Survey: Companies Leverage Document Management Processes to Contain Costs, Increase Efficiency as U.S. Charts Path to Economic Recovery

NEW YORK, April 26 /PRNewswire/ -- While a majority of executives (62 percent) believe that the U.S. economy is beginning to grow again, a high number (50 percent) also say that it will take at least three years for the economy to return to healthy growth levels. In order to stay competitive, executives assert that they are utilizing document management processes like document imaging, which helps improve regulatory compliance and reduce costs and physical space required for paper-based records.

These are a few of the important findings highlighted in a comprehensive survey report issued today by Oce Business Services, a leader in document process management services and technology. "At the Crossroads: Leveraging Document Management Strategies on the Path to Economic Recovery," investigates how survey respondents and their organizations are deploying five document management processes to contain costs and realize other business benefits as the U.S. charts a path to economic recovery. The report also investigates specific document management activities that offer apparent – and hidden – opportunities.

Special Focus on Document Imaging

The five document management activities include:

• Document Imaging (paper-to-digital conversion)
• Enterprise-wide Print/copy
• Mail and Shipping
• Records Management
• Fleet Management (print/copy/fax fleet).

One trend uncovered by the survey is that a significant number of companies plan to increase their spending for document imaging activities: 52 percent of survey respondents assert that their organization's document imaging budget will increase while 42 percent said it would remain the same. Organizations are finding that document imaging lowers the cost of storing and managing paper-based records while improving document retrieval and disaster recovery capabilities.

In addition to document imaging, organizations also are focused on records management: 51 percent of executives indicate that their company's records management spending will remain the same while 38 percent specified that spending would increase.

Untapped Opportunities

In addition to exploring their organization's budget commitments, the Oce survey also asked executives to what extent their companies were gaining the potential business benefits of two specific document management activities: digitizing mail and records management processes. The survey focused on these two processes because digital mail represents an evolution in mail management while digitizing elements of records management has become increasingly important in order to adequately meet regulatory compliance and legal discovery needs. Both document management processes offer largely untapped opportunities to improve business, according to the report.

"One message has been consistent throughout our survey during the past three years," said Joseph R. Marciano, president and CEO, Oce Business Services. "Increasingly, organizations realize that document management processes offer apparent – and in some cases hidden – opportunities to gain an edge, whatever the economic climate."

"At the Crossroads: Leveraging Document Management Strategies on the Path to Economic Recovery" is comprised of over 180 online surveys completed during January and February 2010 by executives involved in document management. These include chief administrative officers, mid- and upper-level operations managers and chief information officers. Among respondents, 48 percent work at organizations with annual revenue under $100 million; 22 percent have revenue between $100 million and $1 billion; and 30 percent have revenue of over $1 billion. The survey report focuses solely on responses from participants at organizations with annual revenue over $100 million.

The full survey report is available by visiting www.obs-innovation.com.  

About Oce Business Services

Oce Business Services is a leading international provider of document process outsourcing services and technology to enterprises, law firms and the public sector. Oce solutions span the document lifecycle from creation through disposal, encompassing mail, print, copy and fleet management, imaging, records management, and eDiscovery for complex litigation and regulatory compliance matters. By managing and improving document processes, Oce helps organizations reduce costs, increase efficiency and mitigate risk. Our proprietary service delivery methodology applies Six Sigma® to achieve a higher level of performance. To learn more visit www.obs-innovation.com.

About Oce

Oce is a leading international provider of digital document management technology and services. Oce employs around 22,000 people, with 2009 revenues of approximately $3.7 billion, and operates in around 100 countries. For more information about Oce, visit http://www.oceusa.com. Outside the U.S. consult http://www.oce.com.

Note: Trademarks and registered trademarks contained herein remain the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Oce Business Services, Inc.