While the digital age sweeps the globe, transforming how we live, do business and so much more, there is still very much a need for traditional methods of doing things. This is particularly true when it comes to document archiving. Although many businesses across a broad range of sectors are now going paperless using electronic document management systems, for some sectors like healthcare and law, this isn’t completely possible, or certainly not right now.
In fact, it isn’t just these sectors that struggle to go completely paper free, as every business is still required to keep hard copies of paperwork for legal purposes, as well as for best practice. But if you’re not convinced by the need for document archiving or are put off by some of the common myths surrounding it, then here’s a few document archiving myths debunked.
1 Document Archiving is only for large businesses
When many people think of document archiving, they associate it with large stores of paperwork that fills several rooms (if not an entire floor in large corporations). While this perception isn’t untrue , the myth that it is only these larger establishments that use or have a requirement for document archiving is far from true .
Businesses of all size generate paperwork that needs to be stored in business archives, regardless of whether you’re adopting digital document management systems or not. And naturally these valuable documents need to be stored somewhere appropriate, safe and secure, whether it’s a small filing cabinet within your business or off-site secure document archive storage.
2 Document archiving is expensive and a drain on resources
Naturally in business we’re always looking to keep costs down, but one area that often gets overlooked as a drain on costs and resources is document archiving. Document archiving has long been seen as an arduous task and one that can rack up costs for manpower, space and the time. But much of this is down to the execution of business archives systems and their upkeep.
However, like most things if you put in a little effort at the beginning, you can reap the rewards later. In any size business, putting an effective document archiving system in place that is regularly maintained and takes advantage of elements like off-site document archiving and electronic scanning systems, will create a more efficient and robust document archiving system that will minimise the use of resources and keep costs down.
3 Document Archiving is complicated
Finally a very common misconception about document archiving is that it’s complicated. Of course if you have a lot of business archives to contend with it is likely to be more complex and each business is different, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. If you stick to the basic principles of document archiving – organisation, categorisation, secure storage and regular upkeep – you’ll ensure you have an organised document archiving process in place that works specifically to your business’ needs.
