The Global Economy has been a hot topic in recent years.  Of course, the Global Economy is not new and went into full swing shortly after the “discovery of the new world” by Christopher Columbus (aka Cristoforo Colombo, Cristobal Colon or any of the other names he used).  The discoveries made in the new world transformed (or distorted as some would say) the global economy.  Suddenly maize and potatoes were being grown in Europe and Asia.  Eurasian diseases decimated the peoples of North and South America, allowing the Europeans to transform the environment to a European model.

Silver from mines in the Peruvian Andes began shipping to China from South American locations through Manila and other Asia Pacific way-points.  In fact, the silver factor caused havoc with the Chinese economy for centuries and the biological transformations of ecologies around the globe continue today.   The only thing new about the Global Economy is the speed that information travels and the logistics of shipping products from one area to another. 

What used to take months (i.e. silver to China) can now take place in hours.  A PO for software is transmitted almost instantaneously and taking delivery of the product is only a matter of minutes.  All of which, of course, brings us back to the concept of the Paperless Office and why going Green is not just good for the planet but a means for companies to compete globally and survive.

In the 16th century, a silver shipment traveling from Panama to New Manila could take weeks but still arrive on time.  A letter would be weeks or months old at the time of reading.    Now, information is required to arrive at the recipient’s desk in minutes or seconds.  Of course some of the same issues prevail.  Pirates are probably more prevalent today than in the 16th century but the blood thirsty cutthroats are now in a virtual environment. 

Instead of swords and flintlocks, they use technology to rob you of valuable information and a hurricane can still sink a business as quickly as a ship.  But keep in mind, the Spanish sailing ships of the 16th century were state-of-the-art and managed to deliver their silver to China on time despite the threat of pirates.  You can also securely deliver your silver (i.e. information and data) to your chosen destinations on time if your messaging solutions are also based on 21st century state-of-the-art technology.

Everything is moving faster and an organization needs to keep pace with technology to compete globally and their fax and other forms of messaging must be mobile, secure and efficient.   Just as you would not dispatch a letter today to a colleague in Europe or Asia by sailing ship, why force an employee to print a document, retrieve it and then walk to a fax machine.  Why not just fax from the desktop using a fax server?  Certainly cost is not the controlling factor; many studies have demonstrated that automating the process has an excellent ROI and a very short payback period.  In addition, in a web-based virtual world, why have separate fax solutions at various offices when you can have a centralized web accessible system that is fully secure and cost effective?  

Fax-over-IP, Cloud fax, virtual networks, converged messaging, automated workflow and integration with imaging technology make paper and walking to machines obsolete.  Your information should not only be traveling at the speed of light across continents, but within a single office rather than the slow human walk to the fax machine; plus a paperless office is no longer a dream but reality.  Is your company a true 21st century environment or still in the 20th century?       

Max Schroeder (News - Alert) is the SVP of FaxCore, Inc.