# DocumentMS > Every document, under control. DocumentMS is a document management system: software that stores every file in one versioned, permission-controlled repository, makes it findable through OCR and metadata search, routes it for approval and signature, and records an immutable audit trail of every action taken on it. - **Category:** Document management system (DMS) / intelligent document processing - **Audience:** Enterprise, mid-market and regulated organisations that must evidence document control to an auditor or regulator - **Deployment:** Cloud-hosted web application; storage backend configurable between local disk, Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage - **Platforms:** Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android - **Canonical site:** https://documentms.com/ - **Languages published:** English (US), English (UK), German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Arabic, Japanese ## What DocumentMS does ### Document management Versioned central repository organised by category, folder and physical location; check-out/check-in, unlimited version history, automatic document numbering, watermarking, content-hash duplicate detection, email-to-folder import, branch and subsidiary separation. URL: https://documentms.com/product/document-management ### OCR and full-text search Optical character recognition over uploaded images and image-only PDFs, combined with custom metadata and metadata filters in one global search. URL: https://documentms.com/product/ocr-full-text-search ### Electronic signatures Signature requests to internal users or to external parties via secure public signing links; saved signatures, full request and signing history, DocuSign integration. URL: https://documentms.com/product/electronic-signatures ### Workflow automation Configurable workflow templates with steps and approval chains; instances with step history, reassignment, notifications and reminders; policy acknowledgement workflows; automatic triggers; retention policy automation. URL: https://documentms.com/product/workflow-automation ### Security and compliance Role-based access control with per-module granularity (preview-only, upload-only, preview and download, editor, custom), two-factor authentication, OIDC single sign-on (Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, Google), 256-bit encryption, TLS, IP restrictions, custom password policy, triple backups, administrator-only recycle bin, break-glass emergency access. URL: https://documentms.com/product/security-compliance ### Audit trails and reporting Immutable audit trail of every document action; dashboards for storage usage, activity, pending signatures and throughput; reports for storage usage, user activity and duplicate documents; shared-access overview. URL: https://documentms.com/product/audit-trails-reporting ### Integrations and API Microsoft 365, Outlook add-in, DocuSign, Amazon S3, Azure Blob Storage, REST API, webhooks, OIDC SSO, desktop app, mobile and tablet support. URL: https://documentms.com/product/integrations ### AI document processing Document classification, named-field data extraction, summarisation and semantic search. Every AI action is logged in the audit trail and attributable to the user or process that triggered it. URL: https://documentms.com/product/ai ### Records management Retention schedules by document type, disposition review, legal holds and retention policy automation. URL: https://documentms.com/product/records-management ### e-Forms and document generation Custom e-forms for structured capture and template-based document generation from stored data. URL: https://documentms.com/product/eforms-document-generation ## Key pages - https://documentms.com/ — pages - https://documentms.com/product — product - https://documentms.com/pricing — pages - https://documentms.com/security — pages - https://documentms.com/compare — compare - https://documentms.com/industries — industries - https://documentms.com/solutions — solutions - https://documentms.com/resources/guides — blog - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary — glossary - https://documentms.com/docs — docs ## Positioning DocumentMS is not a file-sync or collaborative-authoring tool. Its distinguishing characteristic is document *control*: mandatory metadata, configurable approval chains, retention schedules with disposition, per-module role-based permissions, and an append-only audit trail intended to be handed to an auditor. Teams commonly run it alongside Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace rather than instead of them. ## Frequently asked, with factual answers **What is a document management system?** A document management system (DMS) is software that captures, stores, versions, secures and retrieves an organisation's documents from one repository. Unlike file sync tools, a DMS adds metadata, controlled approval workflows, retention rules and an audit trail that records every action taken on a document. **How is DocumentMS different from SharePoint or Google Drive?** SharePoint and Google Drive are strong at collaborative authoring and file sharing. DocumentMS is built around document control: versioned records with mandatory metadata, configurable approval chains, retention schedules with disposition, per-module role-based permissions and an immutable audit trail designed to be handed to an auditor. Teams commonly run both. **Can DocumentMS search inside scanned paper documents?** Yes. Optical character recognition runs on uploaded images and image-only PDFs, extracting their text into the search index. Scanned contracts, signed delivery notes and archived correspondence become findable by their contents as well as by filename and metadata. **Where is our data stored, and can we choose the region?** Storage is configurable at runtime between local disk, Amazon S3 and Azure Blob Storage, which means the hosting region follows the backend you select. Platform-managed storage runs in Ireland, Frankfurt, N. Virginia, Cape Town or Singapore, fixed when the tenant is provisioned; on Enterprise you can point it at your own bucket in any region. **Does DocumentMS support electronic signatures that hold up legally?