Digitalisation: Is it good or bad for business?

Companies in the 21st century are embracing the digital world in increasing numbers. The use of new technology systems is transforming the workplace, with the reliance on paper documents declining every day.

Managers and employees making the transition from traditional paper-based working practices are asking themselves if digitalisation is good or bad for business. According to the experts, failing to embrace the digital workplace will severely restrict your company in the future.

However, while digitalisation is a positive move in today’s fast moving and competitive corporate world, progress towards modern working practices must be planned carefully, considering which technology will best suit your business – you need to make sure you get it right.

What is digitalisation?

Digitalisation is the process of moving to a digital business. It describes the use of digital technologies to make changes to your business model, providing new opportunities to run the company more efficiently, adding value and earning new revenue.

The purpose of digitalisation is to make it easier to store, maintain, access and share information across the company by using modern technology. Digital information enables business leaders to make better informed decisions by gaining a deeper insight into operations in real time.

What industries benefit from digitalisation?

Small businesses, sole traders and entrepreneurs using coworking spaces have already benefited significantly from digitalisation. They reaped the rewards in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, when employees were gradually returning to work following the lockdowns.

When many corporate offices remained closed, SMEs took advantage of the opportunities that digitalisation offered in coworking spaces by adapting their business model to the available technology.

Coworking spaces gave users the chance to host meetings, either through conference calls, in person, or through a hybrid approach.

Entrepreneurs running micro enterprises participated in the creative processes of adapting and transforming their business to the digitised coworking environment, enabling them to move forward at a time when their larger counterparts had failed.

Headspace Group’s coworking space in Farringdon is a prime example of how a digital workspace can benefit the creative and tech industry. With a high-speed internet and calls package included, the workspace has gone from strength to strength since its inception.

Coworking in Farringdon means superfast broadband with speeds of up to 80 Mbps to ensure all your digital tech runs smoothly.

Read on to find out more about the benefits of digitalisation in the modern workplace…

Faster access to information

Digitalisation enables employees to access information much faster when needed. The investment in technology can quickly pay for itself in terms of the time saved in having information at your fingertips, instead of tucked away in a filing cabinet.

The speed and convenience of data communication is a major advantage for your organisation. Storing documents digitally means anyone with access rights can view them with ease. This includes employees working at the main office or remotely, making collaboration simpler.

Automation of business processes

A company can run more efficiently and smoothly by automating its business processes. One of the major advantages of digitalisation is the ability to automate mundane manual tasks, saving time and money.

Increase in productivity

Digitalisation helps people to work faster, increasing productivity. Manually searching for information and identifying the required documents can be time-consuming.

Research shows UK employees spend around one million hours per week looking for misplaced documents! Some workers spend 30% of their working day simply searching for information. Digitally stored information means less time wasted carrying out manual searches, so employees are free to complete other tasks.

Improved customer experience

When workers are able to discover the information they require quickly, they can answer customer queries in a timely manner. Good customer service helps to protect the order book and creates a sense of loyalty.

Improved decision making

Digitalising information means it can be delivered to the appropriate individual instantly, rather than waiting for paper documents to be printed off. This enables managers to have the correct information at their fingertips when it’s needed, allowing them to make informed decisions more quickly.

Reporting tools permit managers to monitor how the organisation is operating in real time, making changes when needed.

Improved information security

Every day, around one billion photocopies are printed off worldwide. Unfortunately, paper documents can fall into the wrong hands, potentially leaving sensitive information, such as financial reports, at risk.

Most of us have found a document accidentally left on the printer after it was printed. If it contained sensitive data, this could leave it open to misuse. With digital solutions, various security strategies are used to safeguard documents, so only authorised employees have access to them.

Disaster recovery

A significant advantage of digitalisation is the ability to recover data and information that has been lost due to a natural disaster, such as a fire or flooding. Digital information is backed up on the system and can be restored when needed, but paper documents are lost forever.

All things considered, digitalisation is good for business when used properly and many companies are adapting to the trend to improve workplace processes.

 

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