Donovan Data Systems goes green and saves three million sheets of paper a month

July 2008 was our first major Go Green milestone, when we replaced most of our traditional paper reports with more efficient online versions. Since then, we've worked with our clients to further reduce our printing by 75%, saving around three million sheets of paper every month.

We were able to stop printing most DDS-generated reports after introducing DDS Archive, an online report storage application, developed in conjunction with DataWatch, a leader in data mining.

DDS Archive electronically stores business-critical reports that clients used to print. Other reports that provide information for day-to-day operations and don't need to be stored are now accessed online or are being replaced by applications with greater reporting and analytics.

Online report storage saves clients time and effort, and eases the audit process. "DDS Archive gives us easy access to our billing, and we don't have to worry about delays due to shipping," says Ray Calder, media accounting supervisor, DDB Los Angeles. "DDS Archive has been great when researching copies of old invoices," adds Johanna Francisco, production accounting supervisor, DDB, Los Angeles.

"Clients like the immediacy of online reports," says Sophia Barberini, director of Client Service at DDS. "They also appreciate the space savings, since they no longer need to file paper, and the increased security for these documents provided by DDS Archive. Additionally, our clients endorse the positive environmental impact of reduced printing and road deliveries, which is really quite significant."

DDS continues to focus on reducing paper usage. By the end of July 2009, we're expecting another substantial drop in printing, as we make even more reports available online.