3 ways to cut costs from business processes with digital transformation

Digitizing paper forms and processes can have an immediate impact by eliminating the costs of paper, printing, and storage. Maintaining paper processes is time-consuming, inefficient, and expensive. According to McKinsey, digitizing information-intensive processes can cut costs by up to 90 percent.

According to McKinsey, digitizing information-intensive processes can cut costs by up to 90 percent.

One paper process ripe for digitization is form-filling and information collection. Paper forms are widely used in all industries, whether it be for reservations at a restaurant, or patient intake at a hospital. Digitizing your organization’s forms is an easy way to cut costs and increase the security of customer data.

A good online form builder will guarantee that the data entered is encrypted, providing greater security compared to paper forms. It should also be easy to use and allow immediate access to your data via mobile notifications, data tables, integrations, and more.

Another important process to shift to digital is record-keeping. According to a report from Deloitte, “The cost of electronic records management, even when backed up for data recovery (DR) purposes, is less than one-fifth of the cost of physical record management.” Additionally, electronic records are also easier to search, filter, and report on when stored on a holistic data management platform.

To reap the most benefit from digitizing records management, seek solutions with industry-leading security, robust workplace collaboration tools, and workflow automation features, including email notifications, automatic reporting, and calendaring options.

Another opportunity to cut costs is by digitalizing the process of collecting signatures. While physical, paper contracts may be familiar, the process of collecting signatures for them is often expensive and inefficient. E-signature solutions can save organizations time and money by reducing costs associated with paper, streamlining delivery, and providing a digital audit trail to track the status of documents. Compared to pen-and-paper signatures, digital signatures are more secure, less expensive, and easier to collect.

When evaluating vendors for these and other paper-based processes, consider the pros and cons of single-service providers vs holistic solutions. While specialized services have their advantages, they can lead to increased costs and complexity when you have to use multiple solutions for different functions. Look for flexible solutions with a track record of innovation that will support your organization’s efforts to grow and scale.

Undergoing digital transformation to reduce paper use is not only good for your bottom line, but also good for the environment. The average American worker generates 10,000 sheets of office paper every year. As a result of legacy paper systems, the pulp and paper industry accounts for about 5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and uses about 4 percent of the world’s energy. The fastest and easiest way to reduce your organization’s paper usage is to digitize paper forms.

One last way to cut costs with digital transformation is by empowering your employees to use no-code solutions. No-code solutions are applications that allow for the building of different solutions without the use of any code. User-friendly, drag-and-drop interfaces make the creation of different solutions accessible to all.

This technology saves organizations time, money, and IT resources. With these benefits, it should come as no surprise that no-code solutions are on the rise in recent years. By 2024, 80 percent of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals, according to Gartner.

By 2024, 80 percent of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals, according to Gartner.

In addition to saving time and money, no-code solutions allow employees to take greater ownership of their work. Instead of automatically routing certain tasks to a development team, employees can create and design their own solutions.

Organizations with employee-empowering cultures are 1.3 times more likely to report outperforming their performance goals. Additionally, enabling employee autonomy boosts morale and keeps employees more engaged in their work, an invaluable asset in a market where 32 percent of employees are unengaged in their work.

Along with promoting productivity and autonomy, no-code solutions also save time by cutting down on employee busywork. Approval flows can drastically cut down the amount of time spent on tedious administrative tasks. Drag-and-drop solution-building also reduces the amount of busywork for developers, who spend on average more than 17 hours a week on maintenance.

Automation technology has become the new workplace standard, with 77 percent of employees expecting easier options for completing routine tasks. Holistic solutions for data management and automation allow you to save time in all facets of your operations and keep employees happier.

Automating tedious tasks also frees up more time to work on new and innovative projects. In addition to time and money savings, allowing your employees to automate their busywork also has a host of other benefits.

One way no-code tools can generate tremendous time savings is through automated report building. Report building solutions that integrate with data tables can enable instant, automated reporting. Instant report building can be an invaluable tool for making quick decisions and communicating with important stakeholders. Healthcare provider One to One Health, for example, uses no-code automated report building to generate reports in seconds — a process that could take hours to do manually.

Undergoing a digital transformation is a great way to facilitate growth and long-term prosperity within your organization. It not only reduces organizational costs, but also increases efficiency, enhances data security, and empowers employees. With the rise of no-code software solutions in recent years, and more companies shifting away from paper every day, one thing has become clear: Going digital is the only way forward.