Ageing back office legacy systems are holding back 79 per cent of UK and wider European businesses from fully streamlining their business critical document processes.
Research published by Ricoh UK reveals that despite the majority of businesses recognising the transformational power of new technologies such as smartphones and tablets, the majority are unable to maximise such technologies because their back-end systems can't fully support them.
More than three quarters (78%) of business leaders admitted they invest in new technology before fully realising the functionality of their existing systems. It also uncovered a clear divide between front and back office technology investments, with many focusing on new technology for the front office while failing to integrate it with the back office.
The research also indicated confusion about how to best use the cloud for business advantage. While 70 per cent of UK and European businesses are using the cloud to enable mobile access to document processes, only half believe that it is making their document process management easier.
This highlights the lack of planning by business leaders who are investing in the cloud without having the structures in place to ensure it will deliver the desired improvements. It also means that many businesses will fail to benefit from their share of the predicted annual boost of €160 billion that the European Commission predicts cloud computing will add to the European Union's GDP by 2020.
Download the full research from Ricoh's thought leadership site