Empower Decisions with Business Intelligence Services
                     Hybrid Work Done Right:  
4 technology investments for small & 
mid-sized businesses to make today
You’ve survived more than a year of remote work. Now what?
So where do small & mid-sized 
businesses start? 
This eBook will walk you through 
four key areas to focus on for 
a successful shift to hybrid work 
and the technology investments 
needed to support them. 
For most small and medium-sized businesses, there was no 
time to prepare an exit-strategy from the office in 2020 or OPERATIONS HR 
an entry-strategy for remote work: it was reactive, ad-hoc 
and immediate. Where some companies had the basics to 
enable a remote workforce, others simply didn’t and were Create flexibility Foster better collaboration 
left taking a patchwork approach to their most immediate & growth & culture
needs. In spite of this, remote work was successful, and 
businesses, resilient. 
Now, as Canada’s businesses reopen, employers are again SALES IT 
facing tough choices about their work model. This time, 
as it relates to hybrid work  – an arrangement that more 
than three-quarters of Canadians want once the pandemic 
recedes. However, according to a recent study by KPMG, Deliver a better customer Support anywhere 
81% of those surveyed are concerned their company isn’t experience operations
ready or equipped to manage it.1
1. Digitize as many processes as possible to But, according to a Salesforce survey, nearly half of Canadian 
create more flexibility and growth small businesses admit they don’t know where to start when 
it comes to these technologies3.
When shifting to a hybrid work model, it will be important 
for core business processes to be flexible, remote and as That’s why small and mid-sized businesses should look for 
paperless as possible. Employees won’t always be working solutions that incorporate software and professional services, 
simultaneously online or in-person together, so remove so they don’t have to do it alone.
as many manual obstacles as possible to make sure core 
functions can be digitized and streamlined. 
In the next 18 months
of small business owners and 
entrepreneurs will invest in 
solutions that help: 
• employees work remotely 
64% • automate core processes 
• and/or allow existing 
automation to be less 
dependent on human 
intervention.2 
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT: DOCUMENT 
MANAGEMENT
An all-in-one document management solution like 
Ricoh’s new Document Management Foundations 
is a great first step towards more digitized business 
processes like accounting, HR, sales or operations. 
With Foundations, small teams can create up to 
four electronic filing cabinets in which to store, 
search and retrieve information that would 
otherwise require paper documents and manual 
workflows. 
Learn more >>
2. Deliver a better, more profitable digital customer 
experience 
Employees weren’t the only ones affected by remote  
work – customers have also adjusted to a new, more remote  
and digital way of being served. And it’s not a bad thing! 
In fact, customer service has in many ways gotten better. Forrester’s 
Canada 2021 CX Index4 results indicate that the quality of customer 76%
experience across Canadian brands remained stable and, in some of consumers were initially driven to digital 
cases, impressively improved during the pandemic – no small  interactions with brands because of Covid
feat to accomplish in the face of so much disruption.
How did those companies do it? By doubling-down5 on investments  
in technology that simply made it easier and more convenient  
for customers to do business with them – something they’ll  
continue to expect even after the pandemic recedes.
This means customers will be eager to have a blended experience that 
incorporates the best of both worlds: in-person and digital. They’ll 
expect fast, seamless and easily available service on the channel that’s 
most convenient to them – and small and medium sized businesses 
can make this happen without stretching their budgets. 57%
As one of the most versatile and sought-after solutions during the 
pandemic, e-Signature will remain a must-have tool, for hybrid work will continue this behaviour because 
and, importantly: customer service they appreciate the value
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT: E-SIGNATURE 
With an e-Signature solution you can meet your 
customers where they are, whether that’s remotely 
or in-person, and still get the deal signed, contract 
approved, or change order processed. 
It’s an easy and affordable way to invest in technology 
that not only elevates your customer experience 
(think: convenience) but also accelerates your time to 
revenue – making your business more profitable. 
You don’t just eliminate the hassle of signing contracts 
manually or in-person with electronic signatures, you 
also get the benefit of generating polished contracts 
and agreements that can be edited collaboratively to 
negotiate changes. Take Salmon Arm Savings & Credit Union for example: 
When it’s time to sign, your teams can count on a local banking and credit union in BC that, fortunately, had 
automated workflows to initiate updates and revamped their mortgage renewal process just months prior  
approvals so that nothing gets left behind. to the start of the pandemic. 
Customers and partners  will appreciate the flexibility “Our process can now be done remotely, over the phone, and via 
and security of signing contracts from anywhere, electronic signing. We get the right paperwork, which is great for 
while your employees become more productive compliance, and the member experiences a fast and easy process 
with less manual paperwork. What’s even better is […] and the system allows us to continue to offer face-to-face 
that deals are closed quickly, agreements are signed meetings for those members who want that personal touch. It 
easily,  and projects are completed sooner – meaning gives them the choice.” 
you get paid faster.  
Tom O’Connor, Vice President of IT
Learn more >>
3. Foster better learning, innovation and culture According to Microsoft’s research6 collaboration in the 
traditional sense has never been greater:
 Collaboration has never been a more widely used term than 
it has during the pandemic: and for good reason – while the 
world remained socially distanced, colleagues relied on virtual 
meetings, video conferencing tools and chat more than 
anything else to get work done. 
