Study: Businesses Rely Too Heavily on Email as an Administration Tool

Posted 04/26/2010 at 4:30am | by Paul Lilly

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In a new study commissioned by Adobe and carried out online by YouGov, it would appear that businesses put too much emphasis on using email as an admin tool. Out of the 1,151 office workers polled, which represented both public and private sector organizations with at least 50 employees, some 30 percent of respondents said they spend more than five hours a month on 'unnecessary administration work.'

"Businesses are over-relying on email as an administration tool," said David Gingell, Adobe's senior director of marketing, EMEA. "There are more efficient ways of collating data. [For example] electronic forms can simplify the collection and automate sharing of data in the back office, and for many organizations, electronics forms is a fairly straightforward business case in terms of return on investment."

Despite what Gingell says, only 17 percent of the respondents said they use electronic forms, while 11 percent still rely on paper. The vast majority of respondents -- 72 percent -- said they use email, and according to Adobe, this is costing UK companies around $13.5 billion a year.