The challenges of digitising document-centric business processes
The pressure of global competition is increasing, while the complexity of business processes is growing. More than ever, companies need to make every part of their business as efficient as possible to survive in the market and gain competitive advantage. One way to do this is to create integrated business processes and adapt them to constantly changing business requirements. This requires efficient business process management, which goes hand in hand with the digitalisation of all processes.
However, according to the Bitkom Digital Office Index 2020, German companies are in the middle of the pack when it comes to digitalisation – only one in five companies is considered a pioneer. Nevertheless, the outlook is quite positive, with 87 per cent of respondents open to the topic and 74 per cent even having a digitalisation strategy. And they are on the right track, with 71 per cent saying they have seen an increase in customer satisfaction through the introduction of digital solutions.
The solution is often already in place: DMS and ECM with Microsoft 365
Many companies already use one solution for their document-centric business processes: Microsoft 365. The fact that Microsoft is a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content Services Platforms shows just how important Microsoft has become to organisations. Finally, Microsoft has created a Content Services programme to help its partners deliver comprehensive content management tools and solutions. These include SharePoint Syntex, which uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automate content processing and turn content into knowledge.
Microsoft 365 provides a solid foundation for digital workflows. However, its features are often under-implemented in day-to-day business and its usability is not fully convincing. This is where an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform comes in. It helps companies to bring together all (weakly) structured and unstructured information – across a wide range of business processes.
In our white paper, we explore the extent to which Microsoft 365 can replace a traditional, dedicated ECM or DMS solution, and what additional functionality may be required to fully map document-centric business processes.