Intelligent document processing: Build your own, or buy as a service?

Manual document processing remains a costly and time-consuming challenge for many public sector organisations, from onboarding forms and case files to compliance records and service requests. AI-powered Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) automates the extraction, classification, and interpretation of data across diverse document types, helping agencies reduce errors, cut processing times, and improve citizen outcomes.

This guide helps you navigate a critical strategic decision: should your organisation build its own IDP solution, or purchase a proven platform-based service? You’ll explore the pros and cons of each approach, common pitfalls with custom builds, and how enterprise-ready platforms can accelerate time-to-value while reducing risk and long-term maintenance overhead.

Whether you’re responsible for digital service delivery, back-office efficiency, compliance, or citizen experience, this resource provides practical insight to help you make the right investment decision for your document-intensive workflows.