In the interview with Hermann Schäfer, Vice President Sales EMEA, APAC and South America at DocuWare

The global wave of digitalization is plunging companies into an era of upheaval in the competitive environment. From healthcare to retail: across industries, companies are leveraging the benefits of relevant technologies while simultaneously facing major challenges. Organizational and IT managers are looking for a partner to support them in this transformation. DocuWare’s network of over 800 partners offers this support. For 35 years, the provider of secure, scalable solutions for document management and workflow automation, together with its sales partners, has been setting pioneering standards for digital transformation. However, the key to success lies in diverse approaches and is often only found gradually. The transition to comprehensive in-house digitalization varies depending on corporate culture, management level, and team dynamics. Change often begins with abandoning classic paper documentation, paving the way for comprehensive internal mechanization or computerization.

With DocuWare, any business documents can be digitized, archived in a tamper-proof manner, and processed to optimize core processes in all areas of the company. Employees can use DocuWare to work efficiently on any device and from anywhere, thereby maintaining business continuity. Today, we speak with Hermann Schäfer about transformative changes, current industry standards, a successful starting point for digitalization, and the thoughtful steps that should be taken.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Mr. Schäfer, there is currently a great deal of uncertainty in the economy. The challenges for players are manifold: from rising energy costs to increasing bureaucratization. What role does digitalization play for companies in this context?

Hermann Schäfer: Digitalization plays a major role in both good and challenging times. During economic uncertainty, it helps offset or even eliminate rising costs, such as those caused by inflation. Productivity-enhancing technologies can also automate processes and increase efficiencies. The result: The pressure caused by the shortage of skilled workers can be alleviated, and employees have more time for strategic tasks. Over 80% of our new customers opt for the cloud in such situations. This is mainly because the prices are transparent and calculable. Especially when everything is getting more expensive and price sensitivity is increasing, companies appreciate the transparency and flexibility of cloud solutions. Instead of a high one-time investment, they pay a monthly “subscription fee” for using the software.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: The market offers a wide range of providers that have solutions for digital transformation in their portfolios, especially for SMEs. What advice would you give when it comes to selecting software and a digitalization partner that meet individual needs and requirements?

Hermann Schäfer: Before medium-sized companies decide on a particular software, they should consider which areas they want to digitalize first and what results they aim to achieve with the use of digital tools. Based on a detailed analysis of business processes, it can then be decided which type of software would be useful in the respective area. When selecting the software, the user should ensure that it is scalable, flexible, and easy to use and configure for them as well as their administrators. It should also integrate with existing systems (e.g., ERP and CRM). The ability to exchange data and information between different systems is crucial to ensure seamless collaboration. Following this, the software provider or a digitalization partner should work with the customer to determine whether pre-configured solutions already cover the required functions or if individual adaptations are necessary. While pre-configured solutions are faster and more cost-effective, individual configurations offer greater flexibility. It is important to weigh up individually what makes more sense for the client.

For medium-sized companies, engaging a digitalization partner is often a strategic decision, as they lack the internal resources to manage all aspects of digitalization alone. Our partner companies can not only facilitate implementation but also help derive long-term benefits from digital transformation. Choosing the right partner, however, is not solely dependent on the functionality and offerings of its solutions. Customers expect a high level of support—both during the planning and implementation phases as well as afterwards. They value the security, personal exchange, and expertise that the partner provides. This approach significantly shortens implementation time and makes it easier to overcome challenges.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: After deciding on a suitable partner, the next question is: When and where to start? Which processes in the company would you recommend to begin with digitalization?

Hermann Schäfer: Companies should start in areas where they expect the highest pain point. This could be, for example, where they expect the highest return on investment (ROI) or a shortage of skilled workers in the future. In general, departments with a lot of documents, such as accounting departments or human resources management, are particularly well suited as a starting point for digitalization. Over 50% of our customers begin their digital transformation in accounting, as the receipt of invoices can be optimally digitalized using a document management system (DMS). The invoice usually arrives either in digital form or is scanned by staff. Key information is then recognized using optical character recognition (OCR) and converted into structured, easily usable and searchable data. Machine learning makes it possible to process incoming invoices easily and effortlessly. Employees save time on manual data entry and have more time for other tasks. The same applies to the HR department. This department handles both administrative routine tasks, such as payroll accounting, and strategic tasks such as personnel development, training and recruiting. Employment contracts, certificates, sick notes or terminations are just as confidential as important documents that must be carefully sorted, stored and archived – business processes that offer great potential for digitalization and automation with a DMS.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: What are the first steps you take together with your customers and what preparations can they perhaps already make themselves?

