Prioritize eliminating paper.

The State of Optimized Organizations

81%
collect all signatures digitally
73%
have digitized all forms and documents
97%
have an initiative to eliminate paper
Digital transformation efforts at Optimized organizations flourish because they understand the many benefits of digitization. Thanks to this, it’s easier to get buy-in from all stakeholders to eliminate paper.

Discover where paper hides.

More than two-thirds of organizations in our survey have an initiative to eliminate paper. To reach this paperless future, most organizations are beginning to replace paper forms and documents with digital versions. Optimized organizations are closest to completely removing paper from the workplace, with 73% reporting all of their documents and forms are digitized.

More than two-thirds of organizations in our survey have an initiative to eliminate paper.

Optimized organizations are more likely to use digital forms and documents

All are paper-based
More than half are paper-based
More than half are digital
All are digital
What best describes the forms and documents at your organization?

Although most organizations have made great strides toward becoming fully digitized, only 15% of our total respondents have reached this ideal. Of those fully digitized, 59% have been digitized for three or more years. This means there’s a lot of catching up to do for less digitally mature organizations.

There’s been great progress in digitization across different types of workflows, but there is still a lot of room for progress. Although 76% of organizations have digitized at least half of their forms and documents, companies are still reliant on paper in some ways.

Only 15% of orgs are fully digitized, which means 85% are still being held back by Big Paper.

Companies still rely on paper in some ways

85%
use paper forms and documents to some extent
24%
rely on paper for more than half of their documents and forms
45%
collect signatures through paper documents
40%
run more than half of their workflows on paper

Where is paper still a problem? Our research shows that requiring physical signatures on documents uses the most paper. 36% of organizations we surveyed rely on wet signatures for more than half of their documentation. Respondents identified legal documents, healthcare records, insurance processing, and student documentation as workflows within their organizations that still include paper processes. 

Realize the many benefits of going digital. 

It’s clear that eliminating paper is a big reason organizations are choosing to go digital, but what benefits of digitization are they really seeking? The top reason organizations are using digital forms and documents is to improve efficiency. 

Improving efficiency is the top reason organizations use digital forms and documents

Improve efficiency
82%
Improve security
55%
Improve customer
experience
48%
Reduce mistakes
43%
Improve employee
experience
43%
Become more
compliant
38%
Become more
competitive
24%
Other
5%
Why does your organization use digital forms and documents?

But the most digitally mature organizations realize that moving away from paper and into digital workflows has greater benefits than simply increasing efficiency. Optimized organizations choose to invest in digitization because of its ability to improve:

Security

Customers want to know their data is easily accessible to them but secure against outside threats and vulnerabilities; digitization provides the best of both worlds.
1

Employee Experiences

Gen Z, the first digitally native generation, is entering the workforce and has different expectations of workplace technology.
2

Data Accuracy

Digitally mature organizations know time is money and realize digitization is a way to minimize manual data entry and human errors.
3

Customer Experience

Digitization is key to providing customers the fast, easy, on-demand service they’ve come to expect.
4

Key Takeaway

Adopting an initiative to eliminate paper is just the beginning. To truly move forward with your org's digital transformation efforts, you must work toward widespread digitization. Auditing your processes can help you find and fix places where paper forms, documents, and signatures are still slowing things down. And streamlining workflows can help you reap important benefits that go beyond increased efficiency—like better security, more accurate data, and enhanced experiences for employees and customers.