What is the difference between SharePoint or Google Drive and a document management system?
SharePoint and Google Drive stores and shares files; a document management system governs them. Governance adds what storage lacks: a defined owner and status for each document, approval workflows, version control that designates the version in force, retention rules, and a complete audit trail. Teams typically keep working in Drive while the management layer enforces these controls on top, which is exactly how AODocs operates on Google Workspace.
What makes a document "authoritative" in a document management system?
An authoritative document has four properties: a designated owner, an explicit status (draft, approved, in force, retired...), an approval history showing who validated it and when, and a guarantee that search returns this version rather than an older copy. Without these, a company has files; with them, it has a record it can act on and defend in an audit.
What should a document control software pilot test?
Use representative documents, metadata, roles, and external participants. Test revision status, approval, transmittal, restricted access, reports, export, and handover evidence against agreed acceptance criteria.
When is document control software not the right tool?
It is not necessarily the system of record for planning, scheduling, cost control, BIM authoring, field execution, project management, or project controls. Define which system owns each decision and how approved document information moves between them, since the right software depends on that ownership.
