You've been in business for a while. Your business has been successful and you have a store room or storage unit full of old client information on paper. If you have to find something from that old paper information, it could take hours to shift boxes to be able to access the information you are looking for. There is also the possibility of sustaining person injury from all the lifting and shifting. And in addition to that, the current paper files you have are becoming overwhelming. This may not be the most efficient way to store or share information.
Thanks to the current technology you have another alternative. You can scan the information both old and new and be able to access that information from your desk. There are programs available that will help organize and make all this information searchable. Depending on the amount of paper you have that needs to be scanned will determine if this is something you want to tackle on your own, or hire someone to do for you.
There are many things to consider when deciding if you should keep the scanning in house or hire someone to do it for you. How sensitive is the information you are having scanned? Does the industry you work in have laws that govern how you have to handle information? Do you currently employ someone with the training to be able to do the scanning, and will they have the necessary time to get it done?
There are many companies that can do the scanning for you. You may decide to have an outside source do all of the old document scanning and have someone in house that can do your current document scanning. It may cost your company some money upfront to get all the old documents scanned, but if you have been paying to store the paper documents, it will probably save you money in the long run. It will also allow you keep old records indefinitely. If you still have paper documents you have had to make a decision when to discard old files. This may or may not have been determined by law. And as your business has grown, the amount of paper you've had to keep has grown as well.
If you have your current documents scanned it will make them available to more than one person at a time. Having current documents scanned will also save your employees time trying to track down files.