History of Document Storage

History of Document Storage

When did document storage begin?

It was in the beginning of 1980 that companies and business owners started creating systems to manage their paper documents.

Moving from hard copies to electronic

After this came the need to develop a system to organize and store electronic documents securely and easily accessible. These systems are often called Document Management Systems (DMS) or Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS). With electronic documents it was necessary to be able to store all the different formats that were electronically available.

Later on these systems became known as document imaging systems because they were primarily used to capture, store, index and retrieve images or image file formats. Companies would take scans of documents and faxes and store them electronically to save time when trying to retrieve the documents and to minimalize the risk of the documents being destroyed, stolen or being lost.

Online electronic documents

Today electronic documents can be stored on network systems and are password protected so to increase the security. Documents can also be stored online via the internet, again password protected.

The advantage to this is that the password details can be given to employees from around the globe who can log in and find specific documents and then download them direct to their computer. Users can also create or update documents and upload them back to the storage space ready for other users or later use.

The disadvantage to the system being online rather than being on a network within premises is that anyone can theoretically hack into the system and so the security risk is at a higher level. With a network system in-house for a person to gain access to this they would need to break into the building / premises and then hack into the password protected area, a system online the person can attempt to gain access from anywhere.

Document storage has grown exponentially as has the need and requirements for businesses both in hard copy and electronic formats.

Read more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document_Management