Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Follow the Leader - Please!

Recently I received a notice via email from the Government and I have to say it was very exiting.  It was a PDF file and when I opened the PDF, there was a very impressive first page with official Executive Office seals and insignia.  Here is what the opening said: 
"EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20503
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20408
August 24, 2012




On November 28, 2011, President Obama signed the Presidential Memorandum -Managing Government Records. This memorandum marked the beginning of an Executive Branch-wide effort to reform records management policies and practices and to develop a 21st-century framework for the management of Government records. "
The memorandum goes on to talk about document imaging and this is what really got me excited - "This directive requires that to the fullest extent possible, agencies eliminate paper and use electronic recordkeeping. "
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/28/presidential-memorandum-managing-government-records
As you can appreciate, as a document imaging service bureau, the more momentum there is to convert paper to digital, the better.  The government taking a leadership role will certainly help bring along many more companies to the digital revolution.  But really, when I read between the lines and read more of the directive, the rationale for the directive is just good solid business sense.  Keep your information organized and accessible and you will be a more efficient organization. 

Follow the leader, it's good for your organization and it just so happens to be good for Millennia Group too.  Thank you Mr. President!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

A Slippery Slope

Our blog title - "Tackling Mountains of Docs" is very top of mind lately. We have just launched a new service aimed squarely at Iron Mountain - controller of mountains of boxes of documents. Our service is a combination of technology, hard work and process but in the end, it is just common sense. We call our new service I:S Cubed as in Inventory: Scan, Shred or Store.

The point of the service is if you use some basic logic in making decisions, it is not all that painful to make that decision. Iron Mountain and other box storage firms have grown very large and accumulated a vast amount of boxes because its difficult to make decisions about the mysterious contents. Rather than sweep the boxes under the rug so to speak, take back control. As our service clearly states, start with taking an inventory. Find out what is in those boxes. Once you have the inventory you can make the decisions that need to be made - Scan, Shred or Store.

You should compare that inventory to your records retention schedule or at the very least talk to your accountant and attorney to find out best practices for retention of various document types. Armed with this information you will find it easy to make good, common sense decisions. You will not only save money in the long run, you will be surprised at the important corporate knowledge that you find and you will sleep better knowing you are effectively managing your litigation exposure.

If you are just starting to accumulate boxes in off-site storage, keep a very detailed inventory in a database or spreadsheet. Don't start sliding down that slippery slope.

visit us at www.mgdocs.com