Many organizations choose to use cloud-based software for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the elimination of paper documents. According to The World Counts, offices in the U.S. use 12.1 trillion sheets of paper every year. Roughly 93 percent of paper comes from trees. Investing in paperless document management solutions is not only good for the environment, but it also improves the overall function of an organization.
According to CompTIA, 90 percent of companies today use cloud computing in some capacity. Many of these corporations are also embarking on secondary cloud migrations. In fact, 44 percent of respondents claimed they had moved from one public cloud to another, and 25 percent switched to a private cloud from a public platform.
1. Data availability
As outlined by The Guardian, the most notable impact on an organization using paperless document management is the availability of data. Wherever an employee is, they can access the information they need from the device of their choice. This lends an enormous amount of flexibility and power to companies.
2. Longer lasting hardware
The actual machinery used in offices goes through less wear when cloud computing is available. Because documents and large files can be stored and accessed from the cloud server, hard drives crash less often and IT support is required less frequently.
3. Significant cost decrease
If IT departments are used more sparingly with cloud software, a company can easily reduce its costs and save on salary and benefits. Also, organizations do not have to purchase servers with the cloud, stated Microsoft Business. Based on needs, businesses can determine and change their use of cloud services, altering subscriptions as they go. Plus, going paperless means purchasing significantly less paper for operations. Organizations should not spend a lot of money on something that eventually makes up 50 percent of their waste.
4. Collaboration and productivity
When employees can access documents remotely, the need for paper files is eliminated. No longer do items have to be faxed to partner offices, nor do contracts need to be sent long distances for a single signature. These tasks can occur almost instantly. Co-workers can view documents together in real-time even if they are miles apart. This also helps establish a greater sense of continuity in the office, which will likely increase the quality of the product and its delivery.
5. Storage
Scheduling Direct noted that when organizations go paperless, important pieces of paper are then protected from damage and theft. The impact of a natural disaster on hundreds of important documents could be devastating to a business. In fact, 50 percent of businesses that experience significant data loss are no longer operating one year later. Fires, floods, or earthquakes could destroy contracts and records in a heartbeat. Paperless document management ensures this cannot happen.
Even on the cloud certain items can be locked away and only specific parties granted access. This prevents unauthorized viewers from either searching out a particular document or accidentally stumbling upon something they were not meant to see.
