Press Release: Back Scanning White Paper

Following an excellent response to its first white paper on the forgotten costs of electronic document management, document management specialist, Cave Tab Ltd has published a second paper revealing how organisations can save space and manpower through the complete or partial ‘back scanning’ of historic files.

“Back Scanning: The Forgotten Cost of Electronic Document Management” shows how the conversion of historic data into electronic form and/or the re-location of paper files allows organisations to fully realise the benefits of their electronic document management system as well as improving the integrity, accuracy and security of legacy files and supporting compliance with statutory retention and destruction requirements.

“The benefits arising from electronic document management (EDM) are considerable and include speedier access to information, improved customer service, reduced filing costs and enhanced security. In their enthusiasm to realise these benefits, many organisations overlook the hundreds and often thousands of historic paper files which need to be referred to in parallel with electronic documents,” says author, Mike Turner, Business Development Manager at Cave Tab. “Unless something is done about these files, they will still occupy valuable office space and need to be managed by record keeping staff, threatening the space saving argument that was almost certainly used in the cost justification of EDM to begin with.”

The white paper sets out the pros and cons of various options from the scanning of all historic data for EDMS upload which, whilst costly, quickly delivers considerable occupancy, record keeper and efficiency savings, to the re-location and retrieval on demand of paper files which provides a quick payback on filing and occupancy costs but incurs archive set up charges and long term storage costs.

The white paper also compares the set up and operating costs of each option over five years based on 20,000, 10,000 and 5,000 files.

According to Turner, organisations can benefit from more knowledge of the options available to them, allowing them to make an informed decision based on their specific requirements.

“In addition to allowing organisations to take full advantage of the benefits associated with EDM, the process of auditing historic files prior to scanning or archiving presents an opportunity to correct filing errors which have occurred over time, providing a means of putting one’s house in order before moving forward.”

Copies of the white paper – “Back Scanning – The Forgotten Cost of Electronic Document Management” – are available free of charge. Alternatively, interested parties are welcome to visit Cave Tab’s state-of-the-art back scanning bureau for a demonstration. To receive a copy of the paper or arrange a visit, call Cave Tab on 0800 616347 or e-mail info@cavetab.co.uk