Digitization of documents: a business investment decision with a future
To digitize or not to digitize? This is the query. Probably, since before, many organizations have been asking exactly the same question without finding a correct answer; and this is precisely the passage of time that is working in front of them. Obviously, within this long period of hesitation, the stack of files continues to expand. Jorge López, vice president and renowned analyst at Gartner Group, tried to answer the question at the CIO & IT Executive Summit 2013, which took place in September 2013, in Mexico City. He pointed out that “the key to effectively position yourself in the industry through scientific knowledge will be to be aware of the reality that digitalization is not just something ephemeral, but a movement that is changing the future.”
From this unique point of view, the life cycle of the registry is changed. Today, the phases of the document include: production, capture, storage, management and dispersal. In the same way, the complications, better called advantages, that the business faces when applying digitization processes, are summarized below: cost reduction, increased production and security, and green technologies.
In a company, cost reduction is completely related to the digitization of its business documents. To highlight this announcement, we can take as a reference the “Study on the digitization of documents and the cost of preserving paper”, carried out by the European Union, Andersen Consulting and Gartner Group. This particular report means that storing a record in a standard paper file costs €6.53; and a company will be saving around 10.53 euros for each document that is not physically registered. In addition, the normal charge for the area required to store old files is 11,000 euros, against 114 euros in case the documents are stored electronically.
On the contrary, the increase in efficiency levels is pointed out in a survey carried out by AIIM Europe 2009 (the Global Community of Information Professionals), in which they explain that more than 15% of any room or office space is dedicated to to paper filing cabinets. This space and rather chaotic file organization systems are often the reasons why it takes an average employee fifty minutes each day to search and locate paper documents. The details demonstrated by these statistics can definitely create a terrible corporate image, diminished credibility, and even wrong business decisions.
When it comes to security, it is usually not better to scan all documents. Each and every organization must determine what are the most prominent business documents and these must be scanned. Typically, these are the newest, active, old, and damaged files.
With many document management systems, multiple staff members can tackle a digitized document together, but only authorized people can view a digitized file. Simply put, security is ensured, both by the specific permissions for admission and by the mere fact that the content of the documents can be sent in whole or in part, by email or any other electronic mechanism, without the need to send physical copies or wait to which they are sent. files to reach.
An office that will save paper is actually a green office that values the natural environment. According to a survey carried out by Telefónica, one of the largest private telecommunications companies on the planet, a staff member uses an average of 10,000 sheets of paper each year. If this figure is multiplied by the number of staff in a company, the result will be surprising.
The legal gap
One of the many aspects that limits the extensive use of electronic documents is really the legal vacuum surrounding the process. As an example, in the European Union there is modest and clear legislation regarding the legal credibility of electronic documents, although great efforts have been made during the last decade. Do you see why it is so difficult to implement proper legislation on electronic documentation in the European Union? Mainly because each EU member country needs to translate the corresponding European directive into a national law; and the most recent directives are clear about the purpose and not so much about the techniques to achieve this purpose.
In addition, there is a lack of homogenization between the different EU countries. By way of example, in Belgium, Spain, France and the Netherlands there is no specific legislation on the ruin of basic physical documents, while in Germany and Italy there are certain rules that regulate this concern. A definite problem is in the UK, where companies are destroying their original paper documents due to ambiguity in UK law. They do not have a specific law that controls the concept.
As can be believed, the duration of the custody of the original paper documents is not regulated in a general way either, and each country specifies the corresponding authority that must determine the custody periods of the documents. Being a fascinating fact, in Switzerland, for example, documents related to real estate have to be kept for around 20-25 years.
The legal vacuum is conclusive proof of insufficient legislative homogeneity, both internationally and nationally. After all, it is not sensible that somewhere the law regulates digitization and electronic archiving and, on the contrary, the destruction of the original files is not granted. This scenario is neither fruitful nor lasting. Relevant officials need to act now on the matter and evolve with technology to ensure effective electronic business connection between markets and people.
Document solutions for all tastes and budgets
There is no way out that works for everyone. There are several document systems that include the digitization, storage, retrieval and management of business documents as an integral section of the solution and there are several other systems that focus on document digitization. Dedicated applications may be the ideal choice for businesses that want to digitize large documents, but don’t need a complex document management system. Conversely, in case a company wants to merge a document management system into its document creation and generation processes and, because of this, needs more control, modular or comprehensive document management solutions are the best option. .
While end-to-end solutions were previously too expensive, today many document management software providers have lowered their rates, both because document management is becoming more common and to offer the many benefits of document management, primarily Only within the reach of large companies, medium and large companies. small companies.