Do you have a document dilemma?
Do you have a document dilemma at your office or home? You might be wondering if you should just put old documents in your recycling bin, or if you really need them securely shred. -However, instead of getting those questions answered, you’re letting your documents take over. if you are trying to figure out what documents need to be securely destroyed, companies and individuals have gone to a “Shred all Program” to take away the uncertainty and make sure they do not put themselves in jeopardy of a data breach. Here are four signs that you should hire a professional document destruction company.
- Your industry has rules
Almost every industry has some sort of regulating body or association that sets benchmarks or certain requirements. However, if you work in a federal or state regulated industry that dictates what kind of information your business needs to retain, and outlines how documents need to be destroyed, you likely already have a professional document destruction company contracted.
If you’ve been holding off on hiring one because you think it’s too expensive, or you think it’s something you can handle in house, did you know the average cost of a data breach according to a recent study by IBM is $3.9 million?
Also, if you have a current provider, have you looked at your invoice recently? It might be worth a brief review to insure you’re not paying more than you need to. If you’re in the market to get a comparison quote, get one from us here (insert get a quote form link).
- You’re shredding documents in house
Over the years we’ve heard almost every reason in the world as to why people are handling document destruction in house. Then we’ve heard some astounding stories about the reason people are now being forced to or are motivated to outsource their document destruction to a professional provider. A lot of companies and individuals initially think it will be expensive. But once they see the quote for having it professionally handled, and do the math related to how much time they are spending or an employee is spending to tackle this joyless task, the math works in the favor of securely outsourcing shredding.
- You have a growing “shredding pile”
If you have a desk or area in your home or office that looks eerily similar to the one pictured at the beginning of the blog, you definitely have a growing “shredding pile” that is threatening to need its own nameplate. If your shredding pile could be mistaken for an actual storage room, it’s time to get outside help. The security risk of not know who’s accessing “the shredding pile” should be concerning enough to inspire you to get a quote from a professional document destruction service. And, don’t forget about the fact that once the pile is gone, you will no longer experience the anxiety and dread of knowing someone should do something with “the shredding pile.” -if you are worried about a data breach, we also have Shred Right Readiness Pro that can help you assess areas of your data retention or destruction that could use some improvement.
Lastly, because you’ll have a plan from a professional document destruction provider in place to securely destroy your confidential documents, “the shredding pile” should literally never re-appear.
- You don’t have a person in charge of document destruction
“The shredding pile” we reference in the last paragraph likely appeared because you haven’t assigned one person to take charge of secure document destruction. Perhaps it’s something you deal with once a year, and the responsibility falls to a new person each year in order to fairly distribute this un-glamourous task. Or, perhaps there’s a once a quarter mandate to add to “the shredding pile,” and someone is supposed to figure out how to make the pile disappear before next quarter. Regardless, the task doesn’t have an owner, no one is volunteering for the role, and your document destruction is taking up more and more valuable real estate. If this sounds like your current plan for document destruction at your home or office, it’s likely time to outsource it.
If you’ve thought about needing a professional document destruction provider, but have thought it’s too expensive, or didn’t know where to start, our customer support specialists are trained to walk you through it in one easy call. Get started by telling us about your secure document destruction needs here (link to get a quote form). We’ll help get rid of “the shredding pile” in your office, give you or your employee hours back in your work week, and get you in compliance with applicable industry standards. And you’ll be able to ditch the noisy, dusty personal shredder once and for all!