How Offsite Records Storage Saves You Money

Corodata TeamJul. 29, 2025 | Records Management, Records Storage, Scanning |

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Many organizations, especially those in heavily regulated industries such as healthcare, finance, and government, bleed money on records management. The strict compliance requirements, high volume of sensitive records, and demand for top-tier technology translate into real-world financial pressures. 

Digitizing may reduce space and document retrieval costs, but physical records still play a vital role in business operations. They ensure legal compliance in some cases and may save on scanning costs for less frequently accessed files. 

Offsite document storage involves partnering with a third-party service to sort, digitize, and transport your records to a secure facility for storage. This eliminates the major costs of storing records in-house, including the need for specialized facilities and ongoing compliance monitoring.   

What Is Offsite Document Storage and Why Use It?

Offsite document storage is the practice of storing a company’s records in a location separate from the office. These records can be in electronic formats, such as scanned files and backup tapes, or paper format and stored in special boxes. 

Although today’s businesses strive to fully digitize their operations, retaining a hybrid records management system remains critical. Having both paper and digital records optimizes office space to its best use, reduces costs, and provides a backup in case of a disaster.

For instance, original documents that prove legal ownership, such as land and car titles, are best kept in paper format for data integrity. However, onsite storage costs for these records can quickly add up as your company grows. Secure offsite storage saves you money by freeing up office space, enhancing compliance, and allowing employees to focus on other important tasks instead of records management. 

Scan vs Store Records: What’s More Cost-Effective?

Scanning paper records and storing them in digital formats promises improved document searchability, security, and accessibility. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always translate to reduced records management costs. Scanning every record upfront is often more expensive and unnecessary. 

For cost-effective records storage, it’s best to scan documents selectively while storing or archiving the rest. Documents that are cheaper to scan than store in the long run are high-access files in active use, such as insurance documents, legal case files, and medical X-rays. Long-term paper record retention, on the other hand, is ideal for archived files that are not in active use but hold critical information that must be preserved for a certain duration.

When Digitization Pays Off

An efficient hybrid records management system strikes a perfect balance between paper and electronic records. Digitization reduces storage space, enhances accessibility, and offers more secure encryption. However, poor execution can lead to over-digitization or unsustainable record systems, incurring unnecessary costs in labor and cloud storage.

Digitizing records is often worth the cost for:

  • Frequently retrieved records: Electronic records are easy to retrieve, access, and retain. Digitizing records makes them easier to access at any time from various locations, which is especially convenient for frequently needed documents. 
  • Collaboration-heavy teams: Digitization allows team members to collaborate easily and securely in real time, regardless of their location. This saves time, streamlines workflows, and improves communication and productivity. 
  • Regulatory requirements: Business records with long retention periods are best stored in digital format to save space and storage fees. Regulations, such as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), encourage digitization for enhanced data security, too. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) also provides recommendations on digitizing and handling electronic tax records, which businesses must follow. 

Ultimately, digitization can save your company a huge chunk of operational costs. It reduces manual handling of records, which gives your employees more time to focus on other business-critical tasks.

Download the Hybrid Records Management Checklist

Real Cost Savings from Offsite Records Storage

The evident returns on investment for offsite storage make it a viable option, especially for companies that have accumulated a lot of records over the years of being in business.  

Offsite records storage cost savings include:

Reduced Office Square Footage

In-house records storage occupies a significant portion of office space. It’s even worse when there’s poor document organization, and records use up more space than they should. 

Transferring these records to an offsite location frees up space, whose cost can be hefty, especially in prime locations. This also eliminates in-house storage infrastructure costs, including shelves, cabinets, and security systems.    

Lower Internal Labor Costs

Storing your records in-house also means having a dedicated in-house records management team for document indexing and retrieval, security and maintenance, access control, legal advisors to ensure compliance, and so on. This can run up your labor costs higher than necessary. 

Offsite records storage companies provide all the services above, and more, under one roof and at a lower cost. From transporting your business records to delivering them upon request and destroying them at the end of their life cycle, all the labor costs are on the provider.     

Avoidance of Compliance Fines

Business records are highly regulated because they contain sensitive information. Offsite records cost savings are high and achieved through enhanced security and compliance by:

  • Storing records away from the office, where the likelihood of unauthorized access is higher
  • Using compliant means of transferring records to the storage facilities 
  • Adhering to retention schedules and using compliant means to destroy records
  • Storing records in highly secured, fire-resistant, and climate-controlled facilities for maximum physical protection  

Predictable Monthly Fees vs Unexpected Storage Issues

With offsite records storage providers, you know exactly what you’re getting and at what price, compared to in-house management, where fees tend to fluctuate. For example, monthly labor costs may vary due to training requirements, overtime, or staff turnover. Records management technology may also require upgrades or maintenance. In-house records are also prone to unexpected storage issues, such as climate-related disasters and fires. 

