The New Imperative: Driving Strategy Through Standardization

Transcription

1 The New Imperative: Driving Strategy Through Standardization

2 Executive Summary This ebook outlines how standardizing document management tools and processes decreases IT burden, reduces security/ compliance risks, and increases the CIO s ability to activate digital transformation efforts that drive growth. Introduction According to Gartner s 2018 CIO Survey, CIOs are focused on growth. As top performing CIOs evolve from order takers to business strategists, they are adding more sophisticated priorities including exploiting data to fuel innovation and streamlining customer and employee workflows to drive revenue. For a growth-focused CIO, software standardization may not be the first strategy associated with up-leveling and innovation but it s an empowering first step. Increasingly, we find CIOs guiding organizations toward loftier goals by standardizing the tools and processes that knowledge workers use daily. For many global enterprise organizations, the biggest opportunity for standardization lies in the realm of document management. Why? Because for a great majority of the workforce (up to 90%), document management in the real world happens in non-standardized environments. These environments become exponentially messier as knowledge workers use multiple, unsupported software versions or lack access to tools altogether, forcing them to download free, unsanctioned solutions.

3 How does standardizing document management support a CIO s strategic priorities? Let s break it down: Standardization enables the data analysis that drives insight because data flow is never broken. When everyone has access to the same digital tools, teams can avoid the analog interrupt, whereby data dies on a printed sheet of paper. An IT team with a more complete set of data has more confidence to generate meaningful insights, such as when process bottlenecks diminish the customer experience or when document collaboration hinders product teams. Standardization drives revenue because it enables IT centralization, which ultimately improves the employee and customer experience. An IT team who supports and maintains a single platform has more time to focus on innovation and revenue-producing priorities, more visibility into the budget, and more negotiating room for licensing discounts. Finally, standardization reduces security vulnerabilities and compliance costs. An IT team who doesn t need to spend time chasing shadow IT or licenses that need to be patched greatly reduces security threats and the risk of noncompliance/licensing penalties.

4 SECTION 1: The Current State of Document Standardization Before we explore some of the reasons IT might not be prioritizing standardization initiatives, we must understand the current state of workforce document management and why it remains a largely untapped strategic opportunity. In a word, the current state of document management in the enterprise is a mess. In our experience, many enterprise organizations create and exacerbate a non-standardized document management environment by offering PDF editing and esignature tools to just 10% of the workforce leaving the other 90% to fend for themselves. 10% This ill-equipped majority oftentimes bypasses IT and downloads unsanctioned tools to complete their work. In the case of document management, this usually means the workforce uses personal cloud environments to store documents and runs multiple versions of software to convert PDFs or gather electronic signatures,. Many organizations offer PDF editing and esignature tools to just 10% of the workforce. The extensive challenges of an uncontrollable environment affect both employees and IT on a daily basis.

5 For employees, a non-standardized document management environment is frustrating at best. At worst, it slows productivity as team members who don t have the same tools struggle to collaborate, while team members with no tools interrupt the workflow by printing documents. For IT teams managing a non-standardized document management environment, life becomes a time-consuming gauntlet of reactions. Instead of proactively updating or patching a single toolset, IT wastes time wrangling the security risks of shadow IT. Instead of keeping a tight inventory of licensing compliance, IT struggles just to understand how many tools are actually in use. As document management is currently a virtual free-for-all, standardization presents a huge opportunity for CIOs focused on driving growth. How? At its simplest, standardization enables IT centralization, which is a key goal for any strategic IT team. A centralized document management environment simplifies updates, saves time, and reduces security and licensing compliance risks. If the current state of document management is such a mess, why aren t more IT teams jumping at the opportunity to standardize with a single toolset? In the next section, we ll discuss some of the most common misperceptions that impede.

