If you’re at the stage of digital transformation where you’re still trying to figure it out, you’re not alone.

Whether you’ve started to digitise or are yet to begin, you probably share the same dilemma that holds most companies back, and it’s characterised by a simple question:

“Where do I start?”

The Xerox Digitisation At Work report suggests that less than 50% of information technology (IT) leaders believe their processes are mostly or fully digitised.

What’s more, only 10% have digitised across their business estate.

Despite this, the same research also suggests that IT leaders know where to look for digital opportunities, and 71% have managed to find processes that would benefit from automation.

So, why is there still a hesitation, despite this positive start?

A trend that reflects the ‘digital impasse’

In an article about the five pillars of digital transformation, IDC predicts that 60% of enterprises “will have fully articulated an organisation-wide, digital platform strategy.”

This trend reflects the ‘digital impasse’, which refers to companies that reach stages two or three of digital transformation maturity before becoming unstuck. Typically, this means they’ll have implemented a file-sharing app and picked a storage provider, but failed to design a fully integrated strategy.

The answer lies in creating cloud-based workflows that help drive digital transformation.

For many companies, this remains unexplored territory. There’s trepidation and uncertainty, but the payoff really is worth it - even if just one process is tackled at a time.

Embedding workflow automation - one step at a time

With workflow automation, your business can digitise virtually any manual process. From simple filing tasks to streamlining entire departments, you’ll gain greater control while raising efficiency and increasing document security.

As noted, it’s often helpful to start small by thinking about which documents and processes could be automated. For instance:

• paying, scanning and matching customer invoices;
• sorting and distributing inbound electronic and ‘snail mail’ documents;
• replacing paper with e-forms for recruitment and other HR tasks;
• automatically deleting confidential data after agreed periods of time; or
• eradicating missed contract renewal dates by automating the renewal process.

Answering the “where do I start” question isn’t easy, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But, the more your business explores the opportunities it has to create document workflows, the better chance it will have of making the leap to digital.

To identify the low-hanging fruit, look at your current paper workflows from a bird’s eye-view; what causes the most headaches for staff? Dive into employee opinion, too; what frustrates them the most?

The more you involve your team in the digitisation process, the quicker you’ll gain buy-in from all departments.

A colossal 55% of businesses are yet to analyse the state of their current paper processes. Does your company fall into that bracket, or is it ready to play to its strengths with workflow automation?