Karani Nyamu is the Group CEO of Nairobi-based IT company Verve KO and also runs Kore Forests Ltd, a real estate firm.
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Every year companies generate hundreds even thousands of documents from sales, contracts, invoices and deliveries. Most of these documents exist in hard copy and they are easily to access and possibly destroy. The volumes generated also make storage and preservation a costly and cumbersome affair.
The law and regulatory boards require firms to keep records for stipulated periods of time. According to imaging services firm Verve KO Ltd. the easiest way for a firms to institute proper storage and handling of its documents is to image and store them in electronic formats. Besides the convenience there are other outright benefits that accrue from relying on imaging services for your documents.
Automatic Protection
Data stored in electronic data management programs are always automatically protected. Even in the event of a computer crash it is possible to use recovery software to retrieve information for a damaged hard disk. The phrase, the internet never forgets, comes as a form of security for online data storage of company files. It is also cheaper to keep copies in electronic versions than copies of hard copies.
It’s a Cost Cutting Move
The space occupied by excessive paper documents and lockers consumes a lot of cash that could be used in other core functions. By merely imaging all the documents and storing them in an electronic format, you eliminate the need for a store and a store attendant. You also eliminate the costs needed for photocopies and printing of documents in duplicates for backup.
Heightened Security
Firms lose millions of shillings in data theft and loss of intellectual property to corruption, fire and damage. Imaging them ensures that you can store them in a password protected sites or protected backup sites away from prying yes. Cyber security capabilities means you can easily restrict access to authorized personnel only.
Ease and Convenience
The ease of access and use of imaged documents is simply remarkable. By the click of a mouse you are able to access a lot of documents. It also gets easier to manipulate documents and give them a more appealing looks or correct errors. Soft copies of company documents can enable you to sift through thousands of documents and even spot trends and patterns pretty quickly.
Accessibility and Retrieval.
If you are going to keep hard copies, it means you have to scour through landfills of documents to get the right files that you are looking for. Alternatively when you image and code them, you can find document dating back to a long time ago rather easily. And thanks to the internet it is possible to access imaged documents from anywhere in the world where you have a Wi-Fi connection and a device.