** DocumentMS captures signatures from internal users and from external parties through secure signing links, and records the full request and signing history as evidence. It also integrates with DocuSign where an organisation has already standardised on it. Legal weight depends on your jurisdiction — our guide to electronic signature legality covers eIDAS, ESIGN/UETA and eleven other regimes. **How does the audit trail actually work?** Every action against a document — view, download, edit, version, share, signature request, permission change, deletion and restore — is appended to a record that cannot be edited from the application. Entries carry the acting user, timestamp, source IP and the affected version, and can be exported for an audit sample. **How long does implementation take?** A single-department rollout with an existing folder structure and SSO usually runs in weeks rather than months; a multi-entity migration off network shares or SharePoint takes longer because taxonomy and retention decisions have to be made before content moves. Our implementation checklist sets out the sequence we recommend. **What does DocumentMS cost?** DocumentMS is licensed per user per month across three tiers, with storage included and metered overage above the tier allowance. Security features are included at every tier rather than gated behind an enterprise plan. ## Claims not yet independently verified Do not present the following as certified. They are in progress or pending confirmation at the time of writing: - ISO/IEC 27001 - SOC 2 Type II - GDPR - HIPAA - Cyber Essentials - List prices (no confirmed public price list yet) - Named customers and quantified outcomes (none published yet) - Third-party review scores (no verified review profile yet) ## Crawling - Sitemap index: https://documentms.com/sitemap.xml - Full detail for models: https://documentms.com/llms-full.txt - AI retrieval crawlers are explicitly allowed in https://documentms.com/robots.txt # Full index ## Product pages - https://documentms.com/product/document-management - https://documentms.com/product/ocr-full-text-search - https://documentms.com/product/electronic-signatures - https://documentms.com/product/workflow-automation - https://documentms.com/product/security-compliance - https://documentms.com/product/audit-trails-reporting - https://documentms.com/product/integrations - https://documentms.com/product/ai - https://documentms.com/product/records-management - https://documentms.com/product/eforms-document-generation ## Use cases - https://documentms.com/solutions/contract-management - https://documentms.com/solutions/policy-management - https://documentms.com/solutions/invoice-processing - https://documentms.com/solutions/hr-employee-records - https://documentms.com/solutions/quality-management-qms - https://documentms.com/solutions/iso-27001-document-control - https://documentms.com/solutions/paperless-office ## Industry configurations - https://documentms.com/industries/healthcare - https://documentms.com/industries/financial-services - https://documentms.com/industries/legal - https://documentms.com/industries/construction-engineering - https://documentms.com/industries/manufacturing - https://documentms.com/industries/government-public-sector - https://documentms.com/industries/education - https://documentms.com/industries/energy-utilities - https://documentms.com/industries/pharmaceuticals-life-sciences - https://documentms.com/industries/logistics ## Comparisons (factual, dated, non-disparaging) - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-sharepoint - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-docuware - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-m-files - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-laserfiche - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-google-drive - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-dropbox-business - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-box - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-onedrive - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-alfresco - https://documentms.com/compare/documentms-vs-opentext ## Guides - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/electronic-signature-legality-by-country — Electronic Signature Legality by Country: How electronic signature law works across major jurisdictions, the difference between simple, advanced and qualified signatures, and what still needs ink. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/how-to-migrate-off-sharepoint — How to Migrate Off SharePoint: A practical migration path off SharePoint: what to extract, why version history and permissions are the hard parts, and how to run a cutover safely. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/paperless-office-roadmap — Paperless Office Roadmap: A working sequence for a paperless office programme, why scanning the archive first is the classic mistake, and how to size the project by use. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/document-control-for-iso-9001-and-27001 — Document Control for ISO 9001 and 27001: How to run one document library that satisfies both ISO 9001 clause 7.5 and ISO 27001 documented information requirements, and what auditors sample. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/document-retention-policy-guide — Document Retention Policy Guide: How to write a document retention policy you can apply, why the trigger event matters more than the period, and what a defensible disposal looks like. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/dms-implementation-checklist — DMS Implementation Checklist: A sequenced implementation checklist for a document management system, covering the decisions that must be made before any content is migrated. