Document management is finally becoming a priority for business. Gartner has identified that DM is one of the top ten priorities for CIO's in 2010. As the volume of paper that we manage each day continues to increase, there is now no option but to seek sophisticated solutions to manage the paper trail.
Many organisations are seeking to convert their vital hardcopy records to electronic format. The images (and accompanying metadata) might then be imported into an EDRMS , or might simply be burned to a disk for archiving purposes. Either way this approach provides for better and more efficient access to your information, as well as freeing up precious space and at the same time meeting your disaster recovery needs.
The dilemma that all organisations face when confronted with a major document scanning project is whether to outsource or to do the work internally. The answer is not always obvious.
The first step when embarking on any scanning task is to get a sense of the volume involved. It may be that it is possible to cull some of the files at the outset to reduce the volume. It is worth noting that in some circumstances, it is more efficient and therefore cheaper to cull electronically .
Scanning all of the legacy material rarely stacks up from a cost/benefit perspective. The key is to look at the behavior around accessing the hardcopy files. It may be that most retrievals occur on files less than 2 years old, and that the remaining material is rarely accessed if at all. In these circumstances, you would ‘backscan’ 2 years of material and then introduce ‘day-forward’ scanning.
Once the volume of material is determined, you are then in a position to look at whether you have the capacity to perform the work yourself. The most common scenario is to outsource the ‘backscan’ part of the project and then establish an in-house facility to process the ongoing material.
The next issue to address is available resources and whether or not funding is allocated. If you have existing scanning infrastructure that is being under-utilised, and project staff available then it may make sense to perform the work yourself. If not, outsourcing may be the best option.
One issue that may make the decision on whether or not to outsource a simple one, is whether you are prepared to send the material in question off-site. If the files are active and are being accessed constantly by your stakeholders, then you may have no choice but to do the work internally.
Similarly, there may be a directive from above that due to the extreme sensitivity of the material; the scanning is not to be outsourced. These are all considerations prior to embarking on your scanning project.