The era of data chaos has arrived. Businesses need a better way to face the mountains of data created every day. Depending on the industry, your company possesses between 1 million and 12 million gigabytes of information.

Most of that data is unstructured. Of course, this makes document management chaotic. Unstructured data is the information that does not fit into neat rows and columns. It overtook structured data several years ago, and by 2020 it’s estimated that unstructured data will total over 9 times the volume of structured data.

According to Bob Larrivee, chief analyst of AIIM Market Intelligence: “For many organizations I have spoken with, indications are that 80-90 per cent of their information/content still consists of unstructured information, in that it is poorly organized if at all, resident across the enterprise in network drives, emails, shared drives, and even portable devices that include removable storage and mobile devices. Cloud is becoming a part of many enterprise information ecosystems, but is typically not integrated and may be used in an unofficial/unauthorized manner.”

This presents two problems:

1.    You are managing more data, from more sources

2.    Most of that data is unstructured

Existing data management methods, which were made for structured data, are insufficient to tackle either challenge efficiently. According to Forbes, only 0.5% of business data is ever analyzed and used.
 
The struggle is universal, spanning industries and functions alike, leading to a shared pain among business leaders. At Kodak Alaris, we call this pain “Data Chaos.”

The Answer: Digital Transformation
Data management and big data initiatives have been buzzworthy subjects for years. But for most organizations, big data remains just that - a big pile of data. Unless companies extract meaning from the chaos, they miss opportunities to grow.

According to McKinsey, big data is the most anticipated digital growth enabler, but the least likely digital initiative to receive investment. The same study demonstrated that 93% of business executives anticipate growth due to Digital Transformation initiatives.

Digital Transformation involves the improvement of business processes by pulling insights from integrated data.

It makes sense: the volume and complexity of data, and its scale for an average business, requires the flexibility and elasticity provided by digital. After all, once business processes have been digitized, they are more able to...

•    Share data with teammates and co-workers.

•    Mine data for meaningful insights.

•    Comprehend the comparative value of various business processes.

•    Determine areas of improvement within particular functions and workflows.

•    The chaotic world of business data finds its resolution in Digital Transformation. Businesses optimize critical processes by enabling rapid analysis of data. The results:

•    Increased top-line profits and distinct competitive edge.

•    Substantial back office improvements in accuracy and efficiency.

Increase profits and gain a competitive edge with digital transformation:

Better data management of critical business processes is a proven method to increase profits. In the Industrial Internet Insights Report for 2015, Accenture and GE surveyed global executives about the state of “Big Data analytics.” The top two benefits of Digital Transformation through data initiatives were “Increasing profitability” (60%) and “Gaining a competitive advantage” (57%).

The world’s business leaders believe Digital Transformation leads to growth, and it makes sense: more efficient internal processes produce noticeably better results. But evidence is always encouraging. According to McKinsey, companies that infuse their operations with analytics “deliver productivity and profit gains that are 5 to 6 percent higher than those of the competition.”

Digital Transformation is good for business. This is true both in general and within specific business processes.

Here are 5 areas where digital transformation produces quick wins:

•    Mailroom: When your mailroom is equipped with seamlessly automated workflows to rapidly manage data, alongside reliable exception handling capabilities, the impact on the top line is powerful. Employees have more time to focus on core job functions, and time-critical documents move at the speed of business.

•    Customer Onboarding: Customer onboarding powered by digitized processes lead to increased customer satisfaction, and even higher life-time value from your customers.

•    Accounts Payable: When extra insight makes Accounts Payable more intelligent and automated, your suppliers can serve you at the right time for your needs, and your market responsiveness sails forward. All while your staff turns their focus to the future projects that will move your business forward.

•    Forms Processing: Well-architected workflows for form recognition, information extraction and quality assurance remove bottlenecks to success. When done right, it’s a quick win.

•    Records Management: Digital records management offers many advantages over paper solutions, not the least of which is the ability to synchronize information, increase security and quickly access critical documents.

Ultimately, however, it’s no secret that Digital Transformation is valuable. The secret is how. There is a distinct need for businesses to analyze more of their data in order to derive insight.

Harness the power of data chaos for your business

The ever-increasing flood of data and how you manage it is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses in the 21st century, but it is also one of the greatest opportunities.

Data doesn’t need to be chaotic. With digital transformation, you're not just wrangling ones and zeros into meta-tagged cells, you're injecting insight into your business decisions. With new science, technology and partner ecosystems, you can streamline internal processes and meet company-wide revenue objectives.

Siddhartha Bhattacharya is VP Marketing with Kodak Alaris Information Management