An accounting service that still processes its supplier invoices in a Windows folder hierarchy, with duplicates, conflicting versions, and a classification that depends on the person who scanned the document: this is the starting point for most electronic document management projects. Writing a specifications document for an EDM system begins well before the software selection.
Mapping Document Flows Before Listing Features
We regularly see companies starting their EDM specifications document with a list of desired features: OCR, validation workflow, electronic signature. The problem is that this approach puts the solution before the diagnosis.
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The first concrete step is to inventory each type of document processed by service. Supplier invoices, purchase orders, client contracts, pay slips, expense reports: each flow has its own circuit, its own stakeholders, its own retention periods.
For each flow, we note who produces the document, who validates it, where it is stored, how long it must be retained, and in what form. This fieldwork takes time, but it prevents discovering during full deployment that the chosen software does not handle a daily use case.
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A often overlooked point: volumes. An accounting firm that processes several thousand documents per month does not have the same indexing requirements as an industrial SME primarily managing technical documentation. The specifications document must quantify incoming and outgoing flows, even approximately, so that providers can correctly size their proposals.
Regulatory Constraints to Integrate into the EDM Specifications Document
Compliance is not a chapter to be added at the end to appear serious. It conditions structuring technical choices, particularly regarding archiving and hosting.
Probative Archiving and Electronic Signature
If the company wants its digitized documents to have the same legal value as paper originals, the specifications document must require compliance with the NF Z42-013 standard (or its ISO 14641 equivalent). This standard governs the integrity, sustainability, and traceability of archived documents.
The eIDAS regulation, which harmonizes electronic signatures at the European level, imposes signature levels (simple, advanced, qualified) whose choice depends on the type of document. Specifying the required signature level by type of flow avoids unpleasant surprises.
AI Act and Artificial Intelligence Features
Recent EDM solutions increasingly integrate artificial intelligence components: automatic classification, data extraction, semantic search. The AI Act, adopted by the European Parliament on March 13, 2024, and published in the Official Journal of the European Union on July 12, 2024, imposes specific obligations whenever a tool uses these technologies.
Specifically, the specifications document should provide for:
- The traceability of the AI models used by the solution, with the possibility of auditing their operation
- The management of training datasets, especially if internal documents feed these models
- The ability to disable high-risk AI features without compromising the core functionality of the EDM
Failing to address these points in the specifications document exposes one to costly non-compliance issues to correct after deployment.
Data Localization and Subcontracting Clauses
The guidelines from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), in their final version of February 20, 2024, strengthen requirements regarding the localization of cloud-hosted data and contractual clauses with subcontractors. The specifications document must specify whether hosting in a French data center is mandatory and require detailed access logs.
Functional Scope: Distinguishing the Necessary from the Desirable
A specifications document that mixes mandatory requirements and wishes always complicates the evaluation of offers. It is recommended to classify each requirement into three levels: mandatory, desirable, optional.
The features to prioritize:
- Multichannel capture (scanner, email, import from an ERP) and quality of optical character recognition
- Configurable validation workflows by document type, with management of delegations and automatic reminders
- Interoperability with the existing information system (ERP, accounting software, HRIS), via API or native connectors
- Granular access rights management, by service, by role, and by document type
- Search functionalities (full text, metadata, combined search) and speed of access on large volumes
Interoperability is often the criterion that distinguishes solutions. An EDM isolated from the rest of the information system generates double entry and hinders adoption by teams.
Selection Criteria for the EDM Provider and Project Support
The software represents only part of the project. The quality of the integrator weighs as much, if not more, in the success of the deployment. The specifications document must formalize expectations regarding support: preliminary audit, migration plan, user training, maintenance, and support.
Projects that fail often share a common trait: the absence of a pilot phase. Requiring a gradual deployment (one service, then a second, then generalization) reduces risks and allows for configuration adjustments before scaling up.
Deltic, a French company dedicated exclusively to EDM and dematerialization, designs and deploys solutions tailored to the document processes of each company. Its scope covers supplier, client, and human resources flows, through its software Zeendoc and DocuWare. As a Platinum reseller of Zeendoc and Platinum Partner of DocuWare, Deltic provides comprehensive support, from needs analysis to training and maintenance, with data storage in geographically distinct French data centers.
Formalizing selection criteria in the specifications document (editor certifications, sector references, service level commitments) allows for comparing offers on objective bases. A provider that does not detail its deployment plan or support commitments in its response sends a warning signal that should be taken seriously at this stage.