82% admitted that finding the information is the most difficult aspect and 63% admitted they couldn’t trust it’s accuracy
In an era marked by an explosion of documents, information, and data, our recent survey of industry leaders sheds light on a critical challenge businesses face: the struggle to manage and effectively utilise their growing volumes of documents and information. The results, drawn from information management stakeholders in various industries, reveal some compelling statistics that underscore the urgency for a better strategy, and solutions for managing documents and information.
63% of Irish business admit to struggling with too many systems.
A striking 63% of businesses report using up to 10 systems and applications to store information. Surprisingly, 23.7% of businesses operate with more than 10 systems. This fragmentation of systems contributes to significant numbers of information silos that lead to duplication, version and information trust issues. The disconnection of information and related content chaos and sprawl across paper, spreadsheets, systems, folders, emails, and other repositories such as Dropbox, Google Drive and WhatsApp prohibits information from flowing and results in inefficiencies and manual processes. It also restricts reporting and business intelligence opportunities.
The huge cost and burden of Dark Data and Content Chaos
Despite advances in technology, surprisingly 42% of those surveyed were still heavily reliant on paper! Our survey also shows that the prevalence of content chaos continues to be a major hurdle. With information sprawled in lots of places, many businesses are drowning in information and unable to harness its full potential. 82% admitted that finding the information is the most difficult aspect and 63% admitted they couldn’t trust that it would be the correct version if they happened to find it. Needless to say, finding and validating information carries a cost in both time and money, especially for highly valuable knowledge workers. The findings underscore the necessity for solutions where information is trusted within a single source of truth.
The intrinsic link between Content Chaos and Manual Processes
For any business to perform optimally it relies on its documents and information being available easily, quickly, and securely. But when that information is spread across lots of disconnected systems and networks it’s hard to find, so true business automation is not achievable. This is an opportunity lost, reducing process efficiencies and performance to manual, labour-intensive tasks that are risky for the business.
For automation to be truly efficient it also needs to be expandable beyond a single department use. Information management solutions must extend beyond a single automation process and ensure information flows throughout your business, expandable across departments and on-demand, anywhere, any time.
97.4% will invest in solutions that deliver ‘Information Unbound’
The survey also reveals a near-unanimous desire for improvement: an overwhelming 97.4% of respondents express interest in investing in solutions that enable information to flow seamlessly and securely throughout their organisation. This statistic highlights a clear recognition of the need for more integrated and streamlined information management solutions.
Irish businesses willing to embrace AI
84% of respondents said they would use AI to streamline business processes to reduce manual effort. This result shows the appetite Irish business have to embrace AI which has the potential to dramatically improve business processes and operations. However, the huge potential of AI can only be leveraged once the existing Content Chaos issues have been addressed. AI solutions generate and process huge volumes of information and organisations must have an information management foundation fit for purpose to cater for this volume.
AI Document Understanding is poised to revolutionise how organisations manage their documents and information and effectively utilise their growing volumes of documents and information.
Contact our team today and let us show you how your business can perform more efficiently and the value of information when it’s unbound and flowing. info@convergent.ie