Organizations are demanding that their records management systems provide cost efficiency, improve the accessibility of documents and at the same time meet increasingly challenging compliance and regulatory requirements. A recent survey of
document management administrators, reveals these concerns and how they are reflected in the needs and requirements of document management administrators and professionals.

Survey findings indicated that approximately 65 per cent of medical, financial services, insurance and legal businesses do not currently outsource their records and document storage and management. Over two thirds of companies with less than 250 employees and over half 58 (per cent) of larger companies do not outsource. The primary reasons centre on concerns over the loss of control and reduced accessibility. These concerns are fictitious, as creating, deploying and utilizing the right electronic document repository actually increases control and accessibility.

Cost justifications are yet another significant mention when asked for the reasons behind the decision not to outsource. Yet, cost is revealed as a minor concern when compared to enhancing security, accessibility and control. In terms of importance, just lowering costs is mentioned by less than half of survey respondents in comparison to the two thirds who indicate providing a high level of security and protection is very important. In addition, most companies no matter how large or how small do not bother to track the associated costs of managing their documents in a paper based system. By comparison, companies spend almost 10% 0f their gross revenue handling paper. This does not include any costs for moving or unforseen fines due to lost documents.