And while this actually brought teams closer together, even 
from afar, interactions with distant networks have suffered Weekly meeting time has gone up 148% for Teams users
significantly. This has created gaps in creativity and innovation 
as teams become increasingly siloed from one another 
remotely and knowledge-sharing becomes more difficult to 
achieve. 
For hybrid collaboration to successfully foster learning, 
innovation and cultural growth the way in-person work 
once did, businesses will need to be intentional about the 66% more people working on Office documents
opportunities they create. 
Emails have increased by 40.6B
45% more Teams chats per person, weekly
Without a plan to bridge these gaps, small & mid-sized businesses are at risk of: 
2. Losing much-needed innovation 
1. Not attracting or retaining top talent and knowledge-sharing 3. Stalling cultural growth
The way forward can be as simple as redefining workspaces into collaboration hubs and combining interactive white boards with 
the right software. 
 
TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT: COLLABORATION BOARD & 
SOFTWARE BUNDLES 
With Ricoh’s interactive whiteboards and software bundles, 
small and mid-sized businesses get an all-in-one solution that 
combines high-quality A/V features like built-in cameras and 
speakers with inclusive software design for a whole  
new group participation experience. Consider Ontario’s Peak Human, a holistic wellness 
Use the integrated software to encourage participants to clinic offering a range of health programs and services. 
share their ideas freely by adding notes simultaneously Founder and primary care physician, Dr. Sanjeev Goel 
to any document on screen. And spend less time getting instantly transformed his practice with a whiteboard 
technology up and running or toggling through digital and software bundle that helped to deliver a remote 
files, while also encouraging open feedback. Finally, share yet personalized and collaborative patient experience.  
compelling presentations that can include content in  
multiple formats from documents to video and audio 
without skipping a beat. “This has allowed me to really duplicate that  
in-person patient encounter without losing too 
Learn more >> much quality and patients are loving it.”
4. Support safer, more secure anywhere 
operations 
According to 
Something many small and medium-sized businesses StaySafeOnline.org, 
discovered during their rapid shift to remote work was 
the financial advantages that come from reduced physical 71 per cent of data 
space. But as more and more applications have shifted breaches happen to small 
to the cloud, there are some obvious challenges for businesses, and nearly 
businesses to overcome. half of all Canadian small 
businesses have been the 
With the average cost to recover from a security breach victim of a cyber-attack.
estimated at nearly $27,0007 the savings made by being 
remote or even hybrid could very well disappear if data 
and network security aren’t properly supported. 
To adopt a truly functional hybrid workforce, in which 
employees can are empowered to achieve ‘everywhere’ 
operations, businesses must be capable of delivering TECHNOLOGY INVESTMENT: CLOUD SECURITY & DATA 
consistent, secure network access. That means having BACKUP SERVICES
the right level of IT skills and support to perform regular If you’re not in the business of IT security and 
monitoring, patching and data backup activities. infrastructure, then you source a service provider who is – 
But what if small and mid-sized businesses don’t have because the demands of hybrid work will not ease up and 
that kind of personnel on staff? a do-it-yourself approach just won’t cut it anymore. 
That’s why Ricoh offers a range of as-a-service packages 
for Cloud, Security & Help Desk to keep your costs 
down while you leverage a team of experts. Whether 
it’s migrating to the cloud, managing your IT help desk, 
or keeping your hybrid work environment secure and 
protected, Ricoh can help.
Learn more >>
CONCLUSION
A year ago, the average small and mid-sized business 
didn’t have the time to prepare a remote work 
strategy – today, the story and the landscape of 
technology solutions, is different. There’s a unique 
opportunity right now for businesses to seize 
this moment in time, redefine their processes, 
workflows and technologies and actually 
prepare for a shift to hybrid work. 
If your business has spent any amount of time 
working remotely this year, then you’ve likely already 
made some investments towards your hybrid strategy. 
Think: video conferencing, online collaboration tools, 
secure VPN access, and even hardware like laptops. 
But remote work and hybrid work are not the same 
thing. And it’s important to know that a true hybrid 
work strategy will go much further than simply the 
act of working remotely. With employee, customer 
and partner expectations at stake it’s no longer 
enough to just make-do.
NEXT STEPS
There’s never been a better time to plan for and 
invest in the future of work. Take a first step with an 
e-Signature solution, or a second and third with more 
comprehensive packages like collaboration boards, 
document management or cloud security – you 
can elevate your employee, customer and partner 
experiences while also benefitting your business. 
To learn more about what’s right for you, book 
a call with one of our Solution Consultants.
Contact Us
1 https://home.kpmg/ca/en/home/media/press-releases/2021/05/canadians-like-hybrid-model-concept-workplace-reboot.html 6 https://clouddamcdnprodep.azureedge.net/gdc/gdcdf7xKv/original
2 & 3 https://www.itbusiness.ca/news/cisco-survey-accelerated-digitization-of-canadian-smbs-could-add-70b-to-countrys-gdp-by-2024/116379 7 https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work 
4 https://go.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forresters-canada-2021-customer-experience-index-nearly-90-of-brands-cx-quality-remained-stable-or-improved-during-the-pandemic/ 8 https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/201020/dq201020a-eng.htm 
5 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherelliott/2021/01/28/this-is-how-the-pandemic-improved-customer-service/?sh=28b95fa248dd 9 https://clouddamcdnprodep.azureedge.net/gdc/gdcdf7xKv/original