6 benefits of simplification (2024)

Many of the solutions businesses need to implement in order to effectively manage their corporate memory are complex, time consuming, and layered with regulation, governance, and risk.

For many organizations, dealing with this complexity can be costly and challenging.

Process simplification tackles these challenges and offers a number of key benefits. Let’s look at the main benefits of work simplification:

1. Saves money

Introducing ECM or new workflow solutions into a business has a cost implication but can save money in the long run. Employees become more valuable when they spend less time on mundane tasks and more on helping the business grow.

When outdated data is destroyed and vital records are digitized, storage costs are reduced along with the risks of the data breach.

There are also savings to be made if employees can work seamlessly from home, reducing the need for large scale office space. Competitive advantage is present when future customers believe that their personal data is safe in a company’s hands.

2. Reduces risk

Compliance in the data world comes with increasing risk because ignoring data protection regulations can lead to severe fines and damage on the company’s reputation.

Staying up to speed with the latest developments can be complex. Continuous sourcing of external
support can make it easier to detect potential issues and prevent things from spiraling out of control.

Inefficient systems can result in businesses taking too long to find data when subject access requests are received, and make it more likely to suffer a data breach.

Making data systems simpler to run can ensure that complexities that arise from risk are eliminated or reduced.

3. Improves data security

Companies thrive when their corporate memory is safe, and their people have easy and secure access to the information that matters. The purpose of systems and processes is to make it simpler for employees to monitor and understand data in the business.

Storing too much information results to processes being slowed down by unnecessary data. There is a greater risk of businesses losing track of what is being stored which makes it more prone to being misplaced or stolen.

4. Faster data access

Ensuring data, whether digital or physical, can be easily and securely accessed when needed – and in a way that’s fast and easy for employees – is crucial.

Making it simpler to access systems, process requests, and communicate with internal systems can accelerate tasks and improve efficiency.

5. Fuels new opportunity

Opportunities are often missed because of unnecessary complexity. By making work processes simpler, these barriers can be removed, creating opportunities that might otherwise be missed.

It’s no secret that installing new ECM platforms can be stressful. There are things to consider, including how it impacts heritage systems. Eliminating the anxiety associated with this is a necessary step.

People fail to recognize the opportunity present when they are overwhelmed by anxiety, which hinders innovation and progress.

6. Saves time

It’s useful to look at systems and processes through the lens of making life simpler – and saving time comes high on the list of business benefits.

Do your systems make it easier to access and leverage data? It’s clear that digital transformation and ECM can do that, allowing computers to do some of the mundane work that used to take employees many hours to complete. Making it far quicker to find data in the first place.

This goal is also relevant for businesses that have not yet begun their digital transformation journey. Any service which makes tasks quicker to complete and reduces complexity has a time benefit.

The benefits of simplicity go beyond services provided and actions taken, it’s a philosophy that can inspire the way we all work. Making it simpler to live, work, and do business anywhere in the world.

Read our full whitepaper ‘Removing complexity: How new solutions are improving information management‘.