What is the difference between data conversion and document conversion services?

On a regular basis, organisations get hold of a sizeable amount of data. This data is used for operations, planning, and for critical reasons including regulations filings,analysis for strategic planning and most importantly for sales processes. But not all of this data is in a usable format. Some may be handwritten notes, forms or surveys, while others may in picture formats, printed paper or in PDFs or in a scanned format. E.g. Invoices and contracts may be generated in physical copies with handwritten notes on it, while some purchase orders or quotes might have been generated in digital formatting. As businesses move on, it is harder to keep back-ups, check references and organise data, be it for returns, audits, a future reference, analysis or whether you would like to have a back-up for a rainy day. Data conversion services ensure the unification of all data into a usable easy-to-use format of choice, which can be easily stored, checked upon, organised by date or other specific requirements, and can be pulled out for an analysis or filing as per regulations. This also enables automation to a point which is not possible on an unreadable physical format. There are a number of reasons you need Document Conversion Services or Data Conversion Services. Some data and document conversions may include, but not limited to:

• Applications, Bank Statements and Survey formats
• Pay Slips, Addresses on labels
• Taxation Forms
• Insurance papers, Healthcare data and Banking Claims
• Local printed Directories, Printed Magazines or e-Magazines, Manuscripts, Journals and Periodicals
• Flyers, Service Brochures, Bill Remittances, Catalog and Mail Orders
• Automated Forms

Let us look at some advantages of the same.

• Quicker access to Digital data
• Organised data based on defined factors
• Identifiable data – using a unified format which is easy to use
• Reliability of organised data
• Data in digital formats areused for organised, permanent back up
• Save time in searches and analysis
• Save costs in terms of man-hours and accuracy of the analysis
• Lesser errors in analysis and filing
• Useless physical space for document management
• Security of data against theft, fire or other unforeseen calamities

Based on your need and processes, you may be converting data or documents. Now, is that different? Is data conversion not the same as document conversion? Well, it is not. There is a substantial difference in the two. Let us explain what data conversion is and what document conversion actually means.

What is Data Conversion?

Data conversion, specifically, refers to the conversion of one format into another. Let us explain this in some detail here. In the digitalised world of computers, data can be encoded in a number of different ways. e.g. Computer hardware is built based on a certain standards and operating systems are designed to handle certain data and file formats. As each operating system handles data in a manner different to the other, it is imperative that you change data formats when using a different operating system or a program. This means that any variable changes require you to custom convert data accordingly for us as desired. For data conversion services, a range of software may be used as this is not a manual process. The complexities may vary based on the data formats and operating systems involved. Data is read and processed by the operating systems and applications in varied manners, which means that when you want to use the same data for a different operating system or an application, data must be converted to the required format.

What is document conversion?

Converting a document from one format to another requires the documents to be converted to a digitalised format. Let’s say you have some handwritten data or typed data in a printed format or let us say you have scanned data, and you would like to convert it to a usable format for analysis on a digital format. That would be termed as a document conversion. This ensures the data is structured and organised for use.

As an organisation, many firms are now outsourcing data conversion servicesand document conversion services to outsourced units. Data conversion outsourcing relieves you of the stress related to the processes and allows you to focus on your core business tasks, thus giving you more space and time to work towards your business goals. The data conversion company employs experienced resources to complete the tasks in a specialised manner, and thus are able to provide quality services in document and data conversions to firms globally. The investments in technology, assets and resources made by the service provider helps relieves you of that investment too while still being able to reap the benefits. This result in multiple gains for the outsourcing firm over a period of time and can be termed as a wise decision for the larger good of the business.