As we hustle towards making our offices digital-first, the question of how to best convert our paper mountains into digital files looms large. Choosing the best file format for scanning documents is a crucial step many overlook. It's not just a technicality—it affects how we use, store, and even future-proof these documents. From PDF/A to TIFF and beyond, each format serves a unique purpose and has its own pros and cons. So, how do you pick the right one? Let’s cut through the complexity and get straight to what you need to know to make that choice confidently.

Effective records and information management (RIM) is essential in today's fast-paced business world. It's not just about storing information anymore; it’s about how we use, manage, and protect this data. This blog aims to shed light on the future of records information management, focusing on the latest trends and innovations shaping the industry. We'll look at the current state of RIM, explore new advancements in document management technology, and offer practical advice for businesses looking to stay ahead. With insights from MES Hybrid Document Systems, a leader in this field, we’ll help you understand what’s next for RIM and how you can prepare for it.

Understanding how long to keep business records in Canada is critical for senior leaders in mid- to large companies. It's not just about keeping your office organized; it's a legal requirement. Knowing and following document retention policies is essential for staying compliant with Canadian laws. This is where MES Hybrid Document Systems comes in. They offer a full range of document scanning services managed by experts. From planning your project to indexing your documents, MES helps you stay on top of your record management, ensuring compliance and efficiency.

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the management and preservation of data have become paramount for businesses across all sectors. Digital archiving, a critical component of strategic data management, offers much more than mere storage solutions. It represents a sophisticated approach to organizing, securing, and retrieving crucial business information efficiently. 

Working from home is a concept we've been familiar with for a long time now—but the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged the remote working scene. Almost overnight, scores of people worldwide started working from home—even professionals like doctors, lawyers and teachers (who we never imagined would work remotely)!

Startups do things digitally. But companies that have been around for decades largely don’t. It seems impossible to believe, but 82% of companies are still paper-based. 

“With all the lip service paid to innovation, it’s astounding that most businesses still use technology invented more than 2,000 years ago. We’ve entered the era of 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and missions to Mars — yet only 18 percent of companies consider themselves paperless.”

—Corp! Magazine

With cloud servers and apps like Monday, Trello, and Evernote replacing paper calendars, notebooks, and whiteboards, it seems crazy to think that less than 20% of all companies in 2020 operate digitally. Not so crazy, though, when you consider that computers weren’t even part of the office environment 40 years ago.

Let’s take a look at the brief history of paper to digital documentation and nail down when paper processes will finally go digital.

New employee: “I can’t find the printer and I need to print something.”

Coworker: “We don’t have one. And no you don’t.” 

Startups do things digitally. 

Invoices, receipts, and business cards are digital. Any paper that does come in—usually from the government—gets digitized and put in the cloud and that paper is recycled immediately. Post its and wall-hanging calendars are replaced by apps like Monday and Trello and Teamwork. Notebooks swap for task managers. Clutter disappears and productivity soars. 

Document scanning turns paper files into digital documents. Document management is a system that tracks digitized documents, ensuring accountability, transparency, organization, knowledge retention, shareability, and productivity.

Each year, the global paper usage is about 400 million tons of paper. Using paper in offices is inevitable. However, the growing technology in document management is enhancing the efficiency of this process. 

Companies in a wide variety of industries are now using document management systems to reduce their expenditures and improve the efficiency of their working processes. Our team at MESHDS has decades of experience in working with document management technology. In this new post, we’re explaining a little more about how document management systems can help reduce costs.