Take a look at document waste as an example. Nearly half of workers say it’s difficult to find the information they need, and more than half simply recreate documents because they struggle to find what they want. All of this wastes time, and time is money, as they say. In fact, businesses waste an average of $20,000 a year on all of this wasted time, which accounts for an over 21% loss in productivity. That’s no small number.

Clearly, it’s critical to get a handle on information sprawl and learn to manage all this information correctly. Without management, your businesses can suffer some serious consequences.

The Consequences of Poor Information Management

So, what are the biggest causes of all this waste? The number one cause is inefficient work processes. These inefficiencies have some obvious consequences, including:

• Audits and inspections
• Slow pace of gathering information
• Claim payments
• High total project cost
• Re-work

However, there may also be hidden consequences you aren’t immediately aware of until it’s too late. These consequences may include:

• Hidden project costs
• Ad hoc information searches
• Employee dissatisfaction and turnover
• Long response times
• Slow pace of improvement
• Unplanned costs
• Poor response to requests
• Lost sales
• Lost customers
• Late delivery times
• Poor decisions made without the facts
• Time-consuming manual work

These things ultimately result in a loss in revenue. In fact, companies lose 20 to 30% in revenue each year on inefficient workflows, which can mean as much as $47 million in losses on average.

The Solution

Fortunately, you don’t have to suffer the consequences of information sprawl. And if you do it right, you can actually reap some benefits instead. What’s the solution? Intelligent information management like you can get using M-Files’ AI-powered solution.

M-Files connects all documents and information across all platforms and repositories, then analyzes them to place them in context. As a result, the right information can be served up to the right people exactly when needed, and information-driven business processes can be automated, all while maintaining full compliance and control.

No wasted time. No wasted money. So how does it work?

Intelligent information management connects unrelated information silos and organizes the information in them based on what it is instead of where it’s located. In this way, automated workflows are more efficient, and manual workflows are reduced. And thanks to a powerful AI platform, unstructured data becomes organized intelligently, making it easier to access, analyze, and utilize for the benefit of your business.

Reap the Benefits; Can the Consequences

Investing in information management technology is the most efficient and effective way to improve the productivity of your workforce. It’s the single most effective way to eliminate the consequences of information sprawl and use it to your advantage.

Thousands of organizations in over 100 countries already manage their business information and processes using M-Files. If you’re ready for a smarter way to work, reach out today. We’ll help get you started.