systems are penetration tested? According to Check Point research, global cybersecurity attacks increased by 28% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to same period in 2021, and the average weekly attacks per organisation worldwide reached more than 1,130.
CIOs and CTOs will require more proof of security at the point of purchase and throughout the lifetime of a DM product.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning have arrived
AI and ML are buzz-terms that have yet to be fully understood or fully proven in the wider world of business process management. The Enterprisers Project, which offers guidance to IT professionals, advocates to CIOs that: "Extracting the value of artificial intelligence requires gaining quick wins while developing at enterprise scale."
We predict that 2023 will see a breakthrough in the application of AI to ingest data into digital workflows and, in particular, to overcome the problems associated with unstructured data, such as email and notes. AI will also advance data privacy practices by improving the reach and accuracy of data redaction.
Support for corporate green agendas
World leaders embrace views ranging from concern to denial! At COP27 attending countries reaffirmed their commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
2022 research published by PFU (EMEA) Ltd, a RICOH company suggests that 22% of organisations are targeting paperless operations and more have a target of ‘less paper.' The research identifies as a quick-win solutions that eliminate paper wherever possible by digitising incoming paper.
Corporate policies that once paid lip service to climate-sparing goals are increasingly more likely to contain practical agendas and objectives for which organisations are prepared to be held accountable. We see this notably in the transport, housing, manufacturing and energy sectors.
Digitisation will be incorporated into more company value statements as it is something that can be implemented even by small companies in order to make a measurable difference.