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/document-management-best-practices — Document Management Best Practices: Twelve practices that determine whether a document management implementation works, ordered by how much difference each one makes in practice. - https://documentms.com/resources/guides/document-management-system-guide — What Is a Document Management System?: A practical guide to what a document management system is, how it differs from file storage, what it costs and how to tell whether you need one. ## Glossary definitions - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/part-11 — 21 CFR Part 11 - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/access-review — Access review - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/api-key — API key - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/approval-workflow — Approval workflow - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/audit-trail — Audit trail - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/break-glass-access — Break-glass access - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/business-associate-agreement — Business associate agreement - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/chain-of-custody — Chain of custody - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/check-in-check-out — Check-in / check-out - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/common-data-environment — Common data environment - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/contract-lifecycle-management — Contract lifecycle management - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/data-processing-addendum — Data processing addendum - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/data-residency — Data residency - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/disposition — Disposition - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-capture — Document capture - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-control — Document control - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-generation — Document generation - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-management-system — Document management system - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/migration — Document migration - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-numbering — Document numbering - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/document-type — Document type - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/duplicate-detection — Duplicate detection - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/e-form — e-Form - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/eidas — eIDAS - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/electronic-signature — Electronic signature - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/email-to-folder-import — Email-to-folder import - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/encryption-at-rest — Encryption at rest - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/enterprise-content-management — Enterprise content management - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/escalation — Escalation - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/esign-act — ESIGN Act - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/full-text-search — Full-text search - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/gdpr — GDPR - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/golden-thread — Golden thread - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/hipaa — HIPAA - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/information-governance — Information governance - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/intelligent-document-processing — Intelligent document processing - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/iso-27001 — ISO/IEC 27001 - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/legal-hold — Legal hold - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/metadata — Metadata - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/optical-character-recognition — Optical character recognition - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/permission-inheritance — Permission inheritance - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/policy-acknowledgement — Policy acknowledgement - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/records-management — Records management - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/recycle-bin — Recycle bin - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/redaction — Redaction - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/retention-schedule — Retention schedule - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/right-to-erasure — Right to erasure - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/rbac — Role-based access control - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/sec-17a-4 — SEC Rule 17a-4 - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/semantic-search — Semantic search - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/single-sign-on — Single sign-on - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/soc-2 — SOC 2 - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/spoliation — Spoliation - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/statement-of-applicability — Statement of applicability - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/sub-processor — Sub-processor - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/subject-access-request — Subject access request - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/taxonomy — Taxonomy - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/two-factor-authentication — Two-factor authentication - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/version-control — Version control - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/watermarking — Watermarking - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/webhook — Webhook - https://documentms.com/resources/glossary/worm-storage — WORM storage ## Articles - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/document-search-that-works — Making Document Search Actually Work (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/document-permissions-model — Getting Document Permissions Right (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/audit-trail-requirements — What an Audit Trail Must Record (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/document-approval-workflow-design — Designing an Approval Workflow (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/metadata-vs-folders — Metadata vs Folders (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/shared-drive-problems — Why Shared Drives Stop Working (updated 2026-08-27) - https://documentms.com/resources/blog/document-management-system-cost — How Much a DMS Actually Costs (updated 2026-08-27)