Businesses across all industries have many things weighing them down. Perhaps none as hefty as a repository of paper documents haunting their filing cabinets (and their team’s valuable time). That’s where a scan to cloud system comes in.
Scan to cloud document management is a secure, fast, and simple way to transform your business’s paper documents into digital documents. With these documents securely in the cloud, you don’t have to worry about them taking up valuable real estate or slipping into the wrong hands.
How exactly can this practice level up your organization’s document management ecosystem? Let’s find out.
How Scan to Cloud Works
Scan to cloud technology offers a seamless and efficient way to digitize physical documents and store them directly in the cloud. This innovative solution simplifies document management by allowing users to scan documents from a multifunction printer (MFP) or a dedicated scanner directly to a cloud storage service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or Microsoft OneDrive.
Here’s a step-by-step look at this process:
- Select a Physical Document: First, identify a document that needs to be scanned, like an invoice, receipt, financial record, legal document, patient data, etc. All of these documents - even though some contain sensitive information - are great candidates for scan to cloud systems..
- The Scanner Converts the Document: The scanner captures and converts the file into a digital asset and sends the information to a secure server based on the settings you selected: file type (JPEG, PDF), resolution, color, and file name. The file is then transferred from your device to a third-party server.
- The Document is Stored on an Encrypted Drive: Here’s the part you’ve been waiting for: the security. Mastering this piece of the puzzle really comes down to partnering with the right providers. For example, our strategic partner builds encryption protocols into every facet of the scan from the moment you press the button until your document is safely in the cloud.
- The Document is Uploaded to a Cloud Storage Provider: Your file is safely stored and organized in the cloud, ready to be accessed at any time by authorized users.
5 Key Benefits of Scan to Cloud for Document Management
Even in today’s technology-driven environment, paper is pervasive. Businesses use it for invoices, purchasing, client/patient records, finance information, and more, exposing them to a fractured and insecure document management strategy.
Scan to cloud is one application to help fix that.
Here are five ways your organization could benefit from this technology.
1. Robust Document Security
Many businesses, especially those that handle sensitive information, such as healthcare, are looking for ways to enhance their document security.
Employing a digital approach can bolster these efforts due to:
- Authentication Measures: Safeguarding access to secure documents is vital for any scan to cloud service you implement. Any system you use will come with identity verification and authentication measures like multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, secure ID verification links to ensure that only authorized users can perform the scans.
- Strong Encryption: As we touched on earlier, scan to cloud systems have hefty encryption protocols to secure your documents during the transmission and storage processes, protecting your most sensitive data from unauthorized access.
- Compliance: It’s important to comply with the latest rules and regulations in your industry. Scan to cloud systems ensure you remain compliant and keep records safe from misuse, loss, theft, or damage.
2. Greater Accessibility
Scan to cloud document management transformation means you (and the people you authorize) can access your files instantly. Since the upload process is quite speedy, you get your hands on the info you need faster, which can improve productivity.
Beyond instant access, scan to cloud systems make searching for—and ultimately locating— your documents simple via various search capabilities including naming conventions, content search, metadata, and keywords.
Because your documents are digitized, authorized users can access the files from anywhere—whether on-site or remote. As standard ways of working continue to evolve, increased document access and availability make it easier to get work done faster.
3. Better Collaboration
With paper documents, only one person can view the information at a time. However, a digital document environment allows multiple people to securely access the same document at different places, times, and across devices, increasing team collaboration.
Device flexibility also allows users on various devices, including computers, tablets, and smartphones to view documents. For fast-paced business settings where several people may interact with the same data simultaneously, this can be crucial for efficiency.
Plus, with real-time synchronization, any changes made to the documents are instantly reflected on other devices, ensuring you’re always working with the latest version of your files.
4. Improved Sustainability Efforts
Paper comprises 50% of businesses’ total waste. Since many businesses are prioritizing greater sustainability efforts, reducing their reliance on paper could make a sizable impact.
By digitizing documents and storing them in the cloud, businesses use less paper, which helps conserve natural resources, reduce paper demand, and minimize the environmental impact of deforestation.
Cloud-based software is also often much more energy efficient. It uses less energy to store, manage, and retrieve documents than maintaining physical paper files and storage infrastructure.
Plus, going digital eliminates a significant amount of paper-based waste, such as discarded documents and well as toner and ink cartridges.
Using a cloud-based document management system can help organizations set, stretch, and surpass their sustainability goals and contribute to the greater good.
5. More Reliability
From various naming conventions to storage irregularities to increased risk of loss, damage, and error, paper files aren’t the most reliable solution.
A cloud-based software helps you scan and store documents reliably because these systems use data integrity checks and error detection protocols to ensure that your stored documents are intact. These checks identify and help repair potential data corruption or inconsistencies that might happen during transmission or storage so you can rest assured that your documents are functioning properly and always accessible.
Automated backup functionalities also provide an additional layer of security and protection against data loss due to hardware failures, human slip-ups, or attacks from bad actors.
Along those same lines, cloud systems that provide redundant data storage across multiple servers offer additional protection in case one center experiences a failure. Should this happen, your data would still remain reliable and accessible, minimizing the risk of data loss or operational downtime.
How to Implement Scan to Cloud
Scan to cloud technology can help your business improve its overall document management strategy.
So how can you introduce it?
Start by assessing your organization’s document architecture—the types of documents you’re storing, the projected volume, regulatory and compliance requirements, and your team’s access needs.
Then, select a cloud storage platform that makes sense for your business. Consider factors such as:
- Security
- Scalability
- Storage Capacity
- Integration Capabilities
- Collaboration Features
- Cost
After that, you’ll want to partner with a provider who can ensure the security and accessibility of your digital documents.
Last, but certainly not least, train and guide your employees on the scan to cloud systems, equipment, and security protocols. Establish best practices for document management, including naming rules, folder structure, authentication, authorization, access, and other security measures.
Improve Your Company’s Document Storage
A paper-first document environment leaves businesses vulnerable to threats such as storage constraints, limited accessibility, workflow inefficiencies, security risks, and environmental impact. Scan to cloud systems aim to remove these roadblocks.
In just a couple of clicks, you can transform your paper documents into secure digital files you and your team can access from anywhere. A fast, secure, and reliable cloud-based document storage system will help your business be more efficient, profitable, and sustainable.
If you’re interested in a better way to securely scan and store your company’s most important documents, contact a document management services specialist today.
