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magazine
05
Inefficient document processes in European
organisations are damaging productivity and
leading to lost business, warns Adobe in a new
report,
Document Drain: How Back-Office
Processes are Shredding Productivity
.
Its survey of 7,000 professionals across Europe
found that office workers are spending as much
as one day a week (6.8 hours) on administration,
such as filling out forms, printing documents and
chasing signatures.
Almost half of European employees (48%)
say that they have lost a contract due to poorly
executed office tasks and one in three (33%) has
had to cancel a project for the same reason.
Complex and time-consuming administrative
processes also add to employees’ workloads, with
64% working late to catch up on work and 49%
working over the weekend.
Almost half of respondents blame inefficient
technology for office workflow problems. Printing
and emailing are cited as the biggest time-wasters
by 96% of respondents, with 75% describing
email/print processes as boring, time-consuming
or challenging.
Other administrative processes that come in
for criticism include searching for lost documents,
on-boarding new colleagues and chasing
people for signatures. These were thought to be
‘unnecessarily complex’ by 65%, 62% and 61% of
respondents respectively.
European employees see a solution to many of
these problems in modern technology, including
e-signatures, viewed as a valuable time-saver
by 74% of respondents, and mobile apps, which
almost half believe have the capacity to transform
workflow in European offices.
AGENDA
Employees waste one day every
week working with outdated
processes
Diary date
The next AIIM Forum UK will take place on June 21, 2017 at Ibis London Earl’s Court. The Forum
delivers thought leadership, market insights and expert advice on content and information
management. Registration is open now.
Connected consumers
UK consumers are accumulating more connected
devices, as our appetite for mobile content and
digital payment methods grows. Pyramid Research
estimates that the average UK consumer now owns
2.5 connected devices, including smartphones, tablets,
phablets, laptops, smart TVs, fitness bands and smart
watches – a 10% rise on 2015, according to the
company’s
Digital Consumer Analyser (DCA)
.
Insurance company
fined after failing to
protect customer
information
The Information Commissioner’s
Office (ICO) has fined Royal &
Sun Alliance Insurance PLC (RSA)
£150,000 following the theft of
a hard drive containing 59,592
customers’ names, addresses and
bank account details, including
account numbers and sort codes.
The device also held limited credit
card details of 20,000 customers,
although CVC numbers and expiry
dates were not affected.
ICO enforcement officers found
that RSA did not have the appropriate
measures in place to protect financial
information and prevent the theft at
its offices inWest Sussex. The device
was stolen from company premises
either by a member of staff or a
contractor, the information on it was
not encrypted and the device has never
been recovered.
Steve Eckersley, ICO Head of
Enforcement, said: “Customers put
their trust in companies to keep their
information safe, particularly financial
information.When we looked at this
case, we discovered an organisation
that simply didn’t take adequate
precautions to protect customer
information. Its failure to do so has
caused anxiety for its customers, not to
mention potential fraud issues.”
Mr Eckersley added: “There are
simple steps companies should take
when using this type of equipment,
including using encryption, making
sure the device is secure and routine
monitoring of equipment. RSA did not
do any of this and that’s why we’ve
issued this fine.”
