Ageing technology constrains European business


New research from Ricoh reveals 79 percent are unable to maximise technology.

Ageing back office legacy systems are holding back 79 percent of European businesses from fully streamlining their business critical document processes, according to new research published this week by Ricoh Europe.

This is despite the majority of businesses recognising the transformational power of new technologies to help them be more agile in a fast-changing market, and highlights the disconnected approach to business technology and business-critical document processes across Europe today.

The research, part two of the Ricoh Document Governance Index 2012, reveals that while European businesses say that new devices such as smartphones and tablets are helping them manage their business critical document processes, the majority are unable to maximise such technologies because their back-end systems can’t fully support them; 78 percent of business leaders surveyed admitted they invest in new technology before fully realising the functionality of their existing systems.

The research also indicated confusion about how to best use the cloud for business advantage. While 70 percent of European businesses are using the cloud to enable mobile access to document processes, only 50 percent believe that it is making their document process management easier. This highlights the lack of planning by business leaders who are investing in the cloud without having the structures in place to ensure it will deliver the desired improvements, Ricoh concludes.