The digital age is well and truly here. With the price of computer hardware (and software) spiralling downwards, it makes sense for most corporations to go completely “paperless” when it comes to disseminating documents across the globe. Unfortunately, due to various legal obligations, companies cannot go completely digital. Some documents cannot be stored in digitized format alone. These documents need to be stored for up to 7 seven years (sometimes more) in its original paper format. Although the price of digital storage is cheap, physical storage space is on the rise.
With this trend in mind, it makes more sense to store these documents off-site. Outsourcing the management of physical documents can be seen as a risky proposition by most corporations. How can one be sure that their confidential corporate information is in safe hands? Can the required document be made available in a timely enough fashion upon demand? Are the documents handled based on your region’s mandatory regulations?
These are questions that must be asked before even considering contracting out your document management services. Once a company has carefully conducted their risk assessment, they have to now determine whether the model is cost effective. This is not always apparent because freeing office space from paper files usually dedicates the space to revenue-producing operations. Ensure that your service provider provides you with a cost analysis report which takes this into consideration.
Fortunately, there are numerous organizations out there that provide document storage services with the following attributes as standard:
- Physical Document Storage
- Data Protection
- Digital Solutions
- Cost Effective (cost analysis report provided)
- Regulations and Compliance
- Life Cycle Document Management