RECORDS STORAGE:
Four Ways to
Improve Productivity,
Mitigate Risks
hrs
A typical office worker spends
28 hours out of every
workweek processing paper
documents.1 And yet 20
percent of their records end
up misfiled2 — thus losing the
information forever. That
means a whole lot of time, and
money, is spent saving paper
and searching for paper.
%
30
1.
Proper document storage
ensures that your critical
business information is
quickly available whenever
and wherever employees
and customers need it.
Here are four tips to help
you improve productivity
and reduce risks.
CONVERT PAPER RECORDS TO DIGITAL
Immediately improve the productivity of your business by automatically capturing and digitizing
paper records whenever possible. Once converted, digital documents can be searched via
Web-based tools and accessed on demand. Identification and tracking technology makes
documents remain retrievable throughout their life cycle, thus fulfilling compliance obligations.
ve d y
o
r
p
Im uctivit
P ro d
Companies with efficient document storage systems report productivity improvements
of as much as 30 percent.3
2.
6x
USE A COMPUTER SYSTEM
TO LIST AND TRACK RECORDS
Establish physical control over digital and paper records storage so you know the content and
location of documents, as well as who accessed them. Records storage systems can be as complex
as information management and governance software or as simple as a spreadsheet. The payoff?
Information management software can significantly reduce time needed for search and retrieval.
Searching for information costs six times the amount spent to create the original document.4
3.
CONTROL ACCESS TO YOUR INFORMATION
Establishing controlled access allows you to make records available to users within and outside
the business as needed, and prevents documents from becoming lost or misplaced. What’s more,
providing records access for mobile users improves productivity, while at the same time protects
information from unauthorized users, loss or destruction, and theft or disaster.
Executives spend 30 days searching for lost documents every year.5
FFIN
NEE
27%
SS
27%
4.
PROPERLY RETAIN AND SECURELY
DESTROY RECORDS
Base your information governance plan on business needs, as well as what’s required by laws,
regulations and agreements. Establish and follow procedures that review each record in storage,
and certify its proper destruction at the appropriate time.
The costs of audits, litigation, fines and damages can be reduced by 27 percent6
when a well-designed information governance plan is in place.
SOURCES
1
Coopers & Lybrand, 2012.
2
ARMA International.
3
AIIM, “Capitalizing on Content: A Compelling ROI for Change,” March 2, 2011.
4
Coopers & Lybrand, 2012.
5
Esselte.
6
AIIM, “Records Management Strategies — Plotting the Changes,” 2011.