HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT DOCUMENT STORAGE BUSINESS

Business documents often contain sensitive and confidential information. This means storing them within your company archives and protecting them from malicious parties are top priorities. From important invoices and employee records to company contracts and previous bills of sale, these documents will help you grow your company and keep track of your business in future.However, all these important documents can become cluttered and disordered over time if you fail to store and organise them properly. This will complicate your company archives and increase the time and effort it takes to find individual documents when you need them most. Therefore, choosing the perfect document storage business for your company’s needs may present the best solution after all.It’s important for companies experiencing such dilemmas to realise that the process of storing, archiving, managing, and accessing documents can extend beyond in-house systems. For example, using filing cabinets and storage units to store physical documents - these take up both floor space and employee time. By outsourcing your archives to a professional document storage business you can increase efficiency, save money, free up space, and ultimately further expand your business as a result.In this post, we’ll take you through the main factors to consider when deciding which storage company to entrust your company archives with.

PROTECTION

All UK businesses are responsible for protecting their confidential and sensitive documents. This is absolutely essential if they are to remain in compliance with the Data Protection Act, which requires that companies store each of their documents in a safe and secure place.Therefore, you need to make sure that any document storage business you choose is both aware of and committed to the relevant legislation. They should be upholding the highest standards necessary to stay within the government’s regulations for data protection. This will not only add to the legality and authenticity of your business, but also guarantee the privacy and security of your company archives in the long term.

ACCESS

There’s no point in archive storage if you cannot access individual documents as and when you need them through a safe and controlled process. Efficiency is key when you need to access a certain document, so it’s important that your chosen document storage business has the ability to supply the right documents quickly, accurately, and safely.Many archive storage services will manage your documents via online systems, retrieving individual files for you immediately by sending you a scanned copy either in the post or through email. Some companies may also send you physical copies of any document they hold in storage by delivering it to you in person. If the immediate return of documents in storage is a top priority for your business then you should definitely ask about the access services on offer.

SECURITY

The right document storage business will ensure the highest standards of security and safety, and no company should settle for anything less when outsourcing their internal documentation. Make note of the security within the storage site as well as the means by which data is stored. You want their storage conditions to be protected from risk and theft since you’re entrusting them with your must sensitive materials.Do they store documents in boxes that are designed to resist fire and water damage? Do they use durable materials, packing tape, and bubble wrap? Does the site have 24 hour security with CCTV and regular patrols? Are their online document management services controlled, fully encrypted, and safe for your employees to access? Lastly, is the environment in which documents are kept at a suitable temperature to avoid long term damage to your company records? You should only consider storage solutions which tick off all these boxes to ensure the optimum level of security for your business.

COST

All companies need to realise the value of outsourcing document storage not just in terms of security and efficiency, but also in terms of monetary value and the cost saved in the process. You should look to choose an affordable document storage business in line with your budget, but you should also note that these services often pay for themselves due to the opportunities they offer your company.You will save money on storage equipment such as cabinets, boxes, and units, as well as open up more space in which to expand your business and free up time with which to focus your efforts on more lucrative tasks. When you don’t have to waste employee time on storing, organising, and managing company archives, you will be able to delegate your workforce in ways that are more directly productive. As such, you should look towards document storage services which help save money and drive efficiency..With various packages on offer alongside data management, scanning, and shredding services, our priority is to meet the long and short term needs of your company while keeping all your documents as safe and secure as possible. Feel free to get in touch to make an appointment and discuss your requirements with one of our friendly storage consultants.