If you run a company that has primarily dealt with paper records for years or decades, the prospect of going digital can be daunting. You can expect to invest a lot of time, money, labor, and resources into properly organizing, scanning, and maintaining your digital files. However, delaying or avoiding this process can pose significant risks that affect the future of your company.
In fact, if you find yourself saying “We’ll just scan it later,” you could be risking the damage, loss, theft, or breach of crucial business documents. You may also face compliance issues and financial and legal liability. You will also waste time and money searching for important documents, and potentially disrupt normal business operations, which will affect your bottom line. Overall, it’s in your best interests to begin the process of digitizing your records as soon as possible. And Citizens Business Archives can help, providing document indexing, pickup and drop off services, and document storage services in Tucson, AZ. Here is a closer look at the importance of digitizing documents and how to begin the process.
What is Record Digitization?
Record digitization is the process of converting physical, hard copies of documents into a digital format. This typically involves scanning paper documents, photos, and files to convert them to PDFs or other file formats and then using document management software or a database system to organize them into digital file cabinets. Audio and video files can be uploaded into the system as well. These records are then securely stored, access controlled, and retained for the appropriate period to improve efficiency, accessibility, compliance, and data recovery.
Why Scanning and Indexing Business Documents is So Important
Committing to timely scanning and indexing of business documents is crucial to maintaining the efficiency, security, compliance, and financial stability of your company. Not only will you free up physical office space and make records easier to organize, access, and control, but you can also streamline workflows and boost productivity. Some of the benefits of going digital are:
- Improved accessibility, ability for remote access of documents, and faster document searches
- Enhanced security and protection of documents from physical damage, theft, loss, data breaches, and unauthorized access
- Reduced office clutter and improved safety and comfort
- Increased efficiency and productivity through streamlined workflows that enable collaboration
- Better disaster recovery and backup protocols to prevent business disruptions
- Greater environmental sustainability
- Improved accuracy in recordkeeping
Risks of Delaying Record Digitization Efforts
When you continue to put off digitization efforts, you’re putting your company and employees at risk. You face legal and financial liability, compliance failures, productivity issues, and decreased employee morale. Some of the biggest risks of deferring digitization include:
- Permanent loss of or damage to important documents and records due to decay, insect damage, flood, fire, deterioration, and corruption
- Problems with regulatory compliance, leading to failed audits, legal and financial issues, fines and fees, and reputational damage
- Serious bottlenecks and delays that disrupt business operations, leading to wasted time and massive inefficiencies
- Inability to collaborate properly or support remote workers and clients
- Increasing costs for in-office storage of paper documents and the staff needed to properly manage, organize, and find paper documents
- Security vulnerabilities like data breaches, lost or stolen records, and unauthorized access
- Poor decision making and lost business opportunities due to an inability to find crucial records
Most Important Steps in Digitizing Company Records
When you break up the process of digitizing your company’s records into smaller steps, it may seem easier to manage. Some key steps to going digital are:
- Auditing existing documents to understand what you have, where they are located, how long they should be kept, and how they will be stored
- Separating documents into categories based on which should be indexed and archived, which are obsolete or no longer needed, and where they should be stored (onsite or off-site)
- Removing any clips, staples, or other items that could affect scanning
- Choosing the right scanner and document management system for your industry, budget, and goals
- Determining the appropriate file format for each record
- Creating a file naming system and implementing tools like metadata, indexing, and OCR
- Controlling access to sensitive files and maintaining compliance with regulations
- Hiring a company to scan and digitize files for you, or creating a designated team of employees to take ownership of the project
- Developing a company-wide document digitization, retention, and destruction policy and training all staff appropriately
Citizens Business Archives offers document indexing and archiving, document storage, and document shredding in Tucson, AZ. To learn more or request a quote, call us today at (520) 882-4434 or contact us online.