6 SECTION 2: Misperceptions That Stall Standardization While every organization has unique challenges that may delay document management standardization, the three most common misperceptions that we see all stem from underestimating the strategic impact of standardization: Misperception #1: Standardizing is not a strategic initiative. It s too easy to assume that something as unsexy as standardizing document management is not strategic. Yet the business impact runs much deeper. If 90% of the workforce is relying on free tools and turning to personal storage to house documents, the enterprise has zero visibility into the data living inside those documents or the workflows surrounding them. No data, no insights. No insights, no innovation. Standardizing on a single document productivity platform enables a critical component of innovation: the ability to aggregate and exploit reliable data to drive meaningful business insight. No data; no insights. No insights; no innovation. For example, organizations could analyze activity around sales contracts to identify consumer preferences and sticking points or monitor the time spent within training documents to improve a process.

7 Misperception #2: Standardization requires too much IT bandwidth With the average IT team understaffed and overwhelmed, taking the time to standardize document management is just another drain on bandwidth, right? Wrong! In fact, the opposite is true. With standardization, IT teams regain precious bandwidth. When IT standardizes the workforce on one document management platform, the team can centralize support and maintenance immediately. Updates and security patches are applied for one product and take significantly less time to execute. Licenses are monitored and renewed for one licensing agreement, and the risk of time-intensive audits disappears. User training and support are only required for one version, and the struggle to monitor shadow IT diminishes.

8 Misperception #3: Standardization only benefits IT. While standardizing document management is sometimes misidentified as a siloed IT tactic, the benefits extend across the enterprise. Equipping users wall to wall on a single platform simplifies training, increases adoption, streamlines workflows, and accelerates productivity. Equipping more users with a scalable, standardized solution also empowers your workforce with greater autonomy. For example, after Howden Group standardized on Nitro for document productivity, the global enterprise accelerated productivity and streamlined workflows for over 6,000 employees in 27 countries. See the Howden Group story here» In the next section, we explore the strategic impact of document standardization from driving IT centralization to helping CIOs and their teams gain more time, security, and cost control.

9 SECTION 3: Strategic Wins Through Standardization CIOs that standardize on a single PDF productivity and esignature tool create scalable wins for their team, their business partners, and the enterprise. Let s break each of these down: WIN #1: More Time To Innovate In the era of mass digital transformation, business intelligence and speed have become the critical components of innovation. As the CIO role continues to evolve, leadership expects CIOs to focus their time on high-impact strategic activities that directly support innovation. Intrinsically, leading CIOs must refocus their teams on activities that correlate to innovation, such as helping global product teams collaborate quickly, support teams improve the customer experience, or leadership mine data for competitive insights. Instead of spending time on activities that drive innovation, IT teams burdened with multiple versions of Adobe products waste copious amounts of time juggling updates, patches, and sunsets. When IT teams standardize the workforce on one platform, they have one version to maintain, one set of features to understand and explain, and one place to store and mine data. One platform = more time to innovate and drive revenue.

10 WIN #2: More Security Control In 2018, controlling security risk remains a top priority for CIOs yet employees present one of the largest, most uncontrollable risks. According to a report published by Axelos, 75% of large organizations suffered staff-related security breaches in 2015, with 50% of the worst breaches caused by human error. Expiring product lifecycles continually expose the enterprise to bugs, malware, and breaches, while mismatched products and versions make it nearly impossible for IT teams to maintain accurate visibility and protect against security vulnerabilities. 75% 75% of large organizations suffered staff-related security breaches in 2015 When IT teams can offer digital document productivity tools to every knowledge worker, they can maintain a proactive stance, address vulnerabilities in a single update, and better control where data is stored. One platform = more security control. WIN #3: More Cost Control Ironically, most enterprises end up limiting access to PDF editing and esignature licenses because of cost. As a result, the majority of employees simply download free or unsanctioned tools, leaving the enterprise open to unnecessary security risk and cost.

