1. A New Perspective:
Ricoh Document
Governance Index 2012
Part 4: Solving the document
process priority puzzle

2. Solving the document process priority puzzle
David Mills, COO, Ricoh Europe
We all know how frustrating it is to receive poor customer service – perhaps you’ve
experienced a utilities provider unable to access your latest account records or a retailer with
no record of a previous complaint. For businesses everywhere, this kind of issue can be the
difference between securing happy customers who keep coming back or driving customers
into the hands of your competitors. In some industries, such as healthcare and banking, the
implications of being unable to access important information when required can be even
worse and have potentially life threatening or major regulatory consequences. There is one
thing that underpins the relationship between a business, its customers, and their information:
document processes – the core interactions that occur regularly and repeatedly throughout all
businesses in critical areas such as HR, finance, procurement and accounts.
To get a fresh perspective into how these document processes are running across Europe –
given the increasingly mobile, global, workplace we find ourselves in – we published the Ricoh
Document Governance Index 2012, an independent research study of business leaders and
employees across Europe.
This research has revealed many interesting
findings. Most concerning for employers
in Europe will be that 82 per cent of
employees feel the way they work is out
of date and that this prevents them from
being as effective and efficient as they
could be. But is this really a surprise?
Business leaders admit they are struggling
to share information effectively, and almost
a quarter think information security is
worse today than it was three years ago.
The research shows that clearly, businesses
across Europe are puzzled about how
to keep their document processes up to
date so they support the swiftly changing
workplace. Faced with the challenges of managing an increasingly diverse workforce, with
employees at different locations and of different generations, getting document processes in
order has never been more important.
2 Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4

3. The process priority puzzle: What’s going wrong?
As well as being held back by outdated
working practices, European business leaders
are experiencing a wide range of impacts due
to outdated document processes:
n Half are exposed to risk from compliance
and data leaks.
n One fifth are struggling to share
information effectively, either within
their organisation or outside the firewall:
only around one third think ‘information
sharing’ is a problem they have overcome
and for almost a quarter, this is an issue
that has gotten worse in the last three
years.
n Fewer than two fifths have overcome the challenge of ensuring document processes are
environmentally sustainable.
n Almost 25 per cent say the efficiency of document processes is worse today than in
2009, perhaps due to a disconnect
between front office and back
office technologies. This is leading
to bottlenecks, with the seemingly
more high-tech front office sending
information to the back office which
often isn’t set up to receive or process
it automatically, in turn leading to a
slower response to customers or other
business partners.
So what’s going wrong? Most likely, while businesses are focusing on their core business
tasks – rightly and necessarily – be that providing products or services to the public or to other
businesses, they’ve been unable to keep their business document processes in sync with the
rapid changes in technology. As a result, systems are not connected, data is unstructured, and
employees are unable to access business-critical information at crucial times. This can have
a damaging effect on customer relationships, business
agility, and even reputation. It can also result in security
breaches and in some instances, financial penalties
through non-compliance with strict regulations.
It is not surprising that businesses are
struggling to manage their information given
fewer than half of those surveyed have a
fully developed and implemented document
process management strategy. While many
have set targets outside of a strategic
framework, there is clear confusion about
the best way to keep up with the pace of
change.
Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4 3

4. In addition, while European businesses
say that new devices such as smartphones
and tablets are helping them manage their
document processes, the majority say they’re
unable to maximise such technologies
because their back-end systems can’t fully
support them. And a worrying 78 per cent
of business leaders admit they invest in
new technology before fully realising the
functionality of their existing systems. This
means businesses are wasting money on new
gadgets instead of maximising what they’ve already got
and making strategic decisions about how technology can be
used to gain competitive advantage.
The research highlights a significant gap between board-level perception and the reality
experienced by employees in the workplace when it comes to their input and feedback being
gathered and the training they receive. More than 90 per cent of the board-level respondents
surveyed said employee feedback is gathered regularly and training provided when new
hardware or software is introduced, with far fewer employees agreeing:
just 77 per cent agreed their feedback is gathered before and after a new
technology rollout, and only 76 per cent said they receive training. These gaps
are worrying as they mean businesses are missing out on valuable insights
from the people on the ground – their employees. As such, they are at risk
of failing to properly maximise
investments in new ways of
working, as employees are in many
cases not equipped to fully adopt
them.
4 Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4