Offsite facilities provide disaster recovery storage and a business continuity plan in case of irreversible records damage at the office. 

How Corodata Preserves Documents Securely

Security is one of Corodata’s four core operating values. With over 70 years of experience serving California businesses, healthcare facilities, and government offices, we understand the cost implications of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands. 

Corodata maintains top document security by providing:

  • Professional-grade facilities: We have five state-of-the-art physical offsite storage facilities across California. We invest in the best technology to reduce long-term records risk and replacement costs. 
  • Environmental controls and secure shelving: Our offsite facilities utilize specialized control technology to regulate temperatures and humidity in storage rooms. For instance, medical records, such as pathology slides, may require climate-controlled environments to maintain data integrity. 
  • Firelock vault protection: To prevent one of the most common disasters in records management, Corodata has high-grade fireproof vaults. This means your records are safe with us for as long as you need.

What to Look for in a Document Storage Provider

Here are a few questions to ask your potential offsite storage provider to determine if they’re a fit for your business:

  • Are there any hidden fees I should know about? Storage providers may lure companies by advertising a part of the total fees and feigning the rest as necessary add-ons. Corodata offers flexible month-to-month contracts, allowing you to invest for as long or as little as you need.   
  • What are your records retrieval times? Long retrieval times can delay vital business operations and push away customers. Corodata offers an online client portal for accessing, tracking, requesting, and scheduling pickups of digital or physical documents in our facilities.  
  • What security practices are in place at your facilities? Offsite facilities without proper security measures are prone to physical and cyber attacks. Corodata has round-the-clock security measures and high-grade technology to ensure the highest security levels for your records.  

The key requirements every reputable records storage service provider should meet include:

  • Obtaining key industry, state, and federal certifications, including Six Sigma and PRISM
  • Ensuring minimal retrieval times
  • Providing service-level guarantees to define the service scope and assure quality
  • Having expertise in your industry and, ideally, your state or locality

Pro Tip

For the fastest ROI, start by digitizing only your most-accessed documents—this approach minimizes disruption and controls costs, while offsite storage handles the rest securely and affordably.

Learn More

How to Build a Cost-Efficient Records Management Strategy

Businesses that plan for savings are more likely to see the results than those who wing it or react to clutter, often when it’s too late. Be among the ones who think ahead and leave others in the dust by striking a perfect balance between physical and digital storage. 

Drive success with your records management and save on office space, security, compliance fines, and more. Schedule a consultation or call with Corodata to kick-start your records management strategy.     

Frequently Asked Questions About Offsite Records Storage

How Does Offsite Records Storage Save Money?

Offsite records storage saves you money by freeing up significant office real estate, so you can put it to profitable use or do away with it altogether. There’s no more need to invest heavily in compliance and data security, either, as offsite storage providers have high-grade facilities that protect vital records from intrusions and environmental conditions. Employees also get more free time to focus on other tasks important to driving revenue. 

Is It Cheaper to Store Documents Offsite or Scan Them All?

Whether to scan and digitize your documents or store them in their original analog format depends on several factors. Ultimately, the ideal option is to have a hybrid records management system, which combines paper and digital formats. Scan files that are actively and frequently accessed, and store documents that are less frequently accessed but must be retained. 

What Types of Businesses Benefit Most From Offsite Records Storage?

Healthcare, legal, financial, education, and government offices benefit the most from offsite records storage because they:

  • Deal with sensitive data that must be retained for a long period  
  • Require enhanced data security for sensitive data
  • Have large volumes of records in paper format
  • Operate in heavily regulated industries and want to avoid compliance fines

How Secure and Cost-Effective Is Physical Document Preservation?

Physical document preservation is secure when all critical safety measures are implemented. However, digitizing documents offers enhanced security, improves team collaboration, and, in some cases, it’s a regulatory requirement. 

Physical documents are also prone to degradation, and it’s best to have a scanned backup of the file.  

Can I Mix Scanning and Storage to Save Money Long Term?

Yes, you can mix document scanning and storage to save money long term, but you must be strategic about it. The trick is to scan files you or your team access frequently and store the less-accessed files in paper format.