7 benefits of legacy records consolidation

Cleaning up legacy paper records can be a daunting challenge. You may find yourself dealing with thousands, or even tens of thousands, of files scattered across various locations. Records may also be stored onsite in your own record centers, filing rooms, employee desks, and filing cabinets. This creates a complex web of documents, making it difficult to understand what you have and nearly impossible to make informed and defensible decisions about each file. 

Why a dispersed records inventory is holding you back

Although many organizations have prioritized cleaning up legacy records, the problem persists, and over-retention remains a challenge, especially when records are spread across multiple locations and stored with different vendors. This fragmentation can stymie cleanup projects, hinder efficiency, escalate costs, and increase the risk of compliance issues. It also means time wasted searching for misplaced, scattered, or inaccessible documents, which directly impacts productivity and slows down critical decision-making.

To move forward and support your organization’s digital initiatives, addressing and making defensible decisions about legacy paper records is not just an option; it’s a necessity. Paper records must be reviewed, sorted, organized, digitized for easy access, and ultimately destroyed once compliance requirements have been met.

7 powerful benefits of records consolidation

Consolidating and cleaning up your paper records is more than streamlining your inventory; it's about gaining a strategic advantage. Here’s how consolidating can benefit your organization:

1. Enhance visibility and control: Consolidation provides a centralized view of your entire records inventory. With improved visibility, you’ll have better control over your information, facilitating quick and easy retrieval when needed, and can easily make disposition decisions.
2. Reduce costs: To reduce storage costs, only store what is necessary to meet compliance requirements. This starts with knowing what you have and making informed and defensible decisions on what needs to be retained, should be digitized, and can be destroyed. With the right consolidation and cleanup strategy, you can create a plan to make these strategic decisions every year and realize sustainable cost reduction.
3. Mitigate risk: Over-retaining paper records can lead to potential compliance issues and operational hiccups. When all your records are in one place, you can more easily make disposition decisions and meet your compliance obligations.  
4. Increase efficiency: A well-organized records inventory allows you to access and retrieve information quickly and efficiently, leading to increased productivity.
5. Accelerate digital transformation: Eliminating paper records is a vital step in embracing the digital transformation journey. Without it, you stay stuck in the past.
6. Prepare for AI: Organizing and making data accessible is crucial for artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. As you clean up your paper records, you can make strategic decisions about what should be digitized and in a format that supports advanced analytics.
7. Focus on key initiatives: By consolidating and eliminating your physical legacy records, you free up valuable time and resources that can be refocused on moving your organization forward and meeting your objectives.

Your partner for legacy records consolidation and cleanup

Iron Mountain offers a consolidated and comprehensive approach to assist organizations like yours in cleaning up their physical records inventory, regardless of location. With innovative solutions like Smart Suite and Clean Start, you can confidently tackle your legacy paper records once and for all.

Records stored offsite? 
Consolidate records with Iron Mountain and leverage our Smart Suite portfolio to clean up your inventory. This suite of solutions is specifically designed to help you make informed and defensible decisions about what to retain, digitize, or destroy. 

Records stored onsite? 
Through our Clean Start process, an Iron Mountain representative will assess your onsite records and provide recommendations to save costs, reduce risks, and meet compliance objectives.

As organizations look forward, the importance of cleaning up and eliminating paper records cannot be overstated. By partnering with experts like Iron Mountain, you can clean up your legacy paper records, reduce costs, and focus on what truly matters—your core objectives.

Ready to consolidate and accelerate your cleanup project?

Contact us today to learn how we can help.