I happen to have spent quite some time in an industry that whilst massively important to how we work every day, is still considered by some to be unimportant, or at very least a necessary evil.
However, without the information contained in billions of ‘documents’ we’d never know who was number 1 on the 19th March 1964. (It was Little Children by Billy J. Kramer & The Dakotas, if you were wondering).
Documents are part of our everyday life. They help us buy things, solve problems, attract new business, keep customers, defend ourselves, train ourselves and generally keep knowledge, essential to both home and work.
I’ve recently been involved in a project to scan 15,000,000 documents, and whilst I think I’ve seen most things document based, I was still amazed by the lack of care used when archiving this important, and in this case, sensitive information. From it being just piled in boxes with incorrect labels, to being stored in locations where, well let’s just say you wouldn’t store hay there. All through the process of archive the attitude appeared poor. I’m sure nothing was done with any negative intention, it just wasn’t give any respect at all.
However, thinking about it, we can’t really blame anyone for this, after all it’s only archiving, we’ll never need it and who cares if it gets eaten, wet or lost!
With our ever changing, electronic, digital, cloud based, world, surely the need to worry about record keeping is less important. We can always get someone to send it again, or it’ll be in my email somewhere. I challenge anyone in business or otherwise to claim they have not said one of these phrases, if not both. The truth is, we need to be better organised, now more than ever. The incalculable amount of data we will be subject to in the future means its even more important to filter and keep what we need for our business and personal survival; like the giant Whale Shark filtering and keeping the krill whilst letting the rest just flow through.
Documents both old and new need to be respected. Find the best way to deal with the increase, don’t just shove them in a box and hope for the best!
If you would like to know more about Document Management and Scanning solutions, speak to us on 01285 810606 or email info@yourdms.net
Stewart Wright, Managing Director, YourDMS
Stewart Wright is Founder and Director of YourDMS Ltd, and has over 20 years in the Document Management industry offering extensive senior management experience, delivering high quality products and services.
Working with companies such as Invu, Abbyy, YourBPO, Microsoft, Draycir, and Fujitsu to deliver business critical software and solutions to organisations from 3 to 3000 users, YourDMS provides tailored, efficient Document Management solutions to companies seeking to reduce costs by improving their data capture, workflows, print reduction and email management.
