Why digital scanning is a life saver in disaster recovery
Many of the services we provide at Microform, from document scanning to digital archiving, have applications that reach far beyond day-to-day access to information that was once storage siloed.
By digitising hardcopy documents via digital scanning, photographic archiving and optical character recognition (OCR) of printed text, you create an image of the document in a digital format that can be duplicated and stored in one or more secure locations.
This is especially the case with our cloud management system, which provides cloud-based storage of digital documents so that they are not tied down to any one location, but with the ability to restrict access solely to authorised individuals based on their IP address.
All of this has particular benefits in the event of business interruption and disaster recovery, when having a digital backup of hardcopy documents - even if you retain the hard copies - can prove to be a real lifesaver.
Why digital disaster recovery is easier
Digital disaster recovery offers several advantages over trying to get a business back up and running using only paper-based files and records:
Entire archives can be accessed via cloud platforms and/or downloaded to a secondary location so your file system and critical records can be restored quickly.
If original documents are damaged by fire or flood, or cannot be accessed for a period of time, digital duplicates provide a stop-gap or long-term alternative so data is not lost.
Microform's bespoke document management systems ensure quick and easy access to large business archives so employees can get right back to work.
If you choose to back up digital documents to the cloud, they can be accessed from anywhere in the world, or access can be restricted to as little as a single IP address - the level of security and remote access is completely up to you.
We even offer secure document destruction, so if you do not want the hard copies back once they have been digitised, we can ensure they are fully destroyed with no risks of sensitive data being leaked.
Why do physical documents matter?
Just because data is printed out, it doesn't stop it from being data. Your physical files and records are an important part of your business, and may even form part of the value of your company.
Many professions are regulated and must comply with certain terms as regards secure storage, rapid retrieval and on-request destruction of documents.
All of these things are easier to achieve in digital formats, which can be stored on secure cloud platforms, in logical and searchable folder hierarchies, and can be completely erased if and when it is appropriate to do so.
Because of this, the value of physical documents can be preserved through digital document scanning, OCR text processing and high-resolution photographic archiving, while relieving the burden of storing vast quantities of paper and the risks of damage to the original document.
And finally, if you work in a profession where printed documents are a must, keeping a digital backup allows the original to be recreated if it is lost, damaged or destroyed - ensuring your business can get back to normal operations as quickly as possible with no loss of data.
If you want to know more about the advantages of digital scanning, give us a call on 0330 053 6300 or check out our contact page.