Robotic Process Automation for a paperless office

In the meantime, companies have recognized that print and document management solutions offer considerable advantages and have therefore begun to invest in solutions for optimizing and digitizing paper-intensive processes and workflows.

New technologies such as mobility, robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI) and smart MFPs are giving the market additional impetus and opening up new ways to optimize, automate and digitize labor-intensive processes.

German companies are just beginning to recognize the added value for their business processes and are evaluating initial use cases. In November 2018, IDC surveyed IT and business decision-makers from more than 200 organizations with more than 100 employees in Germany for its new study "Print and Document Management in Germany 2019 - Digitalization, Automation and AI for Operational Excellence".

This study found that companies in Germany are realizing that print and document management technologies are bringing them closer to a digital - or in the future even paperless - office, step by step.

For 42 percent of respondents, this is no longer just about managing back-office processes; recently, the focus has shifted to aspects such as customer interaction, self-services and an improved customer experience.

Many have recognized that the use of print and document management solutions optimizes processes and thus creates the basis for innovative products, services and business models.

The completely paperless office cannot be implemented overnight, but a shift in this direction is clearly on the horizon for the next twelve to 24 months.

Most of the survey participants said they wanted to do without paper for some classic office tasks. While around half of the respondents still use paper to take notes today, in one to two years this will no longer be the case in even a quarter of the companies.

Even though 46 percent of respondents are still in the planning or evaluation phase when it comes to RPA and AI, and 21 percent have a wait-and-see attitude, IDC considers the expansion of ECM and document management solutions to include new software functions such as RPA and AI to be essential.

26 percent of the organizations surveyed have recognized this and invested in corresponding solutions. Automation is optimized by solutions with RPA and AI functions and transforms entire work processes and organizational structures.

Whether through end-to-end print process efficiencies, print job creation, better utilization, or optimized service in the event of disruptions, RPA and AI can be useful in a great many places.

IDC believes that the vision of the paperless office will get an additional boost from RPA and AI-based workflows, but there is still work for companies to do on the way there.