Already, one in two German companies manages its records and documents digitally. The shift away from traditional, proprietary solutions toward cloud-based application software is also progressing rapidly, as cloud-based solutions—such as CATAMA ECM —offer numerous advantages overall.
According to a recent study by the industry association bitkom, the percentage of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that manage their documents exclusively in digital or cloud-based formats is approaching the 50% mark. A solid 47% of German SMEs already rely on digital solutions to manage and organize their documents. This represents a 14% increase compared to 2017.
The industry association surveyed companies regarding their use of an enterprise content management (ECM) solution—software that enables the creation, editing, and storage of content such as documents, images, and videos. For its representative study,“Digital Office in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses 2019,”bitkom surveyed a total of 613 companies with 20 to 499 employees.
Small and medium-sized businesses benefit greatly from modern ECM solutions
The end of the analog paper shuffling offers companies numerous benefits. Modern cloud-based ECM solutions form the foundation for the digitization of office and administrative processes, says Nils Britze, Head of Digital Business Processes at bitkom.
SOURCE: https://www.bitkom.org/Presse/Presseinformation/Abschied-Papier-Deutschlands-Mittelstand-digitaler
58 percent of companies now manage their documents in the cloud
According to Britze, this provided companies with “support in efficiently capturing, storing, and retrieving documents, in handling document-based processes, and in complying with legal requirements.” A full 58 percent of companies currently manage their documents in the cloud—an increase of 9% compared to 2017. Whereas two years ago the figure was 59%, only 44% of German SME respondents now operate their ECM solutions in-house, with the rest opting for outsourcing.
Bitkom goes on to note that this outsourcing offers an advantage in terms of data security. “The cloud—whether public or private—is generally much better protected by professional service providers than internal IT solutions,” explained Britze. Cloud providers specialize in data storage, so the data is presumably better protected than in in-house solutions.
