During the Covid pandemic, many companies had to quickly review the way they operated, allowing maximum flexibility in staff operations to ensure business continuity whilst maintaining the safety and health of employees. Government guidance was to work from home where possible, meaning many houses became temporary offices – as well as temporary school classrooms and gyms. As restrictions eased, many employers realised they could operate their business with hybrid working, with the added benefit of reductions in overheads and a better work/life balance for their employees.
Fast forward to where we are today and there remains newfound flexibility in hybrid working. The Government has removed legal restrictions and the argument continues as to which option is best. In reality, there is no wrong or right answer to this – every company is different in its needs – but from a document management viewpoint it is clear there is a necessity for employees to have access to company documents wherever they choose to work. Traditionally documents have been held in a physical form however the Covid pandemic has forced us to revisit this view and utilise electronic documents to remain competitive. It is quicker, easier, and more cost-effective for employees to view a PDF online than it is to deliver a hard copy file to each working location.
Whilst the move to electronic documents sounds simple, there are a few bumps along the road. New documents may be born in electronic format, but existing physical documents may need to be digitised to allow all employees access to them. How do you choose what to digitise and what to physically archive? Will today’s electronic documents still be machine-readable in 20 years? Not all companies have a secure cloud-based storage space to hold these files, nor the budget to develop one, and legislation and compliance of documents also have to be considered and adhered to.
As professionals in document management for over 30 years, Ardington Archives has continued to evolve its expertise, with solutions to both physical and electronic storage requirements. Alongside our expert Partner companies, our range of services continues to expand into the online environment, including electronic conversion of physical documents together with a low-cost secure online storage space. We recently added an online storage environment for electronic clinical trial files meeting industry-specific compliance obligations, and we continue to listen to our client’s needs, to provide the solutions they require.
Our staff are on hand to discuss the most suitable solution for your document management needs. Offering digitisation of documents, a range of electronic and physical storage environments or a hybrid of both, and a confidential destruction service to securely destroy sensitive business paperwork, our aim is to provide you with the most advantageous, complete, and cost-effective storage management solution.
