One additional cost that wasn't mention Greg's message was the annual software maintenance fee which could be 10-15% of
the the software.  Note:  Annual fee.
Bob Dalton, CRM
Dalton Consulting

-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Schildmeyer, Greg
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 2:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Cost Recovery for Scanning

<<What about time spent accessing paper VS. online documents?

If you never have to retrieve the Records, that might be a fair cost
comparison. Most of my clients like to be able to retrieve their
Records,
which is much more costly with paper than electronic. >>


I don't think we should ignore the costs of electronic retrieval.  The
biggest costs of imaging are all up front - prepping, scanning, QC-ing,
and indexing - and involve ALL the records in the system, no matter how
much or how little the records might be accessed after they are
initially viewed and filed.  And you have to do these steps well if you
want to be able to easily retrieve records - if you don't have a good
index and readable images, users will not be able to find what they need
and your expected efficiencies will be kaput.  Add to that the server
and personnel costs of storing, refreshing, migrating, and backing up
the electronic records, which costs are magnified many times over if the
system does not include a disposition element to regularly delete
records after their retention period.  

As Julie indicates, the more frequent your access to the system, the
lower your cost per access.  But if a significant percentage - pick a
number (35%?, 60%? 80%?) - of your imaged files just sit there unused,
the cost per access increases dramatically.

Greg Schildmeyer, CRM

"If the enemy is in range, so are you."

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