S-Docs, the leading 100% native document generation and e-Signature solution for Salesforce, has officially published the results from its 2025 State of Document Workflows and Compliance Risk Report, which entertained opinion of more than 600 professionals in highly regulated industries.
To understand the significance of such a development, we must take into account how outdated processes are triggering compliance failures at scale, with organizations forced to pay an average of $94,260 in penalties over the past year. Hence, having data security controls in place can tread up a long distance to protect organizations from risk.
Such a factor becomes especially critical when it comes to regulated industries like healthcare and finance, where errors can expose sensitive data and trigger regulatory penalties under policies like GDPR and HIPAA.
For better understanding, a group of 61% percent respondents would reveal that documentation error have caused their companies to face audits (49%), regulatory scrutiny (38%), legal exposure (33%), data leaks (33%), and financial penalties (16%) over the past year..
Fortunately, automation has emerged as a way medium to fulfill the given data security ambitions. This translates to how 100% of those with fully automated document procedures reported secure systems, whereas on the other hand, a contingent of 73% respondents agree that automation reduces compliance risk, with 77% admitting that errors are inevitable without it.
The benefits were also found to extend, by and large, beyond compliance, as 69% noted easier collaboration, 62% reported better visibility into document status and ownership, as well as 60% reported higher confidence in data privacy.
Despite that being the case, many organizations continue to remain hesitant, citing concerns over data security (49%), fear of losing manual oversight (31%), and uncertainty around regulatory acceptance of AI-generated documents (29%).
Next up, we must dig into those 54% of respondents who agree that document processes are one of the least mature parts of their company’s digital transformation efforts.
Another detail worth a mention relates to how 73% say legacy documentation systems are among the top five sources of compliance risk today, and over half (56%) said they are the #1 risk, while 49% admitted that their current documentation platforms weren’t designed for regulated industries.
Now, even though a large chunk of organizations (88%) believe their companies provide clear guidance on the types of documents that should be considered confidential, the reality is tha lack of automation keeps the risk question high. As for respondents who stated their companies do not provide clear guidance, 65% of them experienced a privacy or data exposure-related incident.
A substantial 78% of all surveyed leaders, as a result, would pledge to leverage automation for the purpose of addressing their underlying risk.
Founded in 2010, S-Docs rise up the ranks stems from empowering businesses to effortlessly create and sign critical documents through intuitive, secure document automation, and e-Signature solutions. You see, the company’s approach involves connecting to the processes that power your business by default, thus enabling users to streamline things in line with the way their team create, manage, and share information.
S-Docs’ excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider it is currently trusted by thousands of organizations spanning multiple industries.
“With workflows spread across hybrid teams and data volumes exploding, even minor documentation errors can snowball into six and even seven-figure penalties,” said Brian Stimpfl, CEO of S-Docs. “The research sends a clear message: automation is the safer and more strategic choice. With a trusted partner, organizations can leverage automation to better manage their data, strengthen compliance, and accelerate operations in a secure, efficient manner.”