Way back in 1975, in an article in Business Week magazine, a man named Vincent E. Giuliano of the Arthur D. Little consulting firm outlined a paperless future, predicting that “by 1990 most record-handling will be electronic.” And of course, in today’s world, with written communications mediated by email, text, and social media, and an ever-greater volume of transactions conducted online, the world is closer than ever to the ideal of the “paperless office” (a phrase that dates to 1978).

Closer, yes, but we’re not there. As every manager knows, particularly in enterprises that predate the digital world, the world remains awash with paper documents, and we’re stilling dealing with the problems they pose, from simple issues like storage and protection to the much more critical one of tapping the information they contain.

The answer—digitization—is obvious. Digitization offers a host of benefits. Reducing or eliminating the costs of physical storage. Improving coordination among employees. Perhaps most important, the opportunity to turn paper records into digital data so you can run analytics and generate business insights.

That said, digitization can be difficult to pull off with efficiency and effectiveness. What’s the best way to digitize your paper documents and records?

The requirements of an effective digitization solution are quite clear:

• You want a system that is functionally capable, flexible, easy to use, and cost-effective.
• You want a system that is highly automated.
• Most important, you want a system that allows for customization and integration with your existing processes, workflows, and systems—because your goal should always be to leverage this unwieldy source of data into real opportunities for more meaningful engagements with your customers, partners, and employees.

This means document digitization—transferring paper-based data into digital form—and seamless integration of digital records into an enterprise content management (ECM) system.

At Brillio, we have a good track record with document digitization projects using our Intelligent Capture Solution. The key word in the name of our solution is “Intelligent.” We use intelligent image processing to capture the right content in the most useful forms. We make use of automation and machine learning to deliver continuous improvements to the digitization process. And we can easily integrate newly digital records into a robust enterprise content management system that facilitates retrieval, archiving, and safe, secure disposal. Finally, the Brillio solution includes the analytical tools to ensure your data becomes the basis for true business intelligence.

Our approach meets our primary customer concerns: Be as efficient as possible without compromising quality. Customize as needed to fit business needs. And make paper records into digital information that can be put to work instead of molding in a warehouse somewhere.

The world may never achieve the “paperless office.” But we can certainly turn paper records into another source of useful data for you and your enterprise.