For decades, paper has been the primary (and sometimes only) means for record-keeping for organizations from all industries, in all shapes and sizes. Businesses have been built around hard copies and paper trails, and it can be difficult for some to imagine letting go of these tangible “security blankets” they’ve grown accustomed to. However, as more and more companies become savvy to available records management tools, and more sensitive to financial and environmental implications of paper-based processes, digital archiving is emerging as a reliable, effective means for storing and sharing documents over the long haul.
In fact, a January AIIM survey found that 90% of organizations are now using the PDF file format for long-term storage of scanned documents, while 89% are converting Microsoft Office files to PDF for sharing and archiving. Of course, paper is still in play in all organizations but, over the next 5 years, its use as a long-term storage format is expected to drop to 77%, with PDF rising to 93%. When commenting on the use of PDF as an archival format, Betsy Fanning, Director of Standards for AIIM, commented that “PDF/A is a good option for archiving electronic documents and is far better than archiving native files from any specific application.” (source: http://www.aiim.org/Research/PDF-Format-of-Choice-for-Document-Archiving.aspx)
A most interesting article - and something to keep an eye on.