For more than 30 years, PNC Bank has calculated the prices of the twelve gifts from the classic carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The result is the PNC Christmas Price Index.
According to PNC, this price of the gifts this year rose 0.6% to a total Christmas Price Index of $34,558.65, with a gift-by-gift breakdown as follows:
| $219.95 | A partridge in a pear tree |
| $375.00 | Two turtle doves |
| $181.50 | Three French hens |
| $599.96 | Four calling birds |
| $825.00 | Five gold rings |
| $360.00 | Six geese a laying |
| $13,125.00 | Seven swans a swimming |
| $58.00 | Eight maids a milking |
| $7,552.84 | Nine ladies dancing |
| $5,618.90 | Ten lords a leaping |
| $2,708.40 | Eleven pipers piping |
| $2,934.10 | Twelve drummers drumming |
All of which is not terribly helpful as you think about how to improve the effectiveness of your business in 2018.
So, I took a look at AIIM’s latest market research report – Improving Business Operations in 2017: Capturing Vital Content. In the spirit of the holidays, here are 12 data points in the report that caught my eye:
- 34% of organizations – “Most of our important business content is referenced and still filed as paper.”
- 38% – “We process paper documents separately from electronic content.”
- 31% – “We print out electronic documents and then process them alongside paper.”
- 41% – “We are struggling to address inbound paper-based information.”
- 20% – “We worry that going paper-free will compromise legal admissibility.” [Note: It won’t!]
- 27% – “We need physical signatures on paper.” [Note: You don’t!]
- 30% – “We are rapidly moving to digitally transform accounts payable and accounts receivable.”
- 25% -- “Our spending on invoice automation and AP/AR solutions will increase in the next 12 months.”
- 31% – “Our spending on workflow, process management, and case management solutions will increase in the next 12 months.”
- The #3 reason we are seeking to automate information capture and processing, cited by 33% = “Records security and compliance.”
- The #2 reason we are seeking to automate information capture and processing, cited by 42% = “Improve process productivity.”
- The TOP reason we are seeking to automate information capture and processing, cited by 44% = “Enable anytime, anywhere access.”
As you think about your information management strategy for 2018, I think these data points reinforce the themes that I’ve been talking about this year – a need for solutions that are simple to deploy, cloud-enabled, user-friendly, and easy to integrate. Let’s make 2018 the year that you move beyond “not now” when it comes to content management. The stakes are just too high.
Happy holidays.
Learn more about enterprise content management.
