Will Your Computer Replace Your Filing Cabinet? Deciding Whether a Paperless Office is Right for You

Can you imagine never having to file another legal form or business letter again? What if you didn't need a metal filing cabinet to store hard copies of all your documents? The idea of creating a completely paperless office has been around for years; however, is it really feasible?

According to the book The Myth of the Paperless Office by Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper "the use of e-mail in an organization causes an average 40 percent increase in paper consumption." And that's just email.

Living in a paperless work environment has been a long-held dream for many a business (and tree). The idea being that going paperless not only saves us from printing a stack of paper copies that are only read once and then ditched or filed, but it also helps to reduce the need to store, purge, and recycle mounds of paper year after year.

What to Consider When Choosing to Go Paperless

First and foremost when considering moving to a paperless work environment understand that it's probably more likely that rather than "paperless" your move will just be to "less paper". The fact is that paper is not likely to go away entirely, so rather than spending a lot of effort to completely eliminate it, your efforts might be better spent determining how to marry paper and electronic tools to be the most effective.

Next, it's important to determine what documents can reasonably be maintained electronically and which work better as hard copies. Much of your decision will be based on your business. For instance, even though you can electronically sign or signature-stamp outgoing documents, other documents which require a signature (i.e. employment forms) will need to be maintained as hard copies.

You'll also need to determine what electronic tools you will use to support your electronic filing cabinet. There is a variety of tools available today that you can use for document management. However, keep in mind you'll need a scanner, the proper software, and a repository and retrieval system (this will be your new filing cabinet). You'll also need to build a network for sharing information between employees.
Software such as PowerBuilder or Sage MAS 90 or Sage MAS 200 can help you get to where you want to go. And if you're looking for a scanner, check out our companion article on the NeatDesk system.

How to Make Paperless Work for You

Now that you are moving in the direction of paperless, there are a couple of other things you should keep in mind.

Always have a backup plan. Remember all those days you spent searching for that all-important document in your metal filing cabinet? You don't want to have the same thing happen with your new automated system. Make sure to have your IT department manage security and backup. Too small for an IT department, you say? You can back-up to a second hard drive, to a removable drive, to the Internet, to CD-ROM or to an off-site location to minimize the risk of losing data from a computer failure.

Equally important is to take the time to create the right system for you. Do your homework and look around at what is available before purchasing a system. And make sure that everyone involved is on-board with the changes.

Finally, don't forget there may be drawbacks. Just as in any new system there may be glitches, lost files or computer crashes at the most inopportune time. Plus, scanning requires the manpower to do it; not to mention that going paperless means committing finances and time to the project.

The whole question as to whether or not your computer will replace your filing cabinet depends on what information you need to maintain in paper form and what works best for you. Either way, there are options beyond that old metal monster out there.