Since the invention of the typewriter, offices have been drowning in paper. Painstakingly typed letters with barely readable carbon copies filled desks and cabinets until the arrival of computers and photocopiers. But they just made things so much worse. Thankfully, in the email, internet and socially connected world of today, the paper letter is at last falling away. But the favourite tool of administrators the world over has always been the form. We use it to collect data, to carry signatures, to drive the business process, and to provide an auditable record of the outcome. As we shall see, each of those functions can be readily carried out in all-electronic formats, but until recently, the paper form has been somewhat stubborn in its hold on even the most modern offices.

In this report, we look at the success of paper-elimination projects, where and why paper is still leaking into the business, the features and success of scanning and capture investments, forward plans for document process outsourcing (DPO), and the potential impact of mobile devices.