11 Standardizing on a single platform introduces the opportunity to renegotiate terms and streamline costs. For example, organizations who replace Adobe Acrobat with Nitro Pro regularly save up to 50%. These savings free up more budget to expand the toolset wall to wall. Standardized tools also enable enterprises to avoid disruptive, expensive audits. With the proliferation of virtual teams, BYOD, and increasingly complicated licensing terms, it s extremely challenging for an enterprise to maintain compliance with numerous solutions simultaneously. The result? Eighty-five percent of organizations are unknowingly violating license compliance policies. Unfortunately, according to IDC research, only one in 10 organizations feels extremely well prepared for a software audit. Yet thanks to whistleblower rewards of up to $20,000, these opportunistic audits happen frequently. With fines for a single license violation totaling as much as $150,000, these audits can become a revenue stream for many large software companies. Organizations who replace Adobe Acrobat with Nitro Pro regularly save up to 50%. When IT teams standardize on a true partner for document management, they can avoid time-consuming audits that drain funds, resources, and patience. One platform = more cost control not to mention priceless peace of mind.

12 SECTION 4: How To Get Started We have established that standardization decreases IT burden, reduces security/compliance risks, and frees IT to spend more time on digital transformation efforts that drive growth. Yet sometimes, just figuring out where to start can be the biggest roadblock of all. The great news is that standardizing on a single platform doesn t have to be time intensive or disruptive. Making the switch can be surprisingly simple if you can articulate the urgency, socialize the behavioral change, and time it right: STEP 1: Create A Sense Of Urgency Most leaders don t understand the extent of the costs and security risks associated with the current state of document management. It s not that they don t care they simply aren t thinking about it. Take the initiative and audit the current state of document management in your organization. How many different products are employees running? How many patches must your IT team release each week? How many workers are using sunsetted versions with known security vulnerabilities and no way to address them? Finally, if your vendor surprised you with an audit tomorrow, could you prove licensing compliance and what would the fines look like if you couldn t? Upon finding the answers to these questions, Nitro customer Howden created immediate urgency and gained quick buy-in to standardize. During their audit, Howden uncovered 27 different PDF products and versions, resulting in a myriad of incompatibility

13 challenges. One-third of the installed PDF software was not the latest version and had outdated security patches, while many products did not offer product support or training resources. Upon finding the answers to these questions, Nitro customer Howden created immediate urgency and gained quick buy-in to standardize. During their audit, Howden uncovered 27 different PDF products and versions, resulting in a myriad of incompatibility challenges. One-third of the installed PDF software was not the latest version and had outdated security patches, while many products did not offer product support or training resources. STEP 2: Become A Change Agent For many organizations, change is the unspoken roadblock. In a survey of IT leaders, Nitro found that 73% consider change management a strain on IT s time and resources. Change requires buy-in and time. But it s not that people can t change. Oftentimes, they simply lack the proper motivation. 73% Nothing gets people more motivated to change than understanding what s in it for them. Develop messaging around how a standardized toolset will uniquely benefit individual user groups. How would standardization benefit customer support teams with their continual training? How would sales managers benefit from centralized contract storage? How would product teams benefit from accurate version control? Nitro found that 73% consider change management a strain on IT s time and resources. How would standardized document management support a more sustainable business?

14 The more that individual stakeholders understand how standardized tools and processes make their lives easier, the quicker they are to accept change and create new behaviors. You can read more about articulating business sustainability through digitization here. STEP 3: Piggyback On A Bigger Project. For most IT teams, larger projects are constant. Align with upcoming projects, such as broader IT centralization initiatives or an Office 365 rollout, to maximize change management resources and simplify the process of standardizing on document management. Nitro customer Leonardo DRS is a great example of well-timed document productivity standardization. In 2013, the organization launched a company-wide initiative aimed at centralizing IT operations and standardizing disparate services, tools, and processes across its 40+ North American and UK locations. This strategic shift revealed an opportunity to improve IT efficiency by standardizing on a PDF solution for knowledge workers. Nitro was a huge win for us in terms of our IT centralization initiatives, having made it possible to standardize on a single PDF solution for more than 2,200 of our users across multiple sites. If only we could do this with more tools. Walter Wilinsky CIO at Leonardo DRS

15 Conclusion Growth-focused CIOs have a strategic opportunity to standardize document management and quickly realize the powerful efficiencies that come with IT centralization. Standardizing on Nitro Pro is a smart, achievable first step, helping IT teams save time, reduce security risk, lower licensing and audit costs, and improve their ability to support innovation. Learn more about how easy it is to standardize on Nitro Pro»