Start with SharePoint. Know when to add a DMS.

When a team needs a document process, it reaches for SharePoint, and rightly so: it is already part of Microsoft 365, and Copilot works on top of it. Often, that is enough. Not always. Here is where the line is, and what AODocs adds inside your own tenant.

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This is probably your starting point

Most organisations already run a document management system of sorts: the one Microsoft 365 gives them. Start there.

Your documents in a Microsoft 365 world

Your teams create and share files in SharePoint and OneDrive, and ask Microsoft 365 Copilot, which draws on the same content. It all sits in your tenant, under your Microsoft security policies. For most collaborative work, this is the right place to start.

Where the line is

There is no universal threshold. These are the signals we see in practice.

Comparison
Criterion	SharePoint alone is enough	Add AODocs when
What documents do	They support collaboration: working drafts, team notes, project files nobody will audit	They carry proof: an auditor, a regulator or a court may ask who approved which version, and when
Document types	A few, with simple approval or none	Several, each with its own lifecycle and review cycle
Who takes part	One team owns the content and its rules	Suppliers, contractors or partners contribute or consume controlled documents
Role of AI	Convenience: summaries, search	Answers people act on, where a wrong answer has a cost
Who runs it	The people who build the flows will be there to run them	Custom flows depend on one or two people
Scale	Few sites, stable teams: conventions hold	Volumes grow across sites, teams and years, beyond what conventions can hold

What documents do

SharePoint alone is enough

They support collaboration: working drafts, team notes, project files nobody will audit

Add AODocs when

They carry proof: an auditor, a regulator or a court may ask who approved which version, and when

Document types

SharePoint alone is enough

A few, with simple approval or none

Add AODocs when

Several, each with its own lifecycle and review cycle

Who takes part

SharePoint alone is enough

One team owns the content and its rules

Add AODocs when

Suppliers, contractors or partners contribute or consume controlled documents

Role of AI

SharePoint alone is enough

Convenience: summaries, search

Add AODocs when

Answers people act on, where a wrong answer has a cost

Who runs it

SharePoint alone is enough

The people who build the flows will be there to run them

Add AODocs when

Custom flows depend on one or two people

Scale

SharePoint alone is enough

Few sites, stable teams: conventions hold

Add AODