M-Files Survey Indicates Many Organizations Still Vulnerable To The Dangers Of Paper-Based Document Management

Nearly Four out of Every Ten Working Professionals Report Paper Documents Lost or Misplaced at Least a Few Times Each Month

M-Files Corporation, a provider of solutions that dramatically improve how businesses manage documents and other information, recently revealed the results from a survey of working professionals pointing to the scope and degree to which companies are still reliant on paper and paper-based processes, and the risks to which this exposes them.

Conducted by M-Files, the survey showed that 81 percent of employees still print at least one document at work every day. In addition, 3 out of 10 people (29 percent) have read something that was confidential and not intended for them because it was printed and left unsecured in their office.

Based on an online survey of hundreds of working professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom, the following findings were also published in the new study:

• While nearly four out of ten people (38 percent) report that paper documents are lost or misplaced at least a few times each month, this number is likely even higher because 62 percent answered "I don't know."
• At least 58 percent of all paper documents received are left in paper form on desks or in file cabinets.
• Most organizations (55 percent) are still using manual paper-based processes for capturing signatures for documents that require approval.

"The results from this survey reinforce what we see at many businesses, which is that many still rely heavily on paper. This creates a ripple effect that negatively impacts enterprise-wide productivity and ultimately leads to a measurable loss of revenue," said Greg Milliken, vice president of marketing at M-Files Corporation. "Organizations with an electronic document management system such as M-Files operate at a vastly superior level of efficiency compared to those that still rely on paper files and folders."

The Good News: Most Companies Striving to Reduce Reliance on Paper
While the M-Files survey highlights the extent to which many organizations are still clinging to paper for storing and processing business documents, many of them are taking proactive steps to migrate away from this approach. More than half of survey respondents (55 percent) said their organizations have a formal plan or strategy in place for reducing paper consumption and usage.

"Managing paper documents is inconvenient and expensive. Turning paper documents into digital files leads to a substantial increase in efficiency and reduced operational costs. It's really past time for companies to move beyond paper documents and bulky file cabinets as the default approach for managing important business documents, and provide their employees with an easy to use solution for organizing, processing and quickly locating the precise information they need," added Milliken.

With M-Files, companies can scan paper documents into full-text searchable PDF files. Converting paper files into electronic format by scanning provides a more compact means of storage, universal access for retrieval, and higher levels of data security and privacy. M-Files works with any scanner type and is compatible with the most popular file formats. M-Files integrates seamlessly with a variety of capture, scanning and OCR solutions from vendors such as Kofax, PSIGEN and Nuance and also offers advanced native OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities.

About M-Files Corporation
M-Files enterprise information management (EIM) solutions eliminate information silos and provide quick and easy access to the right content from any core business system and device. M-Files achieves higher levels of user adoption resulting in faster ROI with a uniquely intuitive approach to EIM and enterprise content management (ECM) that is based on managing information by "what" it is versus "where" it's stored. With flexible on-premises, cloud and hybrid deployment options,        M-Files places the power of EIM in the hands of the business user and reduces demands on IT by enabling those closest to the business need to access and control content based on their requirements. Thousands of organizations in over 100 countries use the M-Files EIM system as a single platform for managing front office and back office business operations, which improves productivity and quality while ensuring compliance with industry regulations and standards, including companies such as SAS, Elekta and NBC Universal. For more information, visit www.m-files.com.