Proper disposal of sensitive documents is a necessity for a wide range of businesses today. Whether because of outright legal obligations or the need to safeguard client relationships, companies of all stripes need to take great care to ensure that information they are entrusted with does not find its way into the hands of those who might do harm with it.
Are you controlling your shred costs? That typically means arranging for the secure shredding and disposal of any kind of document that might conceivably pose such a threat. As those who have looked into the matter can attest, this apparently simple-seeming task actually conceals quite a bit of complexity. Secure shredding, it turns out, is not actually all that easy, requiring quite a bit in the way of specialized equipment and expertise.
It can also quickly become costly. That comes as an even bigger surprise to many, because it can seem like the task of cutting stacks of documents up into shreds should be cheap to do. In fact, however, all of the supporting activity that can arise around the task can easily balloon into non-trivial costs that should be dealt with.
That means it often makes sense to take a look at shredding arrangements with an eye not just toward security, but cost-effectiveness, as well. Taking a step back and asking “Are you controlling your shred costs?” can easily be the first step toward a series of simple improvements that can save an organization money.
The first place to look is at the processes that are used to gather and store documents which will be shredded. These can sometimes become unnecessarily time-consuming, often even because workers find them a good way of awarding themselves breaks from their regular duties.
Another obvious avenue for improvement, of course, is coming to more satisfying arrangements with a shredding vendor. Many of these experts are fully aware of how much the activity can impact their clients’ bottom lines and will work actively to help cut costs as a way of keeping business. In the end, then, the important thing is to ask the question in the first place, instead of continuing to pay too much.
