Remember the days when an urgent weekend request from the boss meant having to head into the office to grab files? Or when travelling for work meant grabbing your pile of file folders? Do you remember back when the greatest collaboration tool available was email?
Well, those days are over. It’s just that some companies haven’t quite gotten the memo.
Today’s top businesses have embraced information mobility, cloud, big data/analytics, and social enterprise networks to drive better business outcomes. This is not the future; this is the new world of work – and it is now.
And yet, research from IDC commissioned by Ricoh reveals that just 17 percent of companies can easily access, share and transform information throughout their organization, no matter the time or place. That means a whopping 83 percent of companies are missing out on the business benefits of information mobility.

Do any of the following scenarios sound like your business?

– Important files and business information are stored in file cabinets – or worse, in a handful of employees’ heads
– Employees must look in multiple places to find documents they need — and sometimes aren’t able to access those documents at all
– It’s often difficult to collaborate with coworkers while working remotely
– Employees rely on paper when sharing documents, rather than the cloud
– You get a blank stare when you ask somebody about “automated workflows”
If so, you’ll want to read on.

Become an information mobility champion

The top 17 percent of companies, who IDC calls “Champions” of information mobility, have seen serious benefits to their bottom line. And beyond that, these champions enjoy a quicker time to market, leaner business process workflows, and happier employees.
So, what does it really take to qualify as an information mobility champion in this new world of work?
It’s more than having all your files in an electronic format. It’s more than just implementing the latest, greatest technologies — though key business technologies like enterprise search, Business Process Management software, enterprise social networks, intelligent capture, and print/scan support for mobile devices tend to be essentials. It’s about becoming less dependent on paper. It’s about implementing a strategy that goes beyond individuals, teams, or departments and is synchronised across your entire business. It’s about getting the entire leadership team on the same page to improve the ways your business processes, stores and analyses information.
Any given company falls on a wide spectrum of information mobility.  Some are just learning about what to look for in an Enterprise Content Management Tool while others are working to unleash their most valuable asset. Some are feeding automated processes while others are fine tuning their information governance strategies.
Whatever stage of information mobility you’re in, if you manage your information well, it can transform your organization into an agile, quick-thinking machine that makes data-informed decisions and provides a superior customer experience.

Get control

Complementary to where information lives is how secure it is. It needs to be locked down tight – but available and accessible anywhere, any time.
Increases in external and internal threats and changing legislation can create challenges in managing and protecting information. Protecting your digital assets – within and outside your company’s security infrastructure – has become critical to the way we all do business today.
Information mobility is critical but not at the cost of its security. So, whether you’re looking through the lens of network, device, user or document security, always keep in mind that your information is your single most valuable asset. No one would leave a safe full of money wide open, nor should we leave our information subject to loss, accidental destruction or theft.
Getting more control over your confidential data and other valuable information assets will reduce risk and help you stay compliant with industry regulations.

Arm yourself with the right tools

In today’s fast-paced business world, even the best management teams may be mismanaging information, or missing important and often-overlooked blind spots. But you don’t have to be left behind.
We work in an age of digital transformation, and approaches that worked in the past no longer work in this fluid environment. Capitalizing on the digital shift requires a culture shift – but many businesses aren’t sure where to start. We can help.

If you’re looking to get your information assets out of the filing cabinets and peoples’ heads to make them accessible, actionable and monetised, we can help.  Our Information Governance Services and Business Process Consulting practice specialise in building a holistic approach to information that makes sense for your business – from discovery and design to compliance and change management. Let’s talk!