Ecologists and conservationists have been telling people since the 1970s that the rise in computer use will usher in a ‘paperless’ age. This was aptly described in the June 30, 1975 edition of BusinessWeek, in a piece called “The Office of the Future.” In it, the author describes how all the vital information kept in office filing cabinets, accounting logbooks and circulated memos can be put away in tiny microchips. These will be linked to one another for easy remote access, so all information need not be handled through hard copy.

Why is this significant? With the use of paper reduced, the change in the costs of its use and disposal both present interesting effects. From an environmental standpoint, this can create a massive impact on the rate at which trees are harvested for paper. The average U.S. office worker generates two pounds of paper waste daily, with some 10,000 sheets of printing and copying used in a year. This tremendous volume translates into waste, and also causes increased harvesting of forests for paper pulp.

Given the volume of paper used, it also follows that reduction of wasted paper is a sign of increased efficiency. It also does away with the need for storage space. Hospitals, government offices and corporations are prime examples of places where records involve much paper use. The cost of time, energy and money that go into maintaining these sheets of information are significant. The waste generated by these is also noteworthy, and the repercussions can be far-reaching without efforts toward the development of more efficient systems, which today’s technology can provide

This dream, after a little over twenty years down the road, is still a dream. People still consume copious amounts of paper in order to maintain hard copies of important documents. Legal procedures still require physical paperwork to be sent. People still issue receipts in hard copy, and the same goes with invoices, annual reports and other types of correspondence.

Progress towards this “paperless world” is taking shape. If Apple’s newly unveiled iPad is any indication of a possible trend or attitude shift, written content may soon move from hard copy to mobile, portable hardware that lets people access this data easily. Remote access to digital information has begun to take the first steps towards practical, marketable applications, especially with the continuing rise of the Internet, cloud computing and other networking technologies.

The idea of such operations may be quite difficult to achieve for most corporations. Small businesses, should they choose to pursue this as an objective, are bound to find this to be even more so. The use of elaborate networking, and the effort it will take to convert files into digital soft-copy documentation, can demand much particularly from a small business. The opportunity cost for this can be a difficult point to balance –the choice between investing in more efficient systems or in maintaining a cheaper, but fairly outmoded status quo is a challenging one to say the least. However, the future-proofing and savings on paper material that this change can bring may be more than enough to counter the initial headaches.

As the task entails major work in both keeping to a tight budget and bringing smooth IT functions online for greater efficiency, professional assistance may be the answer. Expert IT consultants can identify key points where proper data implementation can be conducted. Firms such as All Covered can find avenues through which a company can evolve to be not only more efficient, but also more ecologically sound.

To learn more about how you can safely secure your company’s wireless network and how to make your IT run more efficiently, visit us at All Covered or call 866-446-1133.