A Practical Approach to Digital Transformation

A Practical Approach to Digital Transformation

Melanie Boop, Content Marketing Specialist

As organizations generate more and more information that needs to be organized, stored, and secured, they’re increasingly turning to digitization to address common information management challenges. Digitization refers to the process of migrating information stored in physical formats to digital formats. In digitizing, organizations gain better access to records, enhance security, and streamline processes, making it an essential part of modern businesses.

However, tackling a digitization project—no matter how large or small it may seem—can quickly turn into a pit of wasted time and resources without a proper plan. This is where a structured approach can help guide organizations through the critical steps of digitization.

Continue reading to learn how a structured, “gated” approach addresses three distinct stages: establishing policies and procedures, managing content effectively, and adopting a forward-looking approach for future data handling. Along the way, you’ll realize the path to successful digitization is clearly marked and ready to be pursued.

Gate 1: Policies & Procedures

This initial gate focuses on setting up foundational guidelines. Effective policies and procedures around information management ensure consistency, regulatory compliance, and security across the organization. These elements are vital for managing the information lifecycle in a way that aligns with legal and organizational standards. While policies and procedures will vary across your organization depending on each business unit’s needs and the types of files managed, here are some overarching best practices that should be incorporated:

  • Collaborate with stakeholders across your organization. Find out each business unit’s needs, what records they have, and how they currently manage their information to ensure your program addresses each department’s challenges and improves efficiencies.
  • Know your content. What records exist? Where are they stored? Who owns these records? Who has access to them? If there are duplicate records stored in different places, determine which is the source of truth.
  • Stay up to date with the latest compliance standards and retention policies. Policies and regulatory requirements change rapidly, so ensure your processes are refreshed frequently.
  • Determine what records can be managed electronically versus what must be kept in paper format per regulatory requirements.
  • Leverage technology to track what information is being accessed, who has access to it, and if any changes need to be made to metadata and indexing keywords to improve accessibility.
  • Plan for the future. Determine how you will manage these efforts once your digital transformation is underway.

Change Management and Implementing Policies

Gate 2: Content Management

Once you’ve built a strong foundation with your policies and procedures, it’s time to establish a digital strategy that’s sustainable, adaptable, and scalable. Gate 2 is all about establishing a strong, adaptable foundation for managing digital content effectively throughout its lifecycle. The aim is to ensure that digital records are not only accessible and compliant but also manageable in ways that support organizational goals and future growth.

Full-scale digitization projects are a huge capital expense, as well as timely, so start by identifying your business needs and considering your budget, timeline, and current accessibility to records (e.g., legacy content). Prioritize what information needs to be accessed today versus biting off more than you can chew with a “scan all” strategy. Consider partnering with a records management provider to help analyze what should be prioritized for scanning, the right timing for full digitization, and options for information that may not require immediate access.

Once you’ve identified your organization’s immediate needs, it’s time to implement solutions that consider ease of use for the end-user and allow for future growth. Here are some key practices to consider:

  • Develop and manage a defensible retention schedule that is audit-ready by using a user-friendly solution.
  • Safeguard your information by conducting annual or quarterly reviews to update legal and regulatory record-keeping requirements to ensure compliance.
  • Define efficiencies and build a solution that enables your organization to collaborate and work effectively during the digitization process, as well as in the future.
  • Establish a clear strategy for managing and tracking information, focusing on metadata and indexing for each record. Robust indexing is essential for accessibility, risk mitigation, and compliance, as it allows you to quickly locate critical information, reduce operational errors, and ensure regulatory adherence—ultimately driving greater efficiency across the organization.
  • Consider compatibility with existing and planned software to ensure your information program will be supported and what critical workflows need to be in place to create uniformity in the future.

Why You Don’t Need to Scan Everything and How Access Unify Can Help

Gate 3: Day Forward Approach

The third gate looks ahead, focusing on building a scalable and future-oriented framework. This stage ensures the longevity and integrity of digital content by maintaining data quality, security, and compliance for future access. This forward-thinking approach is essential for managing records sustainably, as it helps companies adapt to evolving compliance requirements and technology advancements.

Adopting a future-ready mindset for continuous improvement and adaptation within a digital transformation strategy is much like building and customizing a dream home, and it cannot be accomplished overnight. Once you’ve established a solid foundation (Gate 1 – Policies and Procedures) and a secure structure (Gate 2 – Content Management), you can focus on enhancing and expanding the program over time. Gate 3 is akin to adding new features to your home (like a patio or updated appliances) as things change over time.

Ultimately, you don’t want to wait until you’re done with gates one and two before thinking about gate three. It’s important to consider all three gates from the outset to create a cohesive strategy that aligns policies and content management with future goals.

How the Three Information Gates are Like Building a House

Conclusion

Navigating the three gates of digital transformation—Policies and Procedures, Managing Content, and Forward Planning—is crucial for any organization seeking to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. By implementing the best practices outlined here into your records management strategy, your organization will experience decreased legal risk, more time for staff to focus on higher-value initiatives, access to any document at any time… and the list goes on.

Access is here to help with incremental digitization solutions to make your journey through Gate 2 seamless. While investigating Access’ historical operations and projects, it was discovered that only 20% of what’s scanned is actually viewed. This statistic highlights the importance of prioritizing and scanning active files rather than digitizing everything. Partnering with Access lets you steer clear of document scanning mistakes, paves the way for more successful implementation, and sets your business up for long-term success.


For more tools and insight on how to optimize your digital transformation processes and find efficiencies, tune in to our webinar “Leveraging Your Data: A Journey Through 3 Essential Information Gates.”

Watch our 3 Gates to Digital webinar now!