Physically storing your organization’s documents can cost you $10,000 per year.

The solution to this problem is clear: a document management system.

The issue is that many don’t know exactly how to plan for the migration of estimate total expenses. In this article, we will help you get a clear idea.

Disclaimer: The numbers you will see throughout this article are not set in stone and can vary depending on location, document sensitivity, and backlog size.

What Is the Cost of Document Migration?

The cost of document migration refers to the complete expenses involved in converting physical documents into structured digital files that will be moved into a document management system or enterprise content management platform.

The migration cost includes preparing, scanning, indexing, and verifying historical documents. The process can be done in-house or can be outsourced to service providers.

On average, organizations can expect:

• In-house digitization: roughly 2.5 to 4.5 cents per page
• Outsourced digitization: typically 7 to 20+ cents per page depending on indexing depth and turnaround requirements

These estimates vary widely depending on backlog size, document condition, labor costs, and the level of metadata required. For large archives, even small per-page differences can significantly impact the total project budget.

Understanding where these costs come from allows decision-makers to plan realistically and avoid underestimating the effort involved in converting years of paper records into usable digital assets.

You also have to take into the account timelines. A single production line scanning 12,000 to 15,000 pages per day can process roughly 300,000 pages per month.

Larger projects may require multiple scanners and teams running in parallel.

Preparation time can sometimes exceed scanning time, especially with bound or fragile documents.

What Factors Influence the Cost of Document Migration?

No two migration projects are the same. The total cost depends on several operational variables that directly affect production speed, staffing needs, and technology requirements.

• Page volume

The most important cost driver is total page count. Large backlogs require more preparation time, scanning capacity, and indexing resources. Even small differences in per-page pricing can translate into substantial budget changes when dealing with hundreds of thousands or millions of pages.

• Document condition

Older files usually contain staples, bindings, fragile paper, and mixed page sizes. Preparing these documents for scanning can slow production significantly. Clean, standardized documents are far cheaper to process.

• Indexing depth

Indexing is one of the most expensive aspects of migration. Projects that require only a file name and date are relatively simple, while those needing 8–12 searchable metadata fields require more advanced tools or manual input. Without automation, the more index fields you need, the higher the cost.

• Turnaround time

Faster deadlines require more staff, additional scanners, or overtime production. Urgent projects are typically more expensive than phased migrations spread over several months.

How to Plan Your Migration to a DMS or ECM

More and more, documents are handled electronically, but this doesn’t mean there isn’t a huge backlog of documents and data that must be included into your document management system.

Migrating your documents to your new platform (whether it is a DMS or an ECM), involves scanning and indexing all paper documents, including books.

The challenge is no small undertaking, after all your backlog can hold years worth of data.

Historical records often remain locked in filing cabinets, archives, and storage rooms. These backlogs can represent decades of operational, legal, and financial information that must be preserved, digitized, and made searchable before a successful migration can take place.

Planning a migration therefore requires addressing not only system configuration and user adoption, but also the realities of document backlogs, digitization capacity, costs, and indexing strategy. Without a clear plan, backlog projects can quickly become expensive, slow, and disruptive.

Backlogs of Documents Can Represent Years of Data

Document backlogs are not small clean-up jobs. In many organizations, they consist of years’ worth of invoices, contracts, HR records, compliance files, technical documentation, and bound books.

These documents were created at a time when paper was the primary record format, and they often contain critical information that must remain accessible for audits, legal discovery, or business continuity.

Backlog digitization is best understood as a production job, not an IT task.

It requires dedicated people, equipment, and processes, similar to a manufacturing line. Treating it as an occasional side task almost always leads to delays, quality issues, and escalating costs.

For many, a question arises when coming face to face to a heavy backlog: Do I outsource the migration production line or can I do it in-house?

Average Costs of the Migration

To understand how you can on this process, let’s break down average costs to help you out.

Migration costs are often underestimated because organizations focus on ECM licensing and implementation while overlooking the operational cost of digitizing legacy documents.

In practice, the bulk of migration expense often comes from scanning, preparation, and indexing rather than the ECM itself.

