--- title: "Document management guides · Solution Management" url: "https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/" language: "en" description: "Four guides for the person choosing a document management system: what a DMS is, why M-Files has no folders, M-Files next to SharePoint, and GDPR in practice." dateModified: "2026-10-22" --- Resources # Read before you choose a system Someone has to sort out the company's documents, and the job has landed with you. These four guides explain the options in plain words, so you know what to ask before you talk to a vendor, us included. ![An illustration of three article cards, each with a title, lines of text and a category label](https://solutionmanagement.eu/img/30qR9vBYpL-680.svg) Guides ## The four guides [### What is a document management system? What a DMS does that a shared drive cannot, and what it costs in practice. It ends with seven questions to put to every vendor. See the seven questions](https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/what-is-a-dms/) [### Why M‑Files has no folders M‑Files files every document by what it is. The guide follows a supplier contract and a quality procedure through saving, finding, access and deletion. See what changes](https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/why-m-files/) [### M‑Files vs SharePoint Which documents are fine in SharePoint, and which need rules that follow the document wherever it goes. Often the sensible answer is to run both. Read the comparison](https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/m-files-vs-sharepoint/) [### What GDPR asks of a document system Someone asks for a copy of their data, or a retention period runs out. Five things the system has to do then, set against the ten requirements put to a document system. See the five settings](https://solutionmanagement.eu/resources/gdpr-document-management/)  ![The Views home of an M-Files vault: the common views from governance documents and tasks to change requests and recorded issues, and the other views below](https://solutionmanagement.eu/img/y3AHC7zqyQ-200.webp) How to read them ## Pick the guide for your question If document management is new to you, start with what a document management system is: it says what every system does and what the licence price leaves out. If SharePoint is already in the building, go straight to the comparison; it says which documents are fine where they are and which need rules that follow the document. The GDPR guide is for the person who has to answer a request next month. Each guide stands on its own and ends with the questions to put to any vendor, us included. - Plain words — A term is explained before it is used, and no guide assumes you have seen a document system before. - What M‑Files does comes from its own documentation — Where something depends on the edition or the set-up, the guide says so rather than rounding up. - The questions apply to us too — Bring them to a demo. The people who answer them are the ones who implement M‑Files. [Book a demo](https://solutionmanagement.eu/book-a-demo/) M‑Files in detail ## Go further into one part of M‑Files [### Knowledge work automation Find information with M‑Files Aino, create and collaborate on documents, and automate workflows. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/knowledge-work-automation/) [### AI with M‑Files Aino Ask a document a question and get an answer with its sources, within your own permissions. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/ai/) [### Metadata instead of folders One document, filed once, visible under every customer, project and process it belongs to. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/metadata/) [### Intelligent Metadata Layer Network folders and SharePoint Online beside the vault, found by what the documents are. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/intelligent-metadata-layer/) [### Workflow automation Review, approval and deletion as workflows that tell the next person, hand out the task and record who did what. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/workflow-automation/) [### Microsoft 365 integration Open and save from Word, Excel and PowerPoint, with details from M‑Files written into the document. Outlook, Teams and SharePoint are covered too. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/microsoft-365/) [### Security and compliance Access that follows the document, an event log, deletion rules and encryption. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/security-compliance/) [### M‑Files and GDPR The ten data-privacy requirements for a document system, and how M‑Files handles each. See how it works](https://solutionmanagement.eu/m-files/gdpr/)  Ask us ## It is often quicker to ask If the guides do not answer your question, write to us. We answer the same working day, and our help while you find and select a system is free of charge. [Contact us](https://solutionmanagement.eu/contact/)