If you plan to store documents in a storage container, then it often makes access to your files easier if they are stored on racks or shelving. Some storage companies will provide suitable racking or shelving for this purpose.
Paper documents take up large amounts of storage space and for archive documents that are needed only infrequently it is often much more cost-effective to store them off-site in a secure storage facility than take up valuable space in an expensive office location. A storage container is suitable for temporary or permanent document storage but you might want to consider specialist climate controlled storage if you anticipate documents being stored for many years or if they are very valuable.
Storing your documents off-site will release valuable office or warehouse space that will have rental costs far in excess of the cost of a storage container. In addition, the process of removing a document archive to storage will help in the organisation and cataloguing of the documents so that they are accurately filed for future use. On-site document archives that have simply grown over time are rarely well-organised. As the documents are sorted and prepared for off-site storage an efficient tracking system can be put in place that will allow easy retrieval of archive documents should they become necessary in the future. This will free up staff for more important work.
Archiving documents in this way will also ensure that a company is complying with all legal requirements. You do not want to find 5 years from now that documents that you should have been storing for this time have gone astray. A whole range of different types of business need to comply with regulations concerning data retention, for example, solicitors, accountants, insurance companies, healthcare organisations and publishing companies.
Some documents naturally contain highly sensitive data so you will need state-of-the-art security at the off-site facility but an added advantage of using an off-site facility is that the data is removed from the office environment where security measures may not be as stringent.
Another advantage to document storage is that critical business information is kept safe in the event of a disaster such as a fire at the business premises, which can bring peace of mind to the business owners.