The fundamentals of electronic document storage

The massive growth of digital content—such as e-mails, documents, and databases—means that companies are going to continue to require more space for data storage. Storing, managing and protecting information is critical in a company’s behind-the-scenes success.

There are a few key fundamentals your storage systems should have in order to ensure security and success:

1. Ease of use

Even if you go with the best system of electronic document storage, it may fail if it is not user-friendly. Employees will benefit from systems that guide them through the steps of capturing, saving, accessing and managing information. Electronic storage systems should have user-friendly interfaces with customizable workspaces to maximize productivity. In addition, users should be capable of accessing work and information easily while working remotely or with mobile devices.

2. Low security risks

Regulations and policies are constantly changing for companies. For instance:

• Government regulations recently required businesses to maintain and backup data they may have once deleted.
• For legal reasons, many small businesses are archiving e-mail messages dating back 5 or more years.
• New versions of software application or operating system require more hard drive space than systems before.

It is necessary for companies to adopt electronic document storage systems that minimize at-risk employees or security issues by allowing companies to update permissions as regulations or policies are changing and knowing that they are enforced immediately. Electronic storage will eliminate the risks of information being stolen at printers, meeting rooms or off-site comprised devices.

3. Scalability for future needs

As stated above, the need for electronic data storage is growing and the needs for storage size and material your organization have now may be different in a few years. Before investing in a system, determine what types of information must be stored across your organization, which content can be replicated and which content must be reused. In addition, take a look at how you expect your organization to grow in 3, 5 or 10 years and determine if your system will have sufficient storage.

4. E-mail needs

According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, business e-mail users sent and received an average of 121 e-mails in 2014—that number is expected to continue to grow by a rate of 4% until 2017. E-mails have a huge impact on the daily business life and the amount of electronic storage your organization will need. Insufficient e-mail storage impedes productivity when an employee leaves and information is stuck in their personal Outlook folders. Your electronic storage solutions should include an email management component that sufficiently indexes, archives, and searches messages and attachments.

Electronic document storage has many benefits including facilitating collaboration, improved timeliness, increased document security and control, reliable backups, built-in regulatory compliance and more. Successfully storing data and information is becoming a critical part of companies’ business strategies. It is important to determine what company needs are now and what they will be in the future when choosing an electronic document storage system that will be the most beneficial to the organization.