Outsourcing is an unparalleled strategy that enables businesses to focus on their core business needs and better serve their customers. It’s also an effective way to build a culture capable of adapting to change at a moment’s notice. Today, many companies are reviewing their operations in-depth to understand their true core competencies and determine what processes to outsource to become more efficient.
Outsourcing with a document management provider for non-core services such as document shredding, storage, and imaging can free up your business processes in a cost-effective manner, letting you focus on your main business goals. Some signs your business should look into outsourcing include a high volume of transactions, complex process requirements, and/or dynamic growth. This may also be ideal if your business is under pressure to reduce costs. Any chance of decreasing transaction-processing costs frees up capital that can then be applied to more strategic initiatives.
Eight Benefits to Gain by Outsourcing a Document Management Provider
1. Improved Company Focus
A document management provider provides companies with more time to excel and focus on its core company initiatives. Businesses can save money and reduce excess staff by not having to facilitate and support processes such as document shredding, storage, and imaging on a daily basis.
2. Peace of Mind
The cost of poor document management is continuously on the rise and can potentially cost your business millions of dollars. According to the Pomenon Institute, the average cost per information security breach in 2009 was $6.75 million. Data breaches not only cost money but cost public trust, which often makes it hard for businesses to recover. The right provider will provide an unbroken chain of custody throughout the entire lifecycle of all your documents. Further, it will ensure your company complies with government regulations to remain compliant and credible.
3. Access to World-Class Technology Capabilities
When handling document management needs internally, companies tend to buy lower-end technology to save on cost. However, issues can arise if your company experiences rapid growth. Many companies have to quickly hire and train additional staff and potentially deploy new hardware or software to support the growth, which can be costly and time-consuming. By partnering with a secure document management provider, your company can gain instant access to world-class technology capabilities that traditional in-house operations may not have the financial ability to support–at a cost-effective price.
4. Enhanced Data Security
It is critical to proactively protect private business and customer confidential information. With identity theft and data breaches on the rise, partnering with a provider that is AAA NAID certified and PCI-DSS compliant is imperative. NAID certification verifies that your provider adheres to stringent security practices and standards defined by the international trade association for the information destruction industry. PCI-DSS compliance certifies that the organization follows the comprehensive requirements set by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council to ensure data integrity. A proper document storage facility is equipped with 24-hour security systems, alarm systems, and complete fire protection to safeguard your documents at all times. Further, an imaging service will house files in a secure environment and provide complete backup, redundancy, and disaster recovery to ensure your files are never lost or compromised. Lastly, all documents that need to be shredded are constantly monitored and protected until destroyed. You will also receive a certificate and destruction for a legal audit trail.
5. A Customized Solution
Every business has unique challenges when it comes to document management needs. Your provider can offer customized solutions to meet the needs of your business. For example, if your company requires long term record retention but has a low volume of retrieval, it will most likely not be feasible or cost-effective to convert every single file. A viable alternative is to partner with a provider that can store and manage large volumes of existing files off-site, yet deliver paper records in an “on-demand” electronic format. This enables employees to work with electronic records on a daily basis and saves the company significantly in converting years of physical records. No matter the size of your organization or what processes need support, your provider can create a customized solution to complement your business needs.
6. Increase Productivity and Streamline Staff
Many companies have a group of employees managing and maintaining the process flow for an abundance of internal documents such as human resources files. By using a document management provider, your staff will be able to focus on their core job responsibilities instead of tending to endless imaging and filing or wasting time trying to locate lost records.
7. More Space
Don’t waste valuable building space for file storage. A document storage provider is ideal if your company has a large volume of records with long retention rates but limited space. Using a secure storage provider will not only free up space but will offer a secure storage facility equipped with 24-hour security cameras, alarm systems, and complete fire protection systems to protect records from catastrophes such as floods and fires. Your files will be stored safely, and it’s an efficient alternative to in-house management expenses.
8. Regain Control
Is locating a document like trying to find a needle in a haystack? Managing large amounts of data internally can be difficult to control and often becomes a logistical nightmare. By using imaging and storage solutions, you can locate and gain access to any file at a moment’s notice. For example, with imaging, once files are uploaded into the secured database, they are organized to your specifications, simplifying the retrieval process and providing you with a user-friendly system for filtering and analysis. In the storage environment, all documents are tracked with a barcode system and can be located immediately. This instant access takes guesswork out of locating files and lets employees focus on their core job responsibilities.
