Organization and proper storage are important in any business. Without a proper storage system, it can be difficult to keep up with business incomes, client information, and other important business documents. Many businesses struggle with the transfer of paper documents to an internet based storage system. Using the internet for the majority of business is still a relatively new concept. The following tips will help you make the needed transition from paper document storage to an entire internet file storage process.

Go through all of your paper documents

If you are still on a paper document storage system, it is likely that you have numerous filing cabinets throughout the office. These filing cabinets might be located in a basement storage room, or in a home office area. Either way, you will want to go through these documents in depth. Follow recommended storage guidelines of your business. For example, law professionals and medical professionals have minimum storage requirements for stored information. After this time limit, you can throw items out. Make piles associated with trash and storage. This will help you organize the items later.

Properly shred garbage items

Once you have gone through all of your filing cabinets, you will want to properly dispose of the garbage items. It is not a good idea to simply throw these documents out. Instead, hiring a professional shredding company or invest in a paper shredder. This will protect confidential information from being stolen. Many professions also require that confidential information is properly shredded upon disposal. Approximately 95% of corporate information exists on paper. This can be very risky and proper shredded should always be used.

Invest in a high quality scanning program

If you are moving large quantities of paper to digital documents, you will need a good scanner and scanning program. This will make the process easier and faster. It will also prevent you from losing important documents that did not scan properly, which can be costly for a business. Recent data reveals that companies spend $20 in labor to file a document, $120 in labor to find a misfiled documents, and $220 in labor to reproduce a lost document. It can even be helpful to hire a professional scanning company to avoid the high costs of lost documents.

Organize your desktop

You will still want a good organization system on your computer’s desktop. Although the computer does make it easier to locate files, it can get hectic without an organization system in place. Placing files in carefully organized folders can help with quick retrieval of internet documents. A document control solution can greatly increase the efficiency and productivity of a business. The average worker shares six documents as email attachments each work day. Make this process more efficient with an organized desktop.

Protect your internet files

If your internet storage system is not properly protected, you are at risk of security and data breaches. This can result in lost customers and high security fines. Make sure your internet connection is protected. The use of virus detectors can inform you when a breach threat is possible and can save you from an expensive data breach. If you are not familiar with the best protection programs, work with an internet security company. They will set your storage system up with encrypted security measures.

Many businesses have yet to move to an internet based system. This can make the retrieval and storage of documents timelier and costlier. It may take some time to move to an entirely internet based storage system, but once you do, you are likely to find that it is safer and more efficient for day to day business practices.