Is outsourcing document scanning cost-effective?

It is important for businesses to continually upgrade and improve their processes and procedures if they want to keep up with their competitors and their industry as a whole. One huge part of this is the digitisation and digital transformation steps that companies can take. And document scanning plays a crucial role in a company’s ability to digitise, as it can then have access to all of its documents and key data via servers, rather than on physical copies.

If a business wants to start digitising and utilising document scanning, it is important to decide whether document scanning is going to be carried out in-house, if it is going to be outsourced, or if it should be some kind of combination of the two.

One of the main concerns about outsourcing document scanning is the potential costs involved. Clearly, it is important to understand whether outsourced scanning is actually cost-effective compared to the alternative. Here we take a look a whether scanning makes financial sense for your business.

Is outsourcing your document scanning cost-effective?

It should first be said that in almost all cases, it is going to be cost-effective to outsource your document scanning. In outsourced document scanning, experts come to your business to oversee the process and ensure that it runs most optimally and efficiently. These experts bring specific skills and experience that your team is unlikely to have in-house.

Additionally, outsourcing your document scanning means working with a team that has access to the latest document scanning equipment. This means they are able to operate more efficiently, and can also accurately estimate the kind of timescales involved. It is also worth noting that outsourced document scanning services will typically include uploading and integrating the scanned documents into your system.

Ultimately, the fact that you are getting experience, state-of-the-art equipment, and a range of additional services can make outsourcing extremely cost-effective.

Is it cost-effective to scan in-house?

Depending on the circumstances, it can also be cost-effective to bring your document scanning in-house. That is why it is so important to consider all of the factors and really understand whether you are going to be saving money, or losing money. To establish whether in-house document scanning is effective for your business, you should consider these issues:

• Cost of staff – you will need to have employees scanning documents. This means either hiring specific employees to do this job, or taking staff away from other activities that may be more profitable.
• Cost of hardware – you will need to utilise high-volume document scanners and these will need to be hired or bought.
• Cost of software – document management software is an essential part of efficient document scanning.
• Space – do you have the space in your office to have scanning equipment and scanning personnel working?
• Disruption – if in-house scanning causes significant disruption to normal work, it can make it an expensive proposition.

How often do you need document scanning?

Clearly, then, it can be the case that both in-house document scanning and outsourced document scanning are the most cost-effective option. Ultimately, one of the key questions is how often your business is going to need to carry out scanning, to establish which is the right option for you.

Document scanning in bulk is likely to be most effectively carried out by an outsourced company that has experience managing this kind of work on a large scale. For example, if you have a large range of paper documents and they will all need to be digitised, it can be a great idea to give the project over to an outsourced business and to let them do the work.

In any case, it is advisable to consult with experts to help you understand which might be the right option.

The team at Document Options would be happy to help you with any of your document scanning needs. We have years of experience in all aspects of document management and can help you digitise your business in a cost-effective way. Get in contact with us today for more information.