Traditionally proving value is done by calculating return-on-investment. Typically, when a Laserfiche deployment lands, but before its expansion, an investment calculation is performed. This is a meaningful way to prove value and ensure that public funds are invested wisely.
A return on investment, or ROI, is a specific calculation of an investment's cost versus its benefit. The formula used to calculate ROI is as follows:
ROI = (Gain of Investment) - (Cost of Investment) / (Cost of Investment)
Now let’s break the formula down and consider the variables. Simply put, your investment gain is the money you hope to gain from deploying Laserfiche. In some areas, the gain is easy to calculate. For example, if an agency implements Laserfiche as the primary component of a Trusted System, it would benefit from the potential cost of a cyber hack, disaster recovery, and the cost of physical storage. In governments, you won’t see an apparent increase in revenue. However, what you are likely to see is a decrease in costs.
Agencies are accountable to regulators. If they don’t adhere to regulations, they may be fined. Much like the scenario above, the money not paid out in fines is a gain. Laserfiche provides many tools to ensure organizations adhere to compliance mandates.
Many business software products have features to speed up your work. Laserfiche has Workflow, Forms, and advanced capture. This represents more investment gain.
Finally, you will likely replace an old system with a new one. That legacy system has a cost, whether it’s through support or paid-for upgrades. If you are not replacing an old system, there are still costs associated with how you used to manage the aging process.
Cost of Investment
The cost of your investment is the amount of money you spend on deploying, customizing, and maintaining the Laserfiche software. Costs include software licensing, a year of tech support, and subscription services. Less apparent costs include time and manpower to install the system, training, and communications about the new initiative. Also, you can also expect a period of diminished productivity while your staff adjusts.
Other Thoughts
ROI changes depending on where you are in your Laserfiche deployment. Experts suggest that ROI should be presented over time. ROI for a month of Laserfiche automation will be different than a year. Initial ROIs tend to be lower. We've seen ROIs for Laserfiche expressed over the first year, minimally but also over several years.
Return on investment is an expression that allows you to describe the money you stand to gain from an investment, calculated as the relationship between the investment's gain and its cost. Finding all the variables can be difficult because many of a software system's actual costs and benefits are soft. We hope this post gives you a methodology to start with.
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