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Business File Sharing Online = A Paper-Free Future?

File Sharing Infographics
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Will online business file sharing solutions lead to paper-free offices? To celebrate World Paper Free Day this year (November 4th 2016), we’re looking at the use of paper in offices, the benefits of going paper-free, and ways that your business can increase daily business processes whilst simultaneously saving the environment.

Business File Sharing Paper-Free Future Infographic

So, what’s the problem?

Each year, the World produces more than 300 million tonnes of paper. However, businesses are using too much of it. In fact, the average office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year. In addition to that, 45% of paper printed in offices end up being thrown away by the end of the day. So it’s not just that businesses are using a lot of paper, they’re wasting it, too (The Paperless Project).

 

How many businesses are paper-free?
  • Only 17% of offices are ‘mostly’ paper free (Nitro)
  • 31% of offices admitting to being ‘piled high with paper’ (Nitro)

In recent years, the benefits of business file sharing in the cloud has appealed to many organisations, encouraging the leap to a paper-free office. For instance it’s predicted that cloud data centres will process more than 86% of workloads by 2019 (Cisco).

 

What are the benefits of going paper-free?

Aside from the obvious reason of helping the environment, businesses can benefit for reasons such as reduced administration costs, better security for documents, and a more productive workspace for employees.

 

#1 Reduce admin costs

Save your company time and money with administration. Filing sets your business back an average of around $20 per month. What’s more, each misfiled document costs $125. Each lost document costs $350 to $700 – and large organisations lose a document every 12 seconds (The Paperless Project). When sharing business files in the cloud, your (virtual) filing will consist of: fast and secure document uploading into organised folder structures, search bar functionality for instant access to files, and easy external sharing with employees and clients – all included in your monthly software subscription.

 

#2 More secure documents

More than 70% of today’s businesses would fail within three weeks if they suffered a significant loss of paper-based records due to fire or flood (Fulcrum). Implementing cloud-based business file sharing would mean that your documents would still be retrievable from anywhere, securely. For example, if your computer broke, or was stolen, you would still be able to access your files from another computer; they’ll be stored safely in the cloud and can be retrieved through the Internet. 

 
#3 A more productive workspace

A typical employee spends 30-40% of their time looking for information locked in email and filing cabinets (The Paperless Project). Going paper-less and moving to cloud-based business file sharing will provide a more productive workspace for employees and clients. Projects can be completed faster due to instant access to files and folders, and team participation will increase as a result of a more transparent working environment.

 

#4 Help the environment

Less paper means that fewer trees need to be cut down. With your documents digitalised, there’s less need for physical copies, mail or documentation, therefore reducing your carbon footprint. In fact, producing one tonne of printing paper costs the earth 24 trees (Sustainable Business Toolkit). By going paper-free and choosing cloud-based business file sharing, you are saving your organisation money whilst becoming a more eco-friendly company and improving your reputation as a ‘green’ brand.

 

What’s being done about it?

Organisations (both large and small) are beginning to take action, as the developments of cloud solutions are becoming a popular choice for business file management. 

  • 92% of organisations say that removing paper from business processes is a constant objective (Nitro)
  • 33% are ‘nearly there’ on becoming paper-free (Nitro)
  • 16% are actively looking at every process to eliminate paper (Nitro)

 

What can your organisation do to become paper-free?

Choose an online business file sharing solution like Clinked. Clinked provides businesses with a secure cloud workspace to encourage an organised, collaborative environment for teams. Have 24/7 access to documents, improve the transparency of projects and increase the security of your files, all whilst helping the environment.

 

Have a look around our website, find out some more information about our business file sharing solution and sign up for your 10 day free trial if you think Clinked could be the right client portal for your business!

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