Document archiving services

[AJUK]

I have realised that I am quickly running out of storage space for paperwork and have 5 years worth of files in cabinets, on shelves and in boxes, has anyone had any experience of using one of these document archiving companies. You know the ones, they take away your documents, scan them and then put them on DVD for you?

Of course, I could do this myself but 1) I can't be arsed and 2) I would rather pay someone else to do it because of the time involved.

Ultimately I want to 'downsize' and move my office to home but I haven't got the storage so this seems a sensible idea. I have no idea of costs but I expect it to be 'economically prohibitive' (read I am a tightwad )

Your thoughts would be welcome.

 

[Sequoia]

We do our own in-house, but if you do do this, I would suggest DVD-RAM, MO or PD disks rather than DVD-R or DVD+R. The reason is predicted longevity and stability.

 

[Burbleflop]

We use a company in Kent, I forget their name, but they're crap. Stuff comes back scanned at either 1million DPI, or 5dpi, there is no inbetween.

Most documents we generate are now archived automatically (purchase orders, sales orders, invoices, delivery notes and so on) but we're looking around for another company who will archive the other stuff for us.

I'd never trust DVD as a long term storage media - I've got a server dedicated for storage of this sort of stuff so every DVD we get in from the crappy Archiving company goes onto that server.

 

[AJUK]

....1million DPI, or 5dpi, there is no inbetween.

LOL

What are the costs? I know it is difficult but with thousands of sheets of paper ranging from A4 to A0, how does the price structure work out?

As for the storage media, I wil transfer the data onto a server or a my computer (with back up) as soon as I get the info. I have a 200Gbs HD just for backup.

 

[Burbleflop]

I'll see if I can find out the costs. The stuff we have done is probably 95% A4, 5% A3.