Technological innovation not only in document management

Technological innovation as a distinguishing feature not only in document management.

How can a company distinguish itself from its competitors? By improving its customer service and establishing much lower prices. Without a doubt, nowadays, both measures demand innovation in Information Technology and Communication (ITC) systems, which are difficult for the competition to copy.

The challenge consists of aligning the investment on the ITCs with the business priorities, although the problem is that companies do not tend to be clear when defining their guidelines. Most companies don´t have a unique corporate strategy. Therefore ITCs are asked to be aligned with something that does not exist.

When those distinguishing features of the company are identified, it is possible to define the main corporate aims that configure the distinguishing feature. At this point it is possible to define how the ITCs can get involved in this strategy and optimize the value of investment.

Therefore it is necessary to define a corporate strategy to extrapolate it to the ITCs. The long term solution is to align the company in a single objective. In everyday life, the ITCs department must give priority to the most powerful strategy and so on.

Change of trend

Traditionally, small and medium companies prefer to wait until technologies are consolidated before adopting them. However, this trend is being questioned under the assumption that the market is experiencing a transformation on a technological basis. The positioning of the companies regarding the adoption of new technologies is also changing when these benefits are clear or generate competitive advantages. Thus, some companies prefer to become a reference regarding the adoption of ITCs within its sector.

Some western countries are strongly committed to innovation or at least maintain their investment- also in times of crisis; but Spain has not followed this trend at all. The study entitled “The Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System 2013 Indicators” -performed by the Spanish Observatory R&D&I (ICON) of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)- shows the average of the resources aimed at R&D by the European Union in those countries of the OECD during the period 2000-2011 that was 10.7%. Germany and France with 13.3%; United Kingdom with 11.3% were above the average, compared with 9.3% of Spain, which brings down the average of the EU.

Following the example of Spain, the Innovation Survey in the Companies shows the information of the statistics on Activities in R&D in the year 2011. Internal expenditure on Research and Development decreased 2.8%; the expenditure on Technological Innovation also decreased 8.8% in 2011, in comparison to 2010.

Several small economic improvements that point to a slow macroeconomic change and inertia towards investment have emerged in Spain. However this growth depends on the cost control culture and on the initiatives to provide an added value for the business. As a result a greater atmosphere of trust will be generated and this is when the addition of strategic investments from the ITCs will be able to revitalize the domestic market.

Cutting-edge technologies also in document management solutions

Companies seek to improve their performance, reduce costs and increase their operating efficiency, as well as their diligence. Therefore, the ability to reduce total costs while maintaining the same level of service is required for any software or in particular for a document management solution. The main technologies that could affect these goals are:

Virtualization: provides benefits that go beyond cost reduction,for example, a more efficient and transparent management of the business documents.
Communications: due to the mass adoption of mobility and internet technologies, the employees need better communication tools not only to increase their productivity but also to improve Social Business. It is in this field that the flexibility of a document management system provides access to relevant documents in the appropriate format.
Storage and servers: The exponential data growth is pushing companies to continue investing in storage solutions. A good document management system shows strength when allowing efficient storage and flexible search of information and documentation.
Applications and software: although the factors that encourage the adoption of ITC solutions are different within the diverse sectors, there is a strong demand for vertical solutions which consider the business needs. A document management solution adapted to the needs of every sector facilitates its implementation and adoption by users.

For a company to survive and remain strong against its competitors in the current market it must be aware that it is necessary to be immersed in a constant improvement process in which innovation goes hand in hand with the ITCs investment.

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