Outsourcing digitization: the smart choice for small businesses

Digitising records correctly isn't as easy as it sounds. It requires not only special equipment but also a staff trained on the best practices of indexing and metadata tagging. If you want the job done right, outsourcing to a vendor is your best bet.

Here’s the small business benefits for digitisation outsourcing:

1. Use experts, get expert results
   Digital records are easier to search and faster to find but that’s only true if they have been indexed and tagged accurately using metadata. To ensure every scanned record has the correct metadata, you need a knowledgeable digitisation specialist dedicated to meticulous detail.


2. Avoid a capital investment
Not all scanners are built the same. If you want high-definition scans of your most valuable assets, there are very few options outside of spending a lot of money and time. Purchasing professional-grade scanning equipment and software is expensive. Imaging documents is also a time-consuming task that draws your resources away from their core work. Outsourcing makes digitisation faster and more economical.


3. Prevent theft, loss and privacy breach
   Any time a team is digitising in-house, with multiple people handling documents and moving between locations, there’s always the chance of documents being stolen, lost or breached. An outsourced solution mitigates sensitive document risks through a single, secure chain of custody.


4. Ensure information governance and regulatory compliance
   It’s difficult for in-house teams to keep up with changing retention, content classification, and privacy laws. Outsourcing can add the specialised expertise you need to keep your governance policies and practices in bounds and avoid costly mistakes.


5. Evolve to a digital workflow
Incorporating digitisation into your organisation means changing workflows and processes. An experienced vendor offers advice on where to start and how to automate for productivity gains. They may also help your team understand what your company's digitisation needs are, which will help in selecting a digital workflow solution down the line.


6. Right-size your project
   Digitisation isn’t an all or nothing endeavor. There are different levels for different digitisation projects. Choose a vendor that can scale the scope of digitisation to your small business needs and unique workflows.

What happens when SMBs try to digitise in-house

• Massive capital investment
• Significant strain on staff
• Inefficiencies and errors from working outside their areas of expertise

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