5. The process priority puzzle: The future outlook for Europe’s
business leaders
Almost 40 per cent of organisations worry that they will lose their competitive edge if they
do not keep up with the pace of change1, yet it’s clear that when it comes to the document
processes underpinning their business activities, they’ve already fallen behind. So what can be
done to tackle these issues?
1
Europe’s business leaders need to be better prepared to connect their processes seamlessly
with business technology and their employees, requiring a senior overview of how all areas
of the business are working, with the most successful document governance strategies being
led from the top. Indeed, part 3 of the Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012 found nearly
a fifth of employees are calling for higher level executive sponsorship to champion document
process improvements.
2
Secondly, business leaders should consider working with an expert to put all the pieces of the
puzzle together. Document processes, the business technology used to manage them, and
the people who work with them on a day-to-day basis cannot be reviewed or improved in
isolation. Instead, a thorough review from an external partner with expertise in all areas will
highlight the hidden opportunities to improve all three pieces of the puzzle. Businesses should
be free to focus on their core business, safe in the knowledge that a document process expert
is taking care of the rest.
3
Thirdly, business leaders should listen closely to employees and ensure they take them along
for the journey. As the people working with these processes everyday, and being most
impacted by any changes to the way they work, it’s vital they are properly consulted, their
valuable experiences and opinions acted on, and a full programme of change management
introduced to ensure any improvements achieve their desired results.
4
Finally, in addition to a comprehensive view of processes, technologies and the way
employees work with them, it’s essential to maintain an ongoing process of governance and
improvement. Doing so means any remaining bottlenecks can be identified and put right, and
better ways of working can be identified and replicated throughout the business.
The process priority puzzle: What’s next?
When the Ricoh Document Governance Index 2009 was published, the business environment
was dramatically different to today. In three years’ time, it is likely to have transformed again,
with the Economist Intelligence Unit predicting that few industries will remain unchanged
by technology disruption2. Looking ahead to 2015 and to ensure the future of Europe’s
competitiveness, businesses need to have fully connected business processes, with strategies in
place to link document processes and business technology with employees’ working practices.
Organisations should ensure they have in place a comprehensive, ongoing review process to
ensure document processes are working smoothly and to identify any areas for improvement
as they seek to keep up with the rapid pace of change.
For Europe’s business leaders, the message is clear: Those businesses that are able to master
the management of business-critical document processes will be the ones that thrive in the
increasingly global, fast-paced business environment of the future.
Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4 5

6. Putting the theory into practice
Healthcare
A new electronic health record system is giving doctors at a German hospital group
quicker access to essential medical information to help them provide better outcomes
for their patients, through the digitisation of their patient records. Furthermore, the
digitisation of the company’s administrative documents, such as personnel archives,
contract management and invoicing, is significantly improving the efficiency of the
organisation itself, meaning the hospital is on its way to becoming paperless.
Energy/Utilities
A tailored electronic invoicing service, using Cloud technology, for a leading energy
provider in Spain has saved both time and money. By outsourcing their invoice
processing, which was previously a manual process, the company is estimated to have
released the equivalent of 3.5 full-time employees, saving the business approximately
€200,000 per year.
Management consultancy
A leading management consulting firm improved the effectiveness of two of its internal
document processes recently. The processes are now more secure, have an auditable
document trail, and employees have ready access to electronic data. Transactional
documents are turned around more quickly, less manpower is required, and the
company has made significant energy savings through more efficient technology. As well
as improved process efficiency, the firm will save nearly €40,000 over five years.
Education
A University in The Netherlands has optimised its document management by simplifying
the range of technology it used. This has seen it scale down from 1300 printers to 480,
reducing energy consumption and increasing efficiency to the point that it is now saving
€700,000 a year through managed document services and a new way of working.
Legal
A law firm in the UK has introduced a streamlined and secure system for managing the
one million documents it processes each year, including client intake forms, witness
statements, pleadings, depositions, contracts, case settlements, letters and emails. It
has reduced paper use by 20 per cent, cut costs by £90,000 a year, and reduced CO2
emissions by 70 per cent.
1
Economist Intelligence Unit, Agent of Change: The Future of Technology Disruption in Business, March 2012
2
Economist Intelligence Unit, Agent of Change: The Future of Technology Disruption in Business, March 2012
6 Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4

7. More information
Website
www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7465 1153
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Media centre
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About Ricoh
Ricoh is a global technology company specialising in office imaging equipment, production print
solutions, document management systems and IT services. Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh Group,
operates in more than 200 countries and regions. In the financial year ending March 2012, Ricoh Group
had worldwide sales of 1,903 billion yen (approx. 23 billion USD).
The majority of the company’s revenue comes from products, solutions and services that improve the
interaction between people and information. Ricoh also produces award-winning digital cameras and
specialised industrial products. It is known for the quality of its technology, the exceptional standard of its
customer service and sustainability initiatives. Under its corporate tagline, imagine. change. Ricoh helps
companies transform the way they work and harness the collective imagination of their employees.
For further information, please visit www.ricoh-europe.com
Read the full series
Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, Part 4 7