Document digitization is the future of document storage for companies now and in the future. Work from home and hybrid work environments do not allow for traditional file storage as most companies now know it. Rising rents and flexible work schedules are also accelerating this move to digitization with many companies. 

Right now, companies are paying $25,000 to file a file cabinet and $2,000 a year to maintain that same cabinet. 

The average commercial office is using 50 to 70% of the floorspace just to store those documents. This doesn’t even begin to address the companies and government agencies that use off premises storage for their documents

If you need to know what it is costing your company, you can use this chart to calculate:

• Paper Costs = Monthly Paper Costs x 12 months
• File Storage Costs = Number of Filing Cabinets x 16 sq. ft. x Cost per sq. ft. of Office Space
• Third-Party Storage Costs = Monthly Rent x 12 months
• Printing Costs = Printer Rental Price + Annual Printer Maintenance Fees + Monthly Ink Cost x 12 months
• Printer Costs: If you purchased your printers, check your records to average their yearly cost.
• Print-Related Labor Costs = Labor Hours Spent Managing Paper x Average Hourly Wage x Number of Workdays per Year

After you look at the cost of this to your office, you may then have to look at another aspect of paper files, accessibility.

With work-from-home and hybrid environments, your workers may not be able to access the documents that they need to perform their jobs effectively. This means lower productivity and higher costs to process tasks for your company. 

Digitization can be easy if done right. Scanning documents into a traditional Windows folder structure could lead to more confusion and misplaced files if there is not a simple and effective way to retrieve those files when needed. This is where a Content Management System or Document Management System comes into play. These systems allow for full text search and a more structured system for filing and retrieving those documents. Bonus, they are typically cloud based, which means that they can be accessed anywhere with a secure log-in and you do not have to worry about the extra burden on your IT infrastructure.

Contact us to help make your office more efficient, streamlined and productive!

Author: Tom Hubler, Technical Solutions Consultant at Boring