One of the necessities to make a business successful is growth. That's not only in your client list and transactions but also in the way you operate. Evolution is survival, both in the real world and in the business one. When things change, you have to be able to adapt or create the changes and be ahead of everyone else. Any business that can't, or ignores, change will be faced with obsolescence and irrelevance.
Again and again, history shows that change is an inevitable part of business. People who insisted wagons were the only way to transport goods were out-competed by the train. Companies that thought steam power was the only power fell behind gasoline combustion engines. And anyone who tries to run a business now without any computers or online connection is severely outpaced by everyone else who takes advantage of technology.
The march of technology is ongoing, and even now, there's a term to describe its role in business: "digital transformation." But what does digital transformation mean?
Exploring All Possibilities
Digital transformation is a broader term that describes the many ways—both planned and unanticipated—that digital technology can be incorporated into a business. For example, Airbnb, one of the most successful new companies of the 21st century, uses software to connect homeowners willing to rent their space to travelers looking for temporary lodging. Even though Airbnb owns no hotel properties, they have used digital transformation and a brilliant use of software to create a new "sharing economy" that is now a significant competitor for every hotel in every city of the world.
In the same way, digital transformation has also radically altered the way every office uses, stores, and interacts with documentation. In the past, documents were strictly physical objects; they were papers, files, and even books that needed to be protected and physically stored. The only way to access these documents was to go to the archives where they were stored. But not anymore!
A Better Form of Management
Now, thanks to digital transformation, one of the top IT trends is to convert printed information into a digital medium. The modular, infinitely versatile, portable, and configurable nature of digital files means that documents, which were once huge and difficult to store, can be easily stored on computers or, better yet, online. Anyone with an internet connection who needs to access the data can freely do so.
Moreover, digital storage solutions for papers means more safety. Paper is, of course, extremely vulnerable. A fire or flood in a single archive location can wipe out decades or even centuries of stored information. However, decentralized digital storage means these documents can never be compromised because they are never stored in a single, unsafe location.
For companies to benefit from digital transformation, especially concerning their documents, they need to be willing to move beyond the paper and press paradigm. With these systems, your document storage is safer and more versatile, accessible, and compliant with workplace statutes. There are so many benefits for businesses willing to embrace the digital transformation.
