For document management to be taken seriously in any business, there needs to be a tight grip of the subject at the very top of the organisation.

Research by Computing suggests that decisions relating to document management are more likely taken by c-suite leaders.

It’s thought that 58% of CIOs, 23% of CEOs and 18% of CFOs are making the calls when it comes to document management - although it does extend a little further with 33% of line-of-business managers also playing crucial roles in document management strategies.

Automation a driving factor

Ninety-four percent of IT leaders believe automation will play a crucial role in helping their business deal more effectively with documentation.

This positivity is very encouraging, not least because of the looming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements and the sheer volume of data businesses have to deal with in the digital age.

Of those IT leaders, 29% suggest automation will impact the auditing and tracking of information use most positively, but they also point to productivity boosts and information retrieval as other areas that will benefit.

What can’t be ignored is the fact that top executives need to be responsible for making the crucial calls and agreeing the right kind of tech that will provide this level of automation.

Helping slow-moving IT managers

IT management isn’t trivial in this age, but there are still plenty of slow-moving IT managers who would benefit significantly from a tighter grip on document management.

Again, automation is likely to be the answer, because it will help those lagging behind fill gaps in terms of effective management of paper records.

If your business finds itself in this position, it’s worth bearing in mind that you’ll only be able to take advantage of automation if a trusted document management system is in place.

Worryingly, Computing’s research suggests that over a third of IT professionals don’t have enough faith in the abilities of their current supplier.

Understandably, many businesses will choose to boost their internal capacity, but others will want to draw on external expertise in order to cover the full spectrum of document and print management. In turn, this should enable them to partner effectively and find the best fully-managed print services.

Document management goes digital

Computing’s research has identified that 89% of IT leaders view online data as the primary focus for their document management.

This is presumably also why 18% expect one of the biggest impacts from automation to lie in the scanning and secure storage of paper-based records.

Document management has long been heading to the cloud, but with just 11% of IT leaders now viewing paper-based files as the key focus for document management, it looks like the revered paperless office might not be that far away.