When you factor all costs included when done in-house you also need to take into consideration the cost or hardware, the document preppers and the scanners. Without hiring indexers (which we will analyze further on), you would need 2-3 people on the job.

For 2 document preppers ($12 per hour) and 1 scanning operator ($18 per hour), you could be looking at $2,900 per month for just one salary, $6,720 for all three.

If you include manual indexing, the monthly price bumps up to $6900, plus scanners if you need to purchase them, final price could come to $10,000 for around 150,000 documents.

Basically, average digitization costs typically range between 2.5 and 4.5 cents per page when performed internally.

Outsourced service providers may quote anywhere from 7 cents to over 20 cents per page, depending on volume, indexing complexity, and turnaround time.

And although for some it is much easier to avoid the hassle, you should bear in mind that indexing in this case would only include 2-3 fields and is not a scalable choice.

Understanding how these costs are calculated is essential before approving service provider quotes or committing to an in-house project.

What Is Document Numerisation?

Document numerisation (digitization) is the process of converting physical documents into digital files that can be stored, searched, and managed in a DMS or ECM.

This process goes far beyond simply scanning paper into PDFs. Effective numerisation includes document preparation, image capture, OCR, indexing, quality control, compression, and secure delivery into the target system.

Modern digitization projects rely heavily on page counter software to accurately estimate workload and cost. By counting pages rather than documents, organizations can calculate realistic throughput, staffing requirements, and per-page costs before a single scanner is powered on.

With the paper to digital estimator, you can accurately assess how this process will impact your specific case, by predicting storage needs, scanning hours, and business days that will go into your document numerisation.

Why is Document Numerisation Important Before a Migration

Digitizing documents before migrating to a DMS or ECM ensures that legacy content enters the new system in a structured, searchable, and compliant state. Migrating paper-based chaos into a digital platform without proper indexing simply recreates the same problems in a new format.

Numerisation also allows organizations to clean up outdated records, apply retention policies, and reduce storage costs before go-live. By addressing backlogs upfront, organizations avoid overwhelming users with incomplete or poorly indexed content after migration.

Software and Hardware Needed For Document Numerisation

Aside from team members in the production line, you will also need to take into account the tools that can help you manage the migration without relying on external service providers.

Scanners

Scanner selection plays a major role in digitization planning.

While faster scanners increase throughput, costs rise exponentially. Entry-level production scanners can handle daily volumes effectively, while high-end models capable of 730 pages per minute (duplex) can cost $150,000, with lower-speed models priced well below that range.

For most organizations, ultra-high-speed scanners do not make financial sense unless document volumes are truly massive. Maintenance and downtime also become significant risks; unless multiple scanners are available, a single breakdown can halt production entirely. A good range is a scanner doing 100 to 160 pages per minute.

Refurbished scanners are increasingly popular and can reduce capital expenditure significantly, with capable models available for $5,000 to $16,000, that can later on be re-sold.

In many cases, organizations already own suitable hardware, making in-house digitization even more cost-effective.

Page Counters and Capture Software

In-house digitization typically begins with a detailed assessment of page volume.

For example, scanning 15,000 pages per day translates to roughly 300,000 pages per month. This level of output requires a structured production line.

Document preparation is often the most labor-intensive stage. Bound books are frequently cut into loose pages to extract the information inside, as the value lies in the content, not the physical format. Preparation may require two to three people, depending on document condition, folders, staples, paper clips, and binding.

With experienced staff, a preparation line can support scanning rates of roughly 130 pages per minute, resulting in 12,000 to 15,000 pages per day per operator over an eight-hour shift.

Scanning itself typically requires 1 operator working 8-hour shifts, or more depending on scanner speed and redundancy needs. Quality control staff are less critical than in the past due to improved scanner accuracy, but spot checks are still recommended for high-risk documents.

This process can be done easily by combining manpower with software.

A page counter will help you keep an exact record of all pages that will be migrated to your document management system and costs $79 per year.

Additionally, capture software will scan documents and automatically extract all information for its posterior indexation.

