Digital transformation is vital, but how do you know when you’ve gone too far?

Is it possible to over-digitise?

In some senses, no, in fact, it would be great to have a completely paperless office with all processes digitised. However, there are documents that don’t need to be digitised, but that isn’t to say they should be kept on paper either!

There are five key reasons you probably shouldn’t digitise your entire archive. Here’s why you might need to review you digitisation strategy:

1) Some records simply aren’t needed

If your business has been operating for a while, chances are you’ll have a significant number of old customer records stored in hard copy.

Beyond your legal duties to store information for a certain period of time, old invoices, letters of correspondence and purchase orders simply won’t be needed going forward. So, why digitise?

You can add employee data to that list, too. Do you really need to digitise the files of past staff members?

2) Meeting paraphernalia rarely gets used

Despite the drive towards digital transformation, most meetings still feature some form of hard copy documentation.

Think about how often you’ve left meeting papers on your desk for days only to throw it away shortly after. And then think about how many others have done the exact same thing.

Meeting minutes, notes and hand-outs are unlikely to be required by the attendees post meeting.

3) You’re creating digital landfill

By piling reams of documentation onto hard drives and cloud storage, you’re creating what’s known as ‘digital landfill’.

Unfortunately, this intangible mass of information is entirely useless, because it contains files that will never be used.

And, just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t harming your business…

4) You’ll pay for wasted digital space

The digital landfill you’re constantly adding to by needlessly digitising paper documents will cost you in terms of disk space.

Thankfully, we live in an age where computer storage is highly economical and unlikely to break the bank, but every document you store requires space of some kind, and it soon mounts up.

If your digital transformation strategy includes converting needless files, you may eventually have to upgrade your storage plan or purchase additional hardware to account for a digital landfill that’s out of control.

5) You miss the opportunity to have a fresh start

There’s nothing more satisfying than conducting a good spring clean of your business, but if you’re digitising files that aren’t needed, you’re missing the opportunity to have a fresh start.

By only digitising the essential documents, you can clear your digital landfill and push on without distraction. Consider this; if you were going into business today, would you factor paper into the business?

The message is clear: if it isn’t going to be used again, don’t digitise it!