Hermann Schäfer: The digital transformation of a company is a complex task that requires careful planning and preparation. When working with our customers, we take the first steps together to ensure that the process runs smoothly and meets individual needs. In preparation, it is important for the customer to know their current processes and clearly define the target structure. This forms the basis for further work. In addition, the company's management and staff should be convinced of the necessity of digitalization. In close coordination with the customer, our partner companies then carry out a comprehensive process and needs analysis. This identifies important milestones, bottlenecks and potential problem areas. Questions such as “What triggers the process?”, “How are data recorded and stored?” and “Who is involved in the project?” help to understand the processes in detail. Together, we or the selected DocuWare partner decide with the customer whether our solution is provided in the cloud or on-premises. The company's IT infrastructure, cost considerations and the IT team's expertise play a role here. For SMEs in particular, the best practice approach often applies, using our pre-configured solutions based on experience values. On the other hand, the customer can also actively participate in developing their individual solution.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: For some companies, digitalization and the automation of business processes are not entirely new topics. Can you give us an outlook on which functionalities will be particularly in demand in the coming months or years, and where the journey is heading? I am thinking here in particular of the top trend Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Hermann Schäfer: Artificial intelligence and related technologies are the trending topic and will play an increasingly important role in digitalization. We took the first step in this area several years ago with our Intelligent Indexing. However, we also see artificial intelligence as a major opportunity to make our product even more powerful. One of our goals is that in the future, generative AI will be able to read business documents in such a way that content is interpreted semantically rather than just syntactically. This allows relationships to be understood and recognized and can then be processed accordingly. Furthermore, it is quite conceivable that artificial intelligence will also be used in the future to create workflows and programming interfaces, making it easier to implement individual needs.

Another trend is innovative platform solutions. Modern software architectures are becoming increasingly complex, which also requires corresponding knowledge from users. To make software accessible to everyone, platform engineering with self-service functions, tools, and processes ensures an optimal developer experience and faster deployment of digital applications. This allows companies to connect independent tools and exchange data between individual programs. On iPaaS platforms, for example, our cloud solution can be easily linked to other business applications – entirely without programming knowledge.

Pre-configured solutions are, in my opinion, the third trending topic that will particularly concern us in digitalization with an Enterprise Content Management System (ECM). Even though business processes run individually in every company, they – as numerous customer projects show – have central requirements and decision points in common. The archives, user profiles, dialogues, and workflows of our pre-configured solutions were planned and set up based on valuable best-practice experience. They can be adapted and fully configured with minimal effort. This means that the automation of central business processes can be achieved within just a few days. Due to intuitive operation, high flexibility, and immediate availability, around 30% of our new customers opt for pre-configured solutions.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Let's take a final look at the shortage of skilled workers. Particularly for SMEs. How do you assess the situation in this country? Can employers make their recruitment and retention of staff more sustainable through digital tools, and if so, how?

Hermann Schäfer: The shortage of skilled workers is a major challenge for SMEs in particular, but in my opinion it has not yet reached its peak. With the retirement of the baby boomers, it will rise even further, and this is exactly where digital tools can provide support. On the one hand, digitalisation – exemplified by an ECM – automates repetitive manual tasks, giving skilled workers more time to focus on important strategic issues. This can at least compensate for the lack of human resources. On the other hand, digital tools also help with recruitment and retention. To be successful in the war for talent, the very way in which people are recruited is crucial. Since many high potentials or experienced professionals are no longer willing to go through lengthy, analog application processes, we place great emphasis on seamless digital workflows, software-driven agility and speed. Only in this way is it possible to quickly secure suitable candidates – and above all, ahead of the competition.

Younger generations also place a lot of value on flexibility. Hybrid working models have therefore become commonplace. Even more so, demand for so-called workation has increased in our company. In order for companies to be able to offer this and thus win the “battle for the best minds”, a high level of digitalisation is necessary. State-of-the-art technology and cloud software are therefore standard.

DIGITAL FUTUREmag: Mr Schäfer, many thanks for this exciting interview and the insights into your approach. This will certainly provide our readers with constructive points of reference and ideas for their projects or planned measures.