They may be expensive office equipment, but, paper shredders are actually necessary for protecting the company's interests and identity. According to the UK Fraud Protection Service (CIFAS), nearly two out of three cases of fraud in 2013 were identity thefts or account takeovers; crimes that can be committed by simply rummaging trash bins for old documents. Even seemingly useless papers like old bank receipts can be used by fraudsters these days.

As such, it is important for businesses and ordinary people alike to shred what they don't need in order to protect themselves. This is the reason why storage companies also provide reliable shredding services since they can also be instructed to shred any documents they have in storage at the request of their clients. CIFAS says that papers containing personal information (i.e. old employee records) should always be shredded before being disposed.

However, some papers (like tax returns) may need to be kept long after they've served their purpose. Correspondence between and among employees, officers, and other businesspeople need to be analyzed carefully before they can be sent to the shredder, although it may also be prudent to keep them for future reference. Regardless of their fate, such documents need to be stored in secure storage facilities for safekeeping.

Since every company or institution accumulates piles of paperwork at some point, the need for document storage and management solutions is obvious. While most storage companies offer vaults and facilities to provide reliable and secure storage services to their clients, some also employ computers for the same purpose. It may be more complex and requires more advanced facilities, but electronic or “paperless” document management is steadily growing in popularity for a number of reasons.

One of them is convenience: electronic files can be accessed easily with a few mouse clicks, as opposed to opening a file cabinet and searching the desired files by hand. Aside from that, electronic files can be duplicated and shared with other employees almost effortlessly. There is also the fact that electronic files can be scanned for specific parts, statements, or words; allowing employees to find exactly what they're looking for in them.

Another benefit of electronic document management is security: electronic files are a lot harder to steal so long as the server that holds them only allows a handful of people to access it. In case the server gets compromised, storage companies can simply transfer the files to another server. This is also another reason why electronic management is used to form continuity management and disaster recovery plans since it is faster and less bulkier than traditional document storage solutions.