Schiphol-Rijk, The Netherlands – 11 June 2019: Technological advances and the digital age have propelled organisations across Europe into an entirely different working environment, but not all countries are developing as quickly as others, Kyocera’s Business Digitalisation in Europe Outlook 2019 has found. The research, from one of the world’s leading document solutions companies, provides an in-depth insight into the way in which businesses across the continent are handling digital transformation processes.
The study surveyed 1,750 business representatives, ranging from self-employed freelancers to professionals from international corporations in seven European markets. Intriguingly, the evidence found shows that out of those markets surveyed, businesses in The Netherlands boasts the highest rates of digitalisation of more than half of their documentation (74%), followed by Italy (69%) and Turkey (66%), whilst other advanced economies, such as Spain (64%), the United Kingdom (61%), France (60%) and Germany (47%), are lagging behind in the ranking. This result shows that companies in these countries are at a disadvantage as their rivals gain a competitive advantage through the streamlining of operations.
Moreover, the study also revealed that the rate of automation of business processes is a figure that is expected to increase in years to come given that nine out of every ten companies claim that they would consider automating more processes over the next 12 months.
“We are seeing companies facing a variety of challenges such as finding and securing vital information and storing documentation, without realising that easier solutions exist and are on the market in the form of document management solutions, and more specifically Content Services,” explains Michael Powell, Expert Software Product Management at Kyocera Document Solutions Europe.
“These figures for levels of automation and digitalisation demonstrate that even economies, which we believe to be developed, still have many businesses with work to do. The solution is the latest technology in the search for greater efficiency.”
The rise of solutions such as Content Services, Enterprise Content Management and Document Management Systems means that it is easier than ever for businesses to look to technology to offer an answer in this hunt for efficiency. Despite the research indicating that 44% of companies are not aware that these solutions exist, these offerings are already making a big impact across various departments and industries in helping to achieve greater productivity in the workplace by resolving the paper problem. As a result, using this technology to enhance automation is a strategic priority for 35% of organisations and is set to increase.
In fact, it is not only geographically where there is a significant difference in adoption rates, but we are also seeing this trend reflected in the size of a business as a factor. The rate at which companies automate the majority of their tasks reaches as high as 72% amongst larger companies with over 500 employees, compared to just 41% amongst small companies and freelancers.
A full report on the findings of the survey can be found in Kyocera Document Solutions Europe’s Business Digitalisation in Europe Outlook 2019.
