While the great majority of U.S. firms continue to perform all their document management internally, a growing number are outsourcing at least a part of that burden.

According to a survey conducted by Océ Business Services (now a division of Canon), reducing costs and increasing overall efficiency are the main motives for an increased willingness to allow third-party experts take over some of the document management burden.

The survey, conducted in February 2010, got feedback from around 180 executives, including IT managers, operations managers and chief executives coming from a variety of business categories. The companies surveyed included mostly small-to-midsize businesses, along with a sprinkling of large enterprises.

Results of the survey include:

• A slight majority of companies are planning on increasing spending on document imaging (scanning, sharing and archiving documents) in the upcoming year.
• A growing number of companies are starting to outsource data management services, from managing the printer and copier fleet to managing records.
• A small but growing number (12%) of companies are scanning and distributing incoming paper mail, especially those related to business processes. The reasons for doing this range from increasing delivery speed to better maintaining a digital trail for record keeping.
• 83% of companies have a records management program in place, but relatively few have a clear records retention policy or a fully planned electronic records depository.

Tags: document management, Océ Business Service, outsourcing