Doing business will inevitably give rise to deliverables such as documents and marketing content. Even if your company runs on a paperless setup, you still need to keep your operations’ digital files. For one thing, such documents are required for compliance with the authorities and your own business processes. Even your marketing content will require documents and media files. In short, any business will need a way to store files.

There was a time when companies had rows upon rows of steel filing cabinets to keep their records and documents. Then, document management shifted to the digital space. But if you think investing in good old-fashioned external hard drives will do the job, think again. For one, external hard disk drives can put you at risk of losing your digital files.

Today, cloud storage is the way to go. Storing your digital data in a hosted storage service is far safer than other solutions. This is because your files in the cloud are protected from the elements that would typically damage hard disk drives. And, should accidents or natural calamities occur in your area, you don’t have to worry about your files being damaged by, say, fire or structural collapse caused by earthquakes. Indeed, cloud storage is one of the many ways where technology can help your business grow.

Why You Need Good Storage Solution

There’s a term going around in the content marketing sphere today. People in the industry know it as 10X content marketing. This involves creating content that attracts genuine attention from its target audience and provides a positive user experience. The term has become the new battle cry for marketers today.

Among the many criteria for attaining 10X content is creating high quality, trustworthy and exciting media content. For one, it should be unique in detail and scope. Above all, the content should load quickly and can be shared and used on any device.

Like file storage solutions, the ability to quickly load and share large files can boost your marketing and overall operations. Choose a storage solution provider that allows you to fully integrate your documents and files even with other platforms. When choosing a storage solution, there are many features to consider, which you can check out here.

How To Safely Store Business Files 

Knowing about digital or cloud storage solutions is only the beginning. You must also know how to safely store your business files if you want to prevent unnecessary disruptions in your business.

Below are three tips to help you store business files safely and efficiently.

Always Ensure Easy Access And Retrieval

You probably know how annoying it is to lose a file, be it a hard copy or a digital document. Looking for files among several folders can eat up your hours and negatively impact productivity.

To secure your files, start organizing them for easy access and retrieval. By minimizing unnecessary activity in your storage system, you also reduce errors and chaos in your system.

Here’s how you can do just that.

• Implement a standard naming system for all files
• If possible, add keywords and metadata elements for proper indexing of files
• Put files in folders that are also correctly named and affixed with indexing metadata
• Group files according to categories and subcategories, such as employee files and supplier files

Digitize All Important Documents

Before you can store your files and data in a cloud storage solution, you must convert non-digitized documents into digital files. You need to scan all relevant and necessary documents before uploading them to your archives in the cloud.

When digitizing your files, it would help if you assigned one person for the task. Large enterprises can put a team for the same purpose. There are also third-party digitizing service providers that can do the job for you. Put in place a regular schedule or frequency in which to scan your documents. You can do it daily, weekly, or even monthly.

Keep In Mind File Security

Storing files and data in the cloud comes with a few drawbacks. Security breaches are chief among them. Hence, make sure that the storage solution you choose provides best-in-class security. Your system must have a good firewall and authentication technology to prevent unauthorized access to your business files.

Summary

Having secured, easily accessible, and seamlessly shareable documents can help streamline your business and, ultimately, improve productivity. Always choose a digital storage solution provider that allows you to integrate your documents across different platforms.

To help keep your files safe, you must ensure that they’re easily accessible and retrievable, digitized, and protected by formidable security features.