Years ago, going green was seen as a trendy thing for companies to do, with less attention paid to the true business impact it might bring. However, times have changed, and companies today are finding real value in reducing their carbon footprint, including significant cost savings and increased worker productivity. Beyond choosing ENERGY STAR compliant products, turning off the lights after hours, duplexing documents and being vigilant recyclers, many companies are turning to enterprise content management (ECM) systems to help achieve their sustainability goals.

Paper continues to dominate the working world. IDC predicts that between 2007 and 2010 more than 10 trillion pages will be printed in offices in the United States alone.
Deploying a less paper or “paper-light” document management strategy is not just about encouraging employees to print responsibly or to recycle more. The key to going paper light is transitioning paper documents into digital form and then archiving them so that information can be found quickly and referenced, shared or updated without the need for hard copies. An ECM system can help companies easily transition from working in a primarily paper environment to a predominantly digital one.

• Tip 1: Ditch your filing cabinets: Using an ECM system helps reduce the need for physical filing cabinets, freeing up office space and giving employees instant access to the information they need to get their jobs done faster. ECM systems also support virtual workers, allowing them to access business critical information online from any location.

• Tip 2: Scan to email: Scan to email functions now appear on many multifunction devices, enabling a faster way to deliver hard-copy information to individuals without making several copies.

• Tip 3: Save time by automating processes: Reduce the time it takes to process invoices, purchase orders, insurance claims, sales contracts and resumes from days to minutes. Simply scan a document into your ECM system that will automatically route the document to relevant groups or departments, eliminating the need to circulate paper and save time.