With Dokmee Capture, you can extract and digitize all information and then store in the platform of your choosing.

Automated Indexing

Outsourcing indexing is still one the most expensive and time-consuming part of digitization.

Human indexers manually enter metadata fields, often in offshore centers, creating bottlenecks, accuracy issues, and scalability problems.

Typically, service providers would only include a couple of index fields, such as file name and date, however, as file volumes increase, you would need many more fields that can hold metadata for effective document search and retrieval.

With service providers, costs increase sharply with the number of index fields required, and turnaround times suffered as volumes grow.

By automating indexation with advanced software, this bottleneck has largely disappeared.

With modern capture solutions such as Dokmee Capture, RPA and AI-driven indexing can automatically extract and populate 10 or more index fields per document without human intervention. Handwritten and typed content in more than 50 of the world’s most spoken languages can be recognized accurately.

AI-based indexing is more consistent and cost-effective than human indexing. It deleted fatigue-related errors and scales effortlessly with volume.

The importance of indexation

Indexation determines whether digitized documents are actually usable.

Without rich metadata, search performance suffers, users lose confidence in the system, and adoption drops. Ultimately, the migration could become useless, and turn your new DMS or ECM into regular storage, and not advanced document management systems.

AI-powered indexing allows you to apply complex classification schemes, something that would be prohibitively expensive with manual indexers.

Unlike human indexing teams, which are limited, costly, and inconsistent, AI can manage multiple index fields simultaneously with higher accuracy and lower cost. This shift fundamentally changes the economics of backlog digitization and makes in-house projects viable for organizations of all sizes.

In-House vs Service Providers, How to Make the Right Choice

Service providers are becoming harder to find as document volumes decline and paper-based workflows disappear.

Many providers now charge higher rates to compensate, often offering limited indexing flexibility. Quotes of 12 to 20 cents per page are increasingly common and quickly become uneconomical, especially when only a few index fields are included.

In other words, the total cost of the migration for 300,000 pages could range from $36.000 to $60.000.

In contrast, in-house digitization using modern scanners, capture software, and AI indexing can achieve total costs of approximately $10,000 per month for 300,000 pages, or roughly 3.3 cents per page, excluding equipment already owned.

Indexing large volumes, such as 150,000 documents, can be handled by RPA for around $3,000, regardless of indexing depth.

Dokmee supports the entire process, from scanning and OCR to compression and automated indexing, and can deliver content directly into Dokmee ECM or other ECM platforms. This flexibility can allow you to retain control, reduce costs, and future-proof your migration strategy.

Long-Term Value and ROI of Document Migration

While the upfront cost of digitizing backlogs can seem substantial, the long-term operational benefits often outweigh the initial investment.

Digitized records reduce reliance on physical storage, eliminate time spent searching through paper files, and improve access to critical information. Over time, organizations benefit from:

• Faster document retrieval and decision-making
• Lower physical storage and handling costs
• Improved compliance and audit readiness
• Reduced risk of lost or damaged records
• Greater efficiency across departments

Once documents are searchable and structured within a DMS or ECM, they become part of a connected information ecosystem that supports daily operations.

Instead of viewing migration as a one-time expense, many organizations see it as a foundational step toward long-term process improvement and operational resilience.

Planning Backlog Digitization with Confidence

Understanding the real cost of backlog digitization in 2026 empowers organizations to make informed decisions. By accurately counting pages, planning production lines, leveraging AI-driven indexing, and comparing in-house costs against service provider quotes, businesses can avoid unnecessary spending and delays.

A well-planned digitization strategy transforms document backlogs from a migration obstacle into a strategic asset, setting the foundation for a successful DMS or ECM implementation.

Rely on Dokmee’s Automation for the Most Accurate Migration

Dokmee supports organizations throughout the document migration journey, from early page counting and capture to OCR, indexing, and structured delivery into DMS or ECM environments.

With the right preparation and tools, teams can better estimate costs, plan production, and turn document backlogs into accessible, searchable information that supports future growth.

Book your free demo now and let our team guide you.