Shredding News

Running a business is not without its occasional speedbumps. Whether you operate a retail store or work in finance – commercial, wholesale, or business-to-customer – you’ll know to look for certain signs to adjust inventory and advertising, but sometimes aspects of work creep up on you to the point that you don’t realize it until it’s too late. The need to clear the clutter from your office and headquarters, for example, can rise to an urgent level if you let things sit too long.

How do you know when it’s time to call a professional shredding service to come collect your invalid data for destruction? Aside from the obvious pile-up of papers and outdated software, there are more subtle warnings you should note first before the situations gets out of hand.

1) Updates in ERP software. If your company has recently upgraded or installed a brand new software system, chances are you have been left with quite a few obsolete disks and drives. Don’t erase them – chances are a hacker could still find sensitive data there. Anything that doesn’t work and shouldn’t leave the office needs to be destroyed.

2) Significant changes in personnel/business. Have you undergone layoffs? Perhaps business is booming and you’ve taken on more workers. Either way, a drastic change in the size of your business could render certain training manuals and policies invalid. It will be necessary to shred information considered confidential.

3) Suspicion of security breech. It only takes a simple threat to set off alarms. If your company has recently experienced the layoff or resignation of a disgruntled employee, it’s best to ensure that your private information stays that way. Take care that superfluous paper data is always destroyed lest it could be taken home as a souvenir.

Be mindful of how your business works and what moves in and out of the offices. Huge changes in work usually signal huge changes in the way you handle document destruction.