If your office still relies on snail mail for invoices and file cabinets for storage, it’s time to look into some business digitalization strategies. Digitalization is the process of replacing analog workflows with digital ones, and it offers huge benefits for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) as well as enterprise-level companies. Employees can find and share the files they need more easily. In-office and remote workers can collaborate via video chats. Vendors get paid automatically, and can access their money right away. Digitalization helps businesses become more agile, more reliable, and more efficient overall.

To build an effective business digitalization plan, executives should know a few definitions and best practices first. Knowing the differences between digitization, digitalization, and digital transformation will ensure you’re proceeding in the correct order. Understanding the tools you’ll need for the job saves you time and money. With the right hardware, software, and knowledge at your disposal, you can embrace digitalization to streamline almost every workflow in your business.

What is business digitalization?

Digitalization means upgrading analog operations into digital ones. Some examples of business digitalization include:

• Using a cloud scanner to keep digital records in online storage
• Hosting online video chats instead of calling landlines
• Making and accepting payments through banking apps
• Distributing marketing materials via email and social media
• Incorporating Internet of Things (IoT) cameras, thermostats, locks, etc. into your office

Digitalization is a purposely broad term, and this isn’t an exhaustive list. If you have a task that relies on paper or analog technology, and you replace it with a computerized or online process, you’ve successfully digitalized a workflow.

Digitization vs. digitalization

The term "digitalization" is sometimes confused with "digitization." The latter refers to converting analog information (e.g. paper records) to a digital format, often with a scanner or similar device. Digitization can be the foundation of a company’s digitalization process, but it’s not the only step involved.

Consider a few examples of digitization vs. digitalization:

• Scanning your paper records and uploading them to a cloud server is digitization
• Accessing, editing, and sharing those digital records is digitalization
• Converting cassette tapes of recorded phone calls to .MP3s is digitization
• Talking with colleagues and customers through video chats instead of landlines is digitalization
• Transcribing receipts into a database for future reimbursement is digitization
• Processing transactions in real-time through contactless payments or banking apps is digitalization

Be aware that there’s a lot of overlap between digitization and digitalization. For example, both of these processes require the same tools: a professional-grade scanner and a powerful piece of scanning software. One particularly important tool is optical character recognition (OCR), which converts physical paperwork into digital files with editable, indexable, searchable text. Specialized OCR document scanners offer the clear images and high resolutions that you’ll need for this kind of work.

You may also hear about “digital transformation,” which is what happens when a business successfully digitalizes every possible process. Of course, even if your company successfully completes a digital transformation, you’ll have to keep revising your workflows over time as new technology becomes available.

Business digitalization benefits

Digitalization opens the way for many benefits, such as:

• Improved workflows as employees access and share files more efficiently
• Better security from access restrictions and cybersecurity suites, as opposed to physical locks and keys
• Quicker payments due to tap-to-pay systems and online credit card storage
• Automated accounts payable processes where vendors get their money via automatic recurring payments
• Improved inventory management with software that tracks stock in real-time
• Optimized employee scheduling from specialized personnel management software

For a complete example of digitalization in action, think about how rideshare apps work:

1. A customer uses a smartphone app (instead of a payphone to call a car)
2. A driver uses an app to find the customer (rather than arranging a meeting place)
3. The driver navigates to their destination via GPS (instead of paper maps)
4. The customer pays directly in the app (rather than dealing with cash)

Every single part of this process used to be analog. It took longer and was prone to all kinds of human error. Thanks to digitalization, the experience is streamlined and seamless for both the business and the customer.

How can you digitalize your business?

Your first priority with business digitalization is the customer or client experience. A digital experience is only worth the effort if people still want to use it. Once your foundation is stable, everything else falls into place more easily.

1. Assess your processes and set a direction: Digitalization will not look the same for every business. A sales office may digitize invoices to streamline its accounts payable process and bring its entire payment system online. A factory may connect its industrial equipment to the Internet-of-Things to monitor its performance 24/7.
2. Make sure your platform is ready for business: Whether your target audience consists of consumers or other businesses, the end user needs to have a pleasant experience above all else. They must be able to find and buy your services and products right away. That means setting up your payment system should be one of your top priorities.
3. Make a website that lets clients get to know your brand: Websites might seem old-fashioned in an age of mobile apps, but it's smart to have an online space that you control, and where clients can access everything they need to know about your brand on any connected platform.

Once you’ve digitalized your top-priority processes, make a complete list of your day-to-day tasks and see which tools and procedures are still analog. Research whether there’s a good digital replacement, and implement upgrades one system at a time. Evaluate your digitalized workflows as you go and make sure they’re actually more efficient than their analog predecessors. By focusing on single workflows instead of rebuilding your entire organization from the ground up, you can minimize disruptions during digitalization.

Our Recommendation: RICOH PaperStream Capture Pro

As you build your business digitalization strategy, you’ll want either a small business scanner or a production scanner, depending on the size of your business. You’ll also need a high-quality piece of scanning software.The RICOH PaperStream Capture Pro software is a powerful and intuitive digitalization tool, providing clear image captures and accurate OCR features. PaperStream Capture Pro can tag files with the appropriate metadata, sort them to the appropriate folders, and even extract data from them, automating some of the most repetitive and tedious steps in the digitization process. When you digitize your physical records first, digitalizing your analog processes becomes that much easier.

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