Document management system requirements: a checklist with our own answers

Here are 20 requirements, each written as a question you can copy into your request for proposal; ask every vendor for a link to the page where each answer is published. After each question is one sentence on why it matters, then how Arhivix meets it, as of 11 November 2026.

Finding and organizing

1. Can people search inside documents, scans included, and in which plans? If search covers only file names, a scanned contract can be found only by the person who named the file. Arhivix: Yes. Arhivix runs OCR on scans, and every paid plan searches inside documents, scans included.
2. Can people find a document by describing it in plain words? People remember what a document was about long after they forget its file name or the folder it was saved in. Arhivix: Yes, in every paid plan. Search turns a plain description into filters, shows them as “Interpreted as” and adds matches by meaning, and it returns the matching documents.
3. Are documents organized in folders, by metadata, or both? Folders depend on one person’s logic, while metadata lets the same document be found by client, type or date. Arhivix: Both. Workspaces and folders carry their own permissions, and for each document AI proposes the type, tags and key details such as supplier, amount, dates and numbers; a person confirms them, and search filters by them.

Versions and editing

4. Is every change kept as a version, and can an earlier version be restored? When a figure or a clause is disputed, you need to see what the document said before it was changed. Arhivix: Yes. Every save becomes a new version, and any earlier version can be restored while the current one stays in the history.
5. Does the system warn when the same document arrives twice? An invoice that comes by email and again on paper is easy to file, and to pay, twice. Arhivix: It warns about possible duplicates: the same invoice number, the same vendor and amount, or an identical file. A person decides what to keep.
6. Can PDFs be signed electronically inside the system, and on which devices? Signing in another tool means downloading, signing and uploading again, and the signed copy can end up outside the archive. Arhivix: Yes. PDFs are signed in the built-in editor with a certificate installed on the computer, and signing runs in the desktop app for Windows and macOS. Each plan includes a monthly number of timestamps for signing: 5 on the free plan, then 50, 300 or 500.

Deadlines and audit

7. Does it create deadlines and send reminders, and through which channels? Notice periods and expiry dates are missed when the reminder depends on someone’s personal calendar. Arhivix: Yes. For a contract with an end date, Arhivix sets two deadlines by itself: the expiry and the last day to give notice. Reminders are added by a person, with the number of days ahead, and arrive in the app and as a phone notification.
8. What does the audit log record, and can anyone in your company change it? An audit log proves something only if it covers opening and downloading, not just editing, and nobody inside the company can rewrite it. Arhivix: It records documents opened, viewed, downloaded, printed and shared, share links created, opened and revoked, sign-ins and failed sign-ins, role changes and two-factor events: 73 action types in all. The customer cannot change the log.

Access and sharing

9. Can access be limited per workspace and folder, and which roles come ready? Payroll, contracts and personnel files should not be open to everyone who can see invoices. Arhivix: Built-in roles are Administrator, Member, Developer and Viewer. Access is set per workspace and folder (read; read and write; read, write and delete; full access) and can apply to subfolders.
10. How are documents shared with people outside the company? An email attachment leaves no record and cannot be taken back once it is sent. Arhivix: As a link with an expiry date and a password, or by sharing a folder with another company that uses Arhivix, where shared documents arrive in a received-shares inbox. Creating, opening and revoking a share link is logged.

Getting documents in

11. Can company email inboxes feed the archive directly? Many documents arrive as email attachments and otherwise stay in personal inboxes. Arhivix: Yes. Gmail, Microsoft 365 (Outlook) and IMAP inboxes connect and are assigned to users, and email rules file attachments to a folder, set the document type or notify someone, based on sender, subject or content. The plan sets the number of inboxes: 1 on the free plan, then 3, 10 or 30.
12. Does the system read scans and propose the document type and key details, and who confirms them? Automatic reading saves typing, but a wrong detail filed without review is hard to find later. Arhivix: Arhivix runs OCR on scans, recognizes the document type (22 types, such as invoice, contract, delivery note, receipt, certificate and bank statement) and proposes a category, tags and key details. Every read detail is a proposal a person confirms, and documents whose classification is uncertain wait in the Smart Inbox.
13. How do existing folders get in, and is a migration project needed? Moving years of file-server folders can stall a rollout, so ask what is imported and who does the work. Arhivix: You upload existing folders or connect an email inbox, and Arhivix indexes the documents in the background; standard plans need no migration project. Enterprise contracts include migration.

Integrations and sign-in

14. How does it work with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace? People keep working in Outlook, Gmail and Office, so the system has to take documents from there and use the same accounts. Arhivix: Microsoft 365: sign-in with Microsoft Entra ID, SCIM provisioning, role mapping, import of a whole tenant with its groups becoming roles, document libraries and Outlook inboxes. Google Workspace: Gmail inboxes, Google Drive workspace sync, Calendar, Contacts and Google sign-in.

Hosting, security and leaving

15. Where are the documents hosted, and how are they encrypted? Data protection officers and auditors ask for the country, the provider and the encryption in writing. Arhivix: On AWS in the EU (Frankfurt and Dublin). Files are encrypted at rest with AES-256 using AWS-managed keys, and in transit with TLS.
16. What does the data processing agreement say, and may your data be used to train AI models? Under GDPR a vendor that stores your documents is usually your processor, and its duties must be set in a contract that binds it. Arhivix: The customer is the controller and NOTIX the processor. The data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR is part of the terms and is available to paid customers on request, the list of sub-processors is published, and the agreement forbids using customer data to train AI models. A personal data breach is reported no later than 72 hours after NOTIX becomes aware of it.
17. If you cancel, how long do you have to export, and when is everything deleted? The exit terms decide what leaving costs, and they are easier to agree before signing than after. Arhivix: You have 30 days to export your documents after cancellation. Everything, backups included, is deleted within 120 days.

Price and rollout

18. Is the price per user or per company, and is there a free plan? A price per user grows with every colleague who only needs to look up a document now and then. Arhivix: Per company. Plans include 5, 10 or 20 user accounts and unlimited devices, and Enterprise is a contract priced per organization. The free plan, Arhivix Lite, includes 1 GB, 2 users and 1 workspace and needs no card. The plans are on the pricing page.
19. What costs extra: storage, signatures, setup? The plan price is only part of the cost when storage, signatures and setup are billed separately. Arhivix: There are no setup fees. Paid plans include 100, 500 or 1,000 GB of storage and 50, 300 or 500 timestamps a month; storage and timestamps above that are billed per GB and per timestamp, at the rates on the pricing page. Search inside documents and API access are in every paid plan.
20. Can you set it up yourselves, or does it take a partner? A rollout led by a partner adds consulting fees to the licence and depends on the partner’s availability. Arhivix: You set it up yourselves: sign up, upload folders or connect an inbox, and change the plan at any time. Support is by email on Basic and priority email on Premium and Ultimate, Monday to Friday from 09:00 to 17:00 CET.

Arhivix is our product: this page is published by NOTIX DOO Beograd, Serbia, which makes it. Facts about DocuWare, Folderit, M-Files and Microsoft SharePoint come from each vendor’s public pages (pricing pages, product pages, documentation and help centres), opened on 11 November 2026 and listed under Sources or linked in the text. The Arhivix answers in the checklist describe the product as it was on 11 November 2026.