Billy Bean called it the Oakland A’s “lifeblood.” Time Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, called it “a precious thing.”

Data is the key to turning an idea into a plan. For a business leader, data is the evidence that builds one’s credibility and enables stronger decision-making. Yet, too often, executives take action on gut instinct and experience. While those are two powerful tools, will they be enough to answer tough questions from your employees, CEO or board?

That’s why ServiceNow has launched Workflow Quarterly, a publication dedicated to providing business executives with research-led investigations into the use and impact of workflow digitization. Each quarter, we will publish insights from top journalists and thought leaders to empower smarter, evidence-based decisions on how to invest in technology and what to expect from those commitments.

In the Spring issue, Tom Davenport, the world’s most often cited researcher in the business information systems field, reports on the value of digital workflows, based on 23 interviews with IT executives and two independent surveys conducted by Lawless Research. One survey asked 6477 full-time employees who work with some sort of technology each day about how process automation has affected their work life and goals. Respondents live in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, the U.K. and U.S. A second survey of 812 U.S.-based IT executives offered another perspective of the same trends.

Together, this powerful set of data provides some valuable insights. For instance:

·      Company: The companies with more widespread work process automation were 2.7 times more likely than those from other companies to report revenues higher than competitors; 80% of employees in highly-automated companies say work process automation boosts productivity vs 59% in highly-manual companies.

·      Customer: 72% of employees polled in highly-automated companies said digital workflows increase the satisfaction of their customers; 76% said it improves the organization’s competitiveness.

·      Employee: 82% of employees polled in highly-automated companies say work process automation simplifies their work processes vs 64% in highly-manual firms; 74% of employees in the more automated companies said work process automation improves job satisfaction vs 53% in highly-manual companies; 72% said it increases time for creativity vs 54%.

Watch Tom Davenport talk about his report here. And, for more insights in your inbox, consider signing up for our Workflow newsletter.