Too Small To “Go Paperless?”

Recently I was speaking to a fellow parent at my son’s school. She asked me what I did. I told her I help offices create environments with less paper and more control. She immediately understood what I did and told me that she was a lawyer who had recently stopped running a criminal defense and immigration firm. She said if she had been bigger and had been able to afford it she’d have loved to go paperless.

I hate this. Many fail to understand that the traditional barriers to a more automated office have largely been removed.

Thanks to cloud storage, software as a service, and subscription license models, you can reduce your entry costs while still providing the tools needed to gain efficiency. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each, and compare it to the traditional “perpetual model:”

PERPETUAL LICENSE:

This is the typical license you used to buy. It is software that could come as a download or in a “box.” You install it once and have the right to run the program for as long as it ( or your hardware) will support it.

Pro: Once you own it, it is yours, without recurring charges ( unless you add maintenance or support). This is a clear and easy to budget line item with no surprises in the cost.

Con:You only own what you own, and as enhancements to the product come out, you may have to purchase them separately, unless they are part of an ongoing support arrangement.

SOFTWARE AS A SERVICE ( CLOUD MODEL):

This is where you utilize a platform, but don’t actually own the software. You simply pay for the right to use it. In addition, all of the hardware is included for a turnkey fee so you don’t have the IT administrative overhead.

Pros: Typically is the lowest cost to start up, and doesn’t require a long-term commitment. It also has lower prerequisites, since you are “renting” the right to use the system. Administration is simple and updates are applied across the board.

Cons: To keep the price down, data is stored in data centers, and you may share server space ( physical or virtual) with other companies. While you own your data, you don’t own the software, so it can be difficult to exit the system. In addition, the systems generally include enough data storage for beginner users, but as the system scales, you want to pay attention to incremental fees for data transmission and storage, which can be substantial. Generally security is robust, but licenses are less flexible.

SUBSCRIPTION MODEL:

This is where you lease rights to a software program that you install and manage on your own equipment. It often includes more features and functions, but very often will have a minimum limit.

Pros: In the Laserfiche world, you get all the functionality that can be included with the product, which means that you can leverage value faster by proving concepts without requiring an additional spend. Additionally, you can know exactly what your spend will be annually based on user types (read/write or view only, or restricted participants). You can select whether to use on premise equipment or a cloud server environment. In our case, the licensing models are most flexible.

Finally you can flex the size of your system annually without losing access to your documents.

Cons: There is a minimum user count. This can force the hand of some organizations to the cloud model. At some point, you may have to buy a small single instance if you choose not to continue your subscription to maintain access to the documents.

Of the three options, there is generally a projected three to five year leveling for the systems: paying for cloud or subscription for three to five years would be the same as a perpetual model’s total cost of ownership, including annual support. Given that this parallels the evaluation cycle of IT products, the argument that after five years it’s cheaper to purchase outright becomes moot.

Regardless of where you are, assuming it is too expensive is a good way to get left behind. You are never too small to work smart!