According to the company 1,000 companies from US, UK, France and Germany were part of the survey and the respondents are expected to make the transition to the digital world in the next 12 months.
About half (46%) of respondents realized that a significant amount of time is wasted on paper-intensive processes and 6 out of 10 view this as having a major impact on their bottom line. SMBs in Germany (51%) and the United States (50%) cited they spend the most time, followed by the United Kingdom (43%) and France (37%).
Most SMBs surveyed are not aware of paper-free solutions in the market. As such, many of them will turn to experts to make the move to digital. The study also shows that 47% will go to an office equipment dealer, 1 out of 4 will look to their IT reseller and 37% will turn to the product manufacturer.
“Though this survey did not cover India as a region but we are seeing a similar trend emerge amongst the SMBs here. Not just businesses but the Indian government has made digitization a priority for the nation through their Digital India initiative,” said Balaji Rajagopalan, Executive Director-Technology, Channels & International Distributor Operations, Xerox India.
“This year, we have strengthened our focus on SMB business segment with the launch of Xerox Docucentre SC2020 and ConnectKey enabled iSeries products besides continuing to extend our Managed Print Services to SMBs through our channel partners,” he added.
Other priorities:
As per the the survey, conducted by independent market research firm Coleman Parks, other findings include:
- Overall, 28% reported they are well advanced with respect to implementing their plans to digitize paper processes, with France (33 %) being furthest along.
- US SMBs are lagging in their plans to digitize processes with 41% citing they have just started, compared to the average (37%).
- 12% of all SMBs are one to three years away from implementation.
In addition to focusing on digitization and automation, SMBs are also exploring other areas to improve productivity, including Managed Print Services (MPS), mobility, and security.
