Office Document Strategies Blog

One of the things we all know about our social media and internet activity is that it creates a large volume of data for the businesses who's tools we use.

Read More

Topics: privacy

Everyone knows that we live in a time of rapid technology change.  This is especially true in communication technologies as the mobile revolution has built a whole new way to attack many activities.

Read More

Topics: technology tools, privacy, Canadian Legislation, spam, Canadian IT

   In our office we saw two new BYOD devices (Bring Your Own Device) show up after the holiday gift giving season.  Not a lot until you work it out on a percentage basis and that is over 13% increase beyond the multiple of smartphones and tablets already being used.  Over 50% of our employee group has some sort of device connected to our wireless for at least part of the work day.

Read More

Topics: tablet, video, privacy, IT network, network security, BYOD

There was a recent article published in ITBusiness.ca entitled Worries over Patriot Act drives NDP to cloud encryption.

Read More

Topics: document filing, document storage strategy, document management, Document, privacy, office document strategy, Canadian Legislation

The recent news about the "lost" cancer reports that were sent to doctors around Ontario was the topic of some coverage on the CBC radio this morning.  Why is this important?  The story is really all about paperless filing.

Read More

Topics: document filing, document storage strategy, software tools, document management, Document, privacy, Canadian Legislation

I'm not convinced that a truly paperless office is possible, however i do think that there is a real convergence between the traditional paper based office and the world of document management using electronic tools. 

This video outlines the issues and some tips to understand as you look to embrace the convergence and move into a more electronic filing system. 
Understand the trends in the office which make it feasible to build a single system which works with your traditional paper structures and takes advantage of the advances which make electronic capability easier and lead to a better ROI.

Read More

Topics: document filing, document storage strategy, document management, Document, privacy, office document strategy

Much has been made about the CBS News report on digital copier hard drive security.  I have had discussions with several of our clients who were asking if they should be concerned.  We have advised them this is a manageable process.  In some ways it is similar to  shredding paper documents when they come to the end of their useful life.

 

The concerns raised have been known for several years and are similar to concerns with computer hard drives at the end of life of a computer.  None of the brands we carry were part of the subject of the report.

Multifunction printer manufacturers have responded to the need to provide security in several ways:

•  some have made removable hard drives available as options
•  all major manufacturers offer some form of security option which will provide levels of encryption and file removal
•  there are reformating options which are available through the service settings on machines which will overright the hard drive and return the device back to factory settings.

As a vendor of these devices we provide various levels of response to meet the varying needs of our clients:

1. at minimum we reformat drives at the end of a lease and return the multifunction copier back to factory specs.
2. for some brands we can remove the hard drive from the device, connect it to a computer and use drive overwrite software to wipe the data more securely.
3. for clients who have concerns about security during the active use of the device we will configure equipment with the encryption options available from our suppliers, Kyocera, Samsung and Ricoh.
4. if clients are exceptionally concerned about the potential of data on hard drives then we will offer to the client the ability to "buy" the hard drives from the device and we will put new drives into the device before returning.  The costs of this option will vary depending upon how the manufacturer has dealt with their hard drive design.  In some instances the drives have proprietary boot formats and are only available from the vendor leading to a more costly replacement.

While we have not experienced the level of data exposure that was shown in the news coverage the issue of client data security is important for every business. Responding to ensure procedures are in place to protect this information is important to everyone concerned.  When laptops, cell phones or desktop computers are recycled at end of life it is important that users are aware that all of these devices have non volatile memory locations which need to be cleared and data removed.  Print devices of all types which use hard drives to carry out their work are simply subject to the same precautions.

Working with your vendor to establish the right mix of security, cost and information protection is an important part of any acquisition in this digital world.  

Lee K

 

  Did you buy the data security kit with your new MFP?  Is this a concern for you? 

Read More

Topics: Multifunction Printer, Document, Copier, colour multifunction, privacy, colour multifunction printer

With the increasing concerns about personal and corporate privacy a properly designed paper shredding plan is necessary for all sizes of offices.  Long gone are the days when any business can afford to throw documents in the waste without being sure they are destroyed in a secure fashion.  

Read More

Topics: privacy, Paper shredding, shredders