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The way businesses support employees has changed dramatically in the last few years — and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are tasked with keeping up. With employees sent home to work remotely in 2020, businesses had no choice but to shift from paper to digital workflows to get work done. But there’s still more work to do if businesses want to realise the benefits that come with digital processes. By investing in greater digitisation, CIOs can help their organisations make the most of data analytics and insights, unlock new business and revenue opportunities, and significantly reduce costs.
A new report, Tapping Into Advanced Workflows to Grow and Energise Your Business, shows how digital leaders are doing it — and how you can seize the opportunities, too. In partnership with Adobe and Microsoft, Forbes Insights surveyed 602 senior digital and technology executives on the state of digital workflows within their organisations. As chronicled in the report findings, two-thirds of CIOs stated that they plan to develop their digital document processes further.
As trusted leaders of business solutions used by millions, Adobe and Microsoft are partnering to deliver unmatched modern work experiences to customers around the world. By combining the innovations of Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Sign with Microsoft Cloud solutions, they aim to give your teams a better way to work.
The changing role of the CIO
“I love being a technologist more than ever”, says Andrew Wilson, Chief Data Officer at Microsoft, “because the role of technology is more central to the business. CIOs are steering the business in real time, which is a humbling honour. Every board and C-suite will need technology representation for the organisation to thrive in this new digital future”.
This is a more sophisticated role for technology leaders, he explained. CIOs now serve as consultants to the business, have responsibility to know the business fully, and need to recognise which capabilities are ready for prime time. Because CIOs carry a horizontal view of the business, they also have a unique opportunity to help prioritise initiatives and business processes.
Here’s why CIOs are so intent on continuing their investment in digital workflows.
Increased productivity
Currently, less than half of CIOs say their digital document processes are either advanced or leading. The impact of not having advanced digital processes is often less efficiency and productivity within the organisation. About half of CIOs surveyed (51 percent) admitted that legacy workflows were impeding productivity in their organisations.
In the report, 451 Research’s Conner Forrest noted, “As we continue to invest in modern technology, especially through things like automation and artificial intelligence — whether it’s in document workflows or elsewhere — we are making an investment in freeing employees up to work more strategically, to think more creatively”.
This is an important point. As CIOs, our role isn’t just to decide what technology is best, but to implement technology that frees up employees to work as productively and strategically as possible.
Improved employee and customer experiences
When workflows and internal processes are fully digitised, the CIOs surveyed by Forbes say the two most likely outcomes are more efficient employees (65 percent) and higher morale (63 percent). In the report, Forrest is quoted as saying, “The more we invest in the tools and technologies we use to get our work done, the better engaged our employees are”.
Likewise, Dominic Richardson, CEO of Dax Data, local Adobe distributor, notes that digitisation can have a significant impact on the customer experience. “If employees aren’t spending time scanning and uploading documents or chasing down contracts, they have time for higher-value work — and that work can often directly impact the customer. Customers now also expect better interactions with organisations and Adobe Acrobat DC and Acrobat Sign can provide this through seamless digital experiences”.
Better business outcomes
Perhaps the most critical reason to invest in digital workflows is the overall impact on business outcomes. Organisations understand that there are many benefits related to optimised workflows that may not seem all that obvious. Nearly four in ten (39 percent) CIOs said the top benefit they expected to see from improving workflow is a better ability to leverage data analytics and insights. The second most-cited benefit (38 percent) was new business or revenue opportunities.
One local organisation that has experienced improved efficiency and productivity through enhanced digital workflows is Aspen Pharmacare Holdings in Durban. “We have found that Acrobat Sign is a very helpful tool, among others. Acrobat Sign has contributed to our digital transformation objective through its integrated capabilities with the likes of Microsoft 365, which is one of Aspen’s default platforms. Acrobat Sign has also enabled further transitioning from paper-based signatures to electronic versions, which facilitates an effective, efficient, streamlined process, complemented by peace of mind that security protocols have been met and that signed documents can be safely stored digitally”, says Nkanyiso Mtshali GDT Senior Support Specialist.
Improving workflows is a strategic investment. Immediate ROI (Return on Investment) and cost savings can depend on a range of factors including executive and manager buy in, implementation, ongoing service and iteration, and employee usage. While you may not see immediate cost savings at the flip of a switch, better digital processes can set your business up for success and growth in the future.
Transform how work flows
There’s never been a greater need for cross-departmental collaboration, according to 64 percent of CIOs. And a key aspect of improving organisation-wide collaboration will be removing data silos. Yet only 17 percent of the people that we surveyed said that they had a single source of truth where everyone in the organisation could access the knowledge they created.
As organisations look to keep pace not only with customer expectations, but employees’ expectations, optimised workflows are an imperative. Given the proven correlation between happy employees, satisfied customers, and overall business success, it’s more critical than ever that CIOs prioritise any systems or business processes that improve collaboration between teams and the overall employee experience.
Adobe Acrobat DC and Acrobat Sign are built right into Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. With these integrations, you can convert manual and paper-based processes into compelling digital experiences to impress customers, boost productivity and help your teams collaborate faster.
Find out how your CIOs can generate more value from the applications that your teams already use. Dax Data is running a Proof of Value programme designed to help you evaluate the effectiveness of Acrobat Sign in your organisation – contact sales@daxdata.co.za or https://www.daxdata.co.za/adobe-sign/ to get the process started.
This post and content is sponsored, written and produced by Dax Data.
