How to Choose an Electronic Document Storage Company

There are a few different options available for people who are exploring their options in electronic document storage.  Gone are the days of simply keeping hard (physical) copies of every document generated by an office.  Today most documents are generated and stored electronically.  This saves time, money and (most importantly) space.  These days you are far more likely to see someone clicking through computer files to find something than you are to find them elbow deep in a filing cabinet trying to find the latest version of a company document.There are three major types of electronic document storage.  Each comes with its own security issues.Computer Hard DriveThe easiest form of electronic document storage is to simply store the documents on the hard drive of your computer.  This is the method preferred in most home offices.  In bigger offices, however, this is not a good option because it requires the computer’s main user to constantly be e-mailing copies of documents to the person who needs them.  This is time consuming and inconvenient—especially when you take a moment to think about how many e-mails gets lost in the internet ether! This is, however, the easiest form of document storage to secure.  Simply put up a bunch of firewalls and security programs and password protect your system and you should be good to go.Network StorageThis is the next level of electronic document storage.  With this type of document management system, the documents can be created, uploaded and accessed by any computer that is connected to the company network.  Typically everything is stored on a shared drive that is easily accessible from other network computers.  This method is harder to secure, especially if the network is kept offsite.  You will need to put extra security measures in place to make sure nobody can hack into your company network and steal your information.  This is also not a good option for companies in which the employees do a lot of travelling or working from home.Web Based StorageThis is by far the best form of electronic document storage, especially for larger companies or businesses that have a lot of offsite contractors.  With web based storage documents can be created, uploaded, accessed and even downloaded by any computer that can connect to the internet if the user has the right security clearance.  This is great for sharing information with clients who might not live in your business’s local area.  Of course, this is also the hardest form of document storage to secure.  Before you spend any money on an internet document storage company, make sure that they have the highest levels of security in place.  You don’t want your files to get hacked!Everyone is using electronic document storage these days.  Even medical offices are starting to share records electronically with their patients and fellow care givers (make sure your doctor follows the local security regulations before you allow him to store your medical records electronically).  Electronic storage is easier, faster and far more convenient than the older and more traditional methods of simply keeping physical copies of everything on hand.