Over the past decade only one in four organisations said they had achieved extensive or complete digitalisation, according to a new study by the Association for Intelligent Information Management. A further 39 per cent said they had managed to implement significant progress – defined as completing multiple transformation projects.

The three main challenges to digitalisation are lack of money, focus, and culture. “Ideally, organisations would maintain their transformation momentum and complete as much of their digitalisation as possible,” said the report. “However, there is the possibility that the rush of digitisation during the pandemic will lead to a subsequent slowdown in activity.” It said that an economic downturn could also slow progress. 

More systems

Since the survey was first conducted, organisations have more information management systems. On average, they have risen from 3.14 per organisation to 3.94. But for those that had between seven and ten systems, growth has roughly doubled every five years – from 3.6 per cent in 2013, to 6.2 per cent in 2018 and to 14.42% in 2023.

The reasons for such growth are unclear. The report noted that as well as the ease with which organisations can deploy cloud-based solutions, smaller systems can also be embedded into existing networks. In addition, Replacement solutions for legacy ECM platforms sometimes require multiple tools to achieve the same level of functionality, it said.

More systems require more integration but that can be a major stumbling block for organisations.

“Any scenario that requires a complete, single view of a customer, process, claim, application, or case is hindered by the need to connect to multiple systems — running the risk of data integrity issues such as duplication and inconsistent data updates,” it said. “As a result, system integration and alignment is an area that requires significant strategic and technical focus in the coming years to avoid downstream issues.”

Cut the chaos

The report recommends evaluating the growth of information systems within businesses. In addition, when new systems come on line it must be connected to existing information and business systems.

That is easier said than done. Organisations must discuss information management at the top levels of their businesses, including aligning them with topics such as cybersecurity and data privacy. “However, ensure that you do not focus only on the defensive aspects of information management, such as compliance and risk management; open the conversation to explore productivity gains, increased insight, and the broader value of good information governance.”