Egham, UK, 12 January, 2009 — Enterprise content management (ECM) can bring business process efficiencies and help the environment at the same time by reducing paper-based processes and the inherent latencies and costs, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner has examined six areas in which organisations can develop strategies to become more agile and efficient while reducing the environmental impact of the business.
“The 1980’s notion of a paperless office was about how technology could bring efficiency and change work styles,” said Mark Gilbert, research vice president at Gartner. “Organisations are realising that process improvements and the move away from paper to electronic processes can also bring green benefits, such as energy savings from paper production, distribution, usage and disposition, and transit through the postal system.”
Gartner has examined six areas that help companies identify processes that can be modified to reduce harmful effects on the environment, while becoming more efficient:
1- Overcome information capture inefficiencies
Analyse how you capture information from customers, prospects and suppliers: Make an audit of the methods used by various functions to collect and route data, as well as serve up content. This will expose processes in which e-forms could be integrated to reduce the need to create a paper document, and also to reduce inefficient or redundant communications.