The paperless office – utopia or (soon) a reality?

Is the decades old concept of a paperless office getting closer to becoming a reality for companies, administrations, and public authorities? The costs for hardware and software products have decreased significantly. Plus, these days, every office has the hardware needed to digitalize paper-based processes. Combined with the right software solution, this can help cut costs in many areas, whether resources or the storage of physical documents.

From paper to pixels: the digital transformation of analog processes

The transition from paper to the digital world implies a digitalization strategy for working with documents. This includes both the documents to be digitalized and the associated processes.

If a company receives a high volume of mail, for instance, digitalizing it makes it easier to circulate the mail throughout the different departments, speeding up workflows.

Around one in eight companies paperless

The trend is clear: We are witnessing a strong shift towards paperless work in companies. While only one in 100 companies was entirely paperless in 2018, this figure increased eightfold by 2022.

Nevertheless, at least one in every two workflows continues to involve paper, meaning there's still room for improvement, as every single person can ultimately benefit from paperless or paper-light approaches.

Excerpt from the Bitkom Digital Office Index 2022 study

The benefits of a paperless office

Compliance and data security

Legal requirements for data privacy and security are met. Regular backups also improve data security.

Save time

Integrated automated, smart search mechanisms help you find data and documents faster.

Collaboration and communication

Digitalizing document-based workflows simplifies communication at all levels while optimizing collaboration.

Remote access

Digital documents can be managed centrally – smartphones and tablets provide access to information from anywhere at any time.

Save space

Physical storage areas and archives can be used for other purposes, for example as additional office space for employees.

Protect the environment

Doing away with analog processes reduces paper consumption and shortens transport routes, which in turn benefits the environment.

What digital options does the market offer today for avoiding paper at the office?

Enterprise content management (ECM) systems or document management systems drive digital transformation. They offer administrative bodies and companies the perfect basis for digitalizing paper-based processes and storing relevant data in one location.

With interfaces in both directions, an ECM system integrates seamlessly with existing IT landscapes, acting as the heart communicating between the systems. Automating company processes increasingly encourages a paperless approach.

On the road to a paperless office

Thanks to the ELO ECM Suite, we drastically reduced our paper consumption in a very short time. Going forward, we aim to optimize this while streamlining our e-mail and invoice management workflows.

Ingolf Diez, Owner and Managing Director, evonos GmbH & Co. KG

Is paper-light the answer?

There are companies that claim to have gone totally paperless. But really, how paperless is a "paperless office"? By definition, "paperless" implies that neither paper documents nor paper-based processes are used at the workplace.

Doing away with paper entirely is quite difficult at offices, as there are still documents that exist in paper form, such as certificates, notarized documents, or specific types of contracts. This is why paper-light proves to be a more realistic goal. Companies profit from the many benefits, heralding in a future filled with possibility thanks to digitalization.

Paper-light proves to be a more realistic goal

Get moving and go paper-light

It's definitely time to act if you're losing information, forgetting steps, losing track of what colleagues are currently working on, or making mistakes due to manual workflows. If you've decided to digitalize your business processes, you've already taken the first step.

Do you want to lead your company to a paper-light future? Then an ECM system is just what you need.

Successfully implementing an ECM system