---
id: KB-CF-013
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/use-cases-by-capability/is-this-worth-digitising
idioma: en
categoria: casos-por-funcionalidad
audiencia: usuario
nivel: basico
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-PS-008, KB-CF-005]
citadoPor: [KB-PS-014, KB-CF-019]
---

# Is this worth digitising?

_Four questions that tell you whether a given process gains anything, or is fine as it is._

**Responde a:** is it worth digitising a process · which processes to digitise first · when digitising is not needed · working out whether a change pays off

Not everything done on paper or in a spreadsheet is wrong. Some processes work perfectly that way, and changing them only adds steps. These four questions separate the ones that gain from the ones that do not.

## The four questions

1. **Is someone outside involved?** — If the process only affects you, you gain little. As soon as a third party must supply or sign, everything changes.
2. **Will it have to be proven later?** — If someone can ask you for evidence that it happened, with a date, a spreadsheet will not do.
3. **Does it repeat often?** — Ten times a year does not pay. Ten times a week does.
4. **Does anything expire?** — What expires needs warnings, and that is where manual control always fails.

> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Two yeses** usually already pay. With all four, it is among the first to tackle. With none, leave it as it is and do not feel bad: changing what works costs real team time.

## Examples of both kinds

| Process | Yeses | Verdict |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Supplier documentation | All four | Among the first |
| Employment contracts and annexes | Three | Clearly worth it |
| Office visitor log | One | Probably not |
| Materials shopping list | None | Leave it alone |

> [!WARNING]
> Beware the temptation to digitise the easy thing first. The easy thing tends to be internal, which is exactly what gains least. What pays is what forces you to chase someone outside, however unappealing a starting point.

## What should not weigh on the decision

**En corto**

- "We've always done it this way" — an argument neither for nor against.
- "Everyone else does" — their process may look nothing like yours.
- And "while we're at it" — a process that gains nothing gains nothing by tagging along.

> [!NOTE]
> If unsure, try one and measure one thing: how often someone had to ask where it stood. If that number falls, the process gained; if not, you have your answer.

**What if the team resists?**

Start with the process that annoys them most, not the one that interests you most.

**Can it be done halfway?**

Yes: what goes outward, here; internal work, wherever it is. That is a legitimate coexistence.

**How long before it shows?**

In a process involving a third party, two weeks.

## Ejemplos

**A company wants to digitise its internal machine incident log.**

- Answers the four questions and gets only one yes
- Digitises subcontractor documentation instead

→ Spends the effort where all four were yes and leaves the internal log alone.

**Digitising a form filled in twice a year is proposed.**

- Counts how often it is used and what it costs today
- Compares that against building and maintaining it

→ Effort goes to what repeats rather than to what sounds modern.

**A process is digitised and still ends up on paper.**

- Checks where the circuit ends today

→ Digitisation reaches the end or does not happen.

**The easy part is digitised and the painful part is left.**

- Starts with what consumes most time

→ The saving shows from the first month.

**It is digitised and nobody uses it because by hand was faster.**

- Checks the new way is more convenient for whoever uses it

→ Adoption does not depend on nagging.

**It is digitised by copying the paper circuit, dead steps included.**

- Removes steps that existed only because of paper

→ The new process is shorter than the one it replaces.