Despite the fact that modern business practices have been shaped by IT solutions for decades now, some myths persist. Some of the myths discussed in this article are similar to those in a previous article. These myths are some of the most persistent so they often reappear in slightly different forms that we will examine now.

How many of the following myths do you believe?

Myth 1: Document workflow systems are only for large organizations.

“I don’t know, go ask ________.” We all know the people in our departments or organizations that can answer every question. These key individuals are the experts you need to empower. As your business grows these individuals have a heavier and heavier burden put upon their shoulders as they spend more and more time repeatedly answering the same questions and dealing with the same problems.

An electronic document workflow system reduces the amount of administrative work and increases control over documents. This results in visible benefits for small entities as your key employees give other employees a clear path to follow and focus more on their own core tasks. Also, these benefits increase over time as your key employees ‘trail blaze’ more workflows.

An electronic system has (many!) other advantages over a paper system. If you are reading this article you are probably thinking of how to deal with the chaos in your organization as it grows. A key advantage of electronic systems is their ability to scale as the number of users/documents/interactions increases while still keeping costs low.

If your organization is growing and you are competing against larger, better organized entities, just remember this: Keep costs low while you grow.

Myth 2: This type of system is too expensive.

This myth persists because many people actually have a custom software solution in mind when they say this. Ordering a custom software solution is certainly a large cost and not all companies are able to afford such an expense.

However, the truth is that ready made systems are much cheaper. Even more advantageous are subscription model (SaaS) solutions, in which a subscription fee is paid according to actual use. This means that you do not have very high up front costs, and you can opt out at any time if it turns out that the system does not meet your expectations.

Amodit has a huge advantage over the competition here because the basic version is free. (Register for free!) This is a fully functional solution that is great for small organizations. This enables your organization to experience the benefits of electronic document workflows without risk. As your company grows you can choose a subscription which is suitable to your needs and your budget.

Free is the right price for: volunteer organizations, recreational associations, school projects, etc.

Free is the right price for: your small business.

Myth 3: Developing workflows is very complicated.

Again, this myth persists because many people actually have a custom software solution in mind when they say this. For some custom software solutions the development process can be long. More critically, the needs analysis done by external experts at the beginning may not match up with the real world.

Amodit, however, is based on a different assumption that eliminates this problem: the experts you need most are already working for you. The people in your organization everyone relies on for answers, the “I don’t know, go ask ________.” people. It isn’t so complicated for them, they have already shown many coworkers how to do it.

Amodit can be registered and ready for use in just a few minutes. It was designed with the flexibility to support any process and the ability to adapt to the needs of the users because the users are the real experts.

Your users show the artificial intelligence the path in a similar way to how they have already shown their coworkers the path many times before. This guarantees that the system adapts to the needs of employees, and not vice versa, as is the case with incorrectly designed software.

As users make alternate paths, e.g. for clients with special requirements, complexity can be added over time in a ‘natural’ manner.

Myth 4: It’s just an unnecessary expense.

The belief that electronic document systems are, in principle, unnecessary is the major obstacle for some. This belief is grounded in the idea that the traditional methods for document management (clerks, folders, shelves, filing cabinets, etc.) have been sufficient until now.

You already have system for paper documents, so there are two questions you should ask yourself:

1. If a system was necessary for your paper documents, isn’t a system for electronic documents also necessary? Yes, of course it is. (Many of the reasons for doing so are exactly the same.)

2. What are the risks and costs of my current system?

So, let’s flip the situation for a second. Let’s suppose someone came to you with a great new technology called ‘paper’.

It’s simple, all you have to do to deploy paper in your organization is:

  • Buy or rent some real estate to store the massive amounts of it you will use.
  • Buy printers, copiers, scanners, and computers to help process it.
  • Hire employees whose job will be to process it.
  • Pay companies to transport it.
  • Accept the risk that it can be destroyed. (Loss, fire, flood, etc.)
  • Accept the delays in processing times.
  • Etc.

Would anyone ever switch AWAY from an electronic document workflow system and adopt ‘paper technology’?

The truth here is that paper is the unnecessary expense.

Myth 5: An electronic document workflow system requires a complex IT infrastructure.

Amodit was designed with some core principles centered around the user. First, that the real experts are: the users. Second, that the best starting price is: free. Similarly, the minimum ‘infrastructure requirement’ for users is: a mobile phone and an internet connection. Of course, a computer with an internet connection is the most common ‘infrastructure’ used.

The same philosophy extends to the skills needed by the users who operate the system. What you could think of as the ‘training infrastructure’. All processes are operated from an intuitive panel displayed in a web browser. Operating a simple process requires a similar level of skill to shopping in an online shop.

Of course, Amodit supports rich data displays, dashboards, and integrations with external systems, so you can add as much depth and complexity to your processes as you desire.

For most SMEs the SaaS model meets all their needs. With Amodit, you don’t even have to think about infrastructure unless you are a very large organization with special requirements.

Conclusion

Regardless of the scale of your organization’s activities, electronic document workflows will help you optimize your processes. By reducing the amount of administrative work and eliminating the additional costs associated with ‘paper technology’ you can achieve significant savings. This type of solution isn’t a technological curiosity, it’s a technological necessity.

Register a Free Demo version of Amodit today and get started organizing your first workflow!

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