Not only is it difficult to implement enterprise-level digital workflow, it's also hard to sell, both as a vendor and an internal champion. "People want to know about the whole process, but what I have seen is that different companies sell on different things, and no one has an overall umbrella view of the total value of going digital," says Chris Ahearn, vice president of sales and marketing for nowdocs.com. "In some cases, vendors even sell a solution that becomes part of the problem. When pieces don't work together, people get frustrated."

It's not easy on vendors either. If an application touches multiple areas, it becomes a more complex sale, and there are more people to reach and educate. "Enterprise workflow vendors often have to sell to inherited platforms and applications," says Ahearn. "They have to persuade multiple people and departments in a company."

The Genetics of Digital Workflow
The genetics of digital workflow contribute to the current dilemma. The evolution of today's digital document processes started with centralized mainframe environments, and then moved to decentralized desktop PCs. Now we see the rise of the networked data center hosting everything. Along the way, divisions and departments came up with their own way of doing things, and these applications are being brought back into the network.

"When you read Gartner and CAPV research, you see that one thing that is missing is a common hardware and software platform," Ahearn notes. "Many departments still use particular software or hardware within the scope of their processes. People need to start seeing what is the best way to do something, but you may not be able to convince them to change."

Under these fragmented conditions, how can companies to get anything to work together across the enterprise? "I think the Internet will allow some of this to get strung together because of its environment and platform independence," Ahearn says. "The new centralized data center supports this approach. For the most part, IT does not want to do anything but a thin client environment, and with good reason. They don't want to download applications to desktops, and if workflow can run in a browser-based environment independent of the desktop, they will have greater success."

Implementation Catch 22
Linking document workflow to the enterprise -- It's not easy, but it's not hopeless. Initially, a company would not build solutions around every single aspect of the business, just certain configurations. Start with integrating functionality specific to basic business applications, Ahearn recommends. Understand how it works, and then branch out and apply the knowledge to other common applications across the enterprise.

For example, when someone joins a company, they fill out employment forms. This enterprise application is very simple, and can easily be done in a digital environment to eliminate paperwork. Basic applications like this are good places to start building enterprise digital document workflow, but here's the catch. That kind of application is not going to give the big, flashy ROI, even though over time, companies may save hundreds of hours in reduced labor and mistakes. Management has to take into consideration the value of eliminating manual clerical labor for paper-based purchase orders, claims, employment forms and other basic applications. Through small wins, the organization needs to prove this works, but it still can be a tough sell.

By starting small, you will be more prepared for larger changes and incur less risk in the learning process. "Critical applications may be the ones with the big workflow ROI, but non-critical tasks provide the best ways to learn," says Ahearn. "I encourage companies to start small and learn mistakes to avoid as they apply digital document workflow to their most critical business applications."