When I first heard the phrase “tactical Imaging”, it struck me as kind of militaristic. Just the word tactical smacks of battles and planning tactics on how to win and survive. But after thinking about this some more, I like “tactical imaging”.
Tactics involve having a plan to achieve a certain goal. The goal in this case is to decide what to scan or image regarding your paper documents, files, forms, etc. While tactical might also mean quick, in the case of imaging legacy documents, it is anything but quick. The tactics needed here are a plan, resources, a decision-maker, and the time and backbone to get it done.
Tactical imaging differs from strategic imaging in that tactical imaging can be done quickly and involve a few departments or areas as opposed to strategic imaging which is a long-term project where tremendous resources are needed and devoted to it to get the project done.
I like tactical imaging due to the short-term nature: you may not need all your documents imaged but may need certain categories of them imaged now. That gives you time to prioritize remaining documents, whether for imaging or for destruction.
For tactical imaging to work successfully, you will need the following:
- A Plan – What is to be imaged, who will do the imaging (on-site or a preferred vendor), and when can it be done. Basically, the who, what, where, and when.
- Resources – Obviously, money and who will pay for it. If on-site, then labor, scanners, and eventual document shredding. If an off-site preferred vendor: has the vendor been vetted or used before? Has their work been checked? Where will the scanned images reside?
- Decision-maker – Getting the resources approved and allocated may not be as easy as you think. The imaging must be justified and if done on a department/category level, it may be easier to fund as there may be available monies to do it.
- Time – What is the time allotted to do the imaging? Doing on-site imaging is lengthy and does not get the quality control of a professional image shop. You do not want to drag this project out as it may leave a bad taste in folks’ mouths and you may not get a chance at doing it for another department, etc.
- Backbone – Any new project or one that does not have the approval of all concerned requires a little consistency and discipline for completion. Hang in there; you want to get rid of those paper documents.
Tactical imaging is a way of getting your document imaging done on a smaller scale and getting on the right road to eventually imaging all your documents and going paper-lite or paperless.
There are records professionals in your area who specialize in this kind of records consulting. Utilizing them will save you time, money, and headaches in the future.
Related Posts
Data Breaches Are All Around Us It seems like every day we hear [...]
Can You Safeguard What You Don’t Directly Control? Navigating a work-from-anywhere (WFA) environment [...]
Information Governance Requires Defensible Destruction Part 1-Implementing Policies-The Hows and Whys Corporate workplaces [...]