Business and Government End Users Cite Scanning and Imaging as Key Building Blocks for Organization Processes
AIIM Industry Study Reveals High User
Satisfaction With ROI from Scanning and Imaging Technologies
Silver Spring, MD - April 5, 2005 - AIIM - the Enterprise Content
Management (ECM) industry association, today announced the findings of their new
industry watch study "Capture and Imaging Technologies: User Perspectives and
Buying Intentions."
AIIM conducted the study in February 2005, with over 800 respondents representing small, medium, and large organizations in the public sector and all major industries.
"Sometimes people think of 'imaging' as simply the scanner attached to your home computer or the output from digital cameras," notes AIIM President John F. Mancini. "The reality is that the scanning and processing of documents within businesses and government has now become a critical building block for organizational processes. Two out of three end users utilize scanned documents to exchange invoices and statements with customers and suppliers. Half of those surveyed use scanned documents to file official documents with government agencies, and 45% use scanned documents to respond to litigation."
According to A. J. Hyland, 2004-2005 AIIM Board Chair and President of Hyland Software, "Getting paper under control is the first step toward developing an overall information management strategy. In an era in which organizations are under increasing pressure to justify information technology investments, users are extremely satisfied with the return on investment [ROI] from their capture implementations. Over 85% of users who have deployed capture and imaging technologies indicate that their ROI met or exceeded expectations."
Key Survey Findings:
Scanned Images are a
Core Part of Critical Business Processes.
One of the major insights from the survey is the ubiquitous nature of scanning
in core business processes. Even in processes with potential exposure-contract
negotiation, handling of confidential information, dealing with government
agencies, and responding to litigation-scanned documents play a critical role.
For many organizations, this has simply evolved as the technology has matured,
and has often occurred at the department level rather than enterprise-wide.
Organizations are now thinking through the implications of this evolution, and
are attempting to put more structure around the management of scanned images.
Scanning and Imaging
Satisfaction is High.
Over three-quarters of those surveyed-and an even higher percentage for larger
companies-report that the ROI of their capture implementations met or exceeded
their expectations. The awareness of this success is not limited to the IT
staff. Regardless of the primary function within the organization, there is a
high degree of satisfaction with implementations of scanning and capture
technologies.
Users Are Increasing
Their Spending on Imaging and Scanning Technologies.
Significant numbers of users, of all organizational size, anticipate growth in
their capture spending in 2005. Two trends bear greater examination. First, the
number of users expecting to increase spending on multi-function peripheral
devices-these are for the most part casual users of capture technologies, but
represent a target audience with significant up-sell opportunities. The second
trend is the expectation of increased spending on those elements of a capture
solutions that "surround" the scanner itself-forms processing software, service
and maintenance agreements, and outsourced services.
The Key Business Driver
for Users is Efficiency.
In organizations of all sizes, the fundamental business driver for capture
technologies is greater efficiency and process improvement. This is not to say
that compliance concerns are unimportant-they are significant for mid-sized and
large organizations-but successful solution providers cannot rely on compliance
concerns alone to selling capture technologies.