Paperless the key to embracing analytics

Business analytics are a greatly sought after tool for optimizing a company's most important resource, its data. However, many firms are still collecting information via paper, hurting their capabilities with advanced analytics. In order to truly maximize the benefits of high-powered analytics, firms need to ensure they are feeding all of the relevant data, which may mean investing in document conversion services to eliminate paper and digitize all of this key resource.

According to Information Management, 60 percent of enterprises reported being unsure of their capabilities in implementing analytics and other tools to handle the big data movement. Investments into solutions to provide secure and comprehensive information management are a top priority for many of these businesses through 2013 to 2017, and the need for high-quality imaging services will accompany these efforts.

Almost every business operation today relies on data. From basic production to HR efforts, firms use data on a daily, if not hourly basis. Optimizing the flow of information from creation to proper organization and storage will expedite every area of operations and provide a stronger foundation for workflow. The conversion services used to transfer data from a piece of paper to digital format is the first step of this process, and possibly the one that can have the largest impact on its success.

Of course, document management software is also a critical component of successfully going paperless to support business analytics efforts. With all of the pieces of this puzzle in place companies can harness analytics solutions, such as predictive modeling, more effectively and improve overall business intelligence capabilities. However, should one fail to optimize the flow of information, these efforts will simply fall short.

Rather than focus on the end result, firms have to tread carefully every step of the way during these technological deployments. Analytics are fine tuned tools used for the expediting of workflow, and without the proper foundation to launch them from their results will be less than ideal. The focus on quality and quantity of information is what drives the big data movement, and going paperless supports these efforts.

Firms that make the right investments the first time around will see bigger gains and streamlined results over time, while supporting future endeavors as well. In the end, taking this approach will provide stronger support for all of operations, not just analytics investments, and encourage overall growth.

Brought to you by Image One Corporation, providing complete information governance since 1994.