subject: Document Scanning: Internal or Outsourced? [print this page] Businesses are increasingly waking up to the essential benefits of document scanning and electronic document management. If you're planning to invest in document scanning, though, how do you know whether to carry out the work in-house or whether to contract a specialist scanning services company?
This article will look at the pros and cons of both to help you make a decision.
Document scanning in-house
Making the change from using paper-based systems to using scanning services and electronic document management systems can be quite a large one and involve a culture change as well as a change in processes and systems.
You'll need to think carefully about how this changeover will be managed by your company. It is possible to manage it in-house but you'll need to consider whether this is actually a cost-effective way of working. At first glance, it might seem that keeping the services in-house may be the cheapest approach. However, you also need to consider how long these processes will take your internal team, compared to experts and whether your internal staff's skills and expertise would be better used on your core business.
If you do want to keep scanning services in-house, consider the requirements:
The cost of scanning equipment this can be expensive, especially if you want to scan documents such as drawings and microfilms
You'll need to find the time and expertise to research the software that's right for your business.
Staff will need to be allocated or appointed to scan all existing documents and to maintain document scanning
IT expertise will be required to integrate the software and maintain it
Outsourced document scanning services
Outsourcing your scanning services to an expert company can remove many of the headaches associated with these requirements.
A document scanning services company will work with your business from the planning stage to ensure that no time or money is wasted. With their experience in different sectors and on different types of projects, a scanning services company will be able to advise you on the best software for your company and the best way to manage the changeover from paper-based documents to electronic document management.
Outsourcing the scanning also means it will be regular and uninterrupted. In-house staff can easily get distracted or pulled into other core work and the scanning can slip. Imagine the disruption this could cause if you then had to try and scan all your year-end financial documents at the last minute. Companies which try to keep scanning in-house and don't implement realistic schedules can end up in chaos.
Although handling scanning services in-house is possible, many companies find that outsourced scanning services are more cost-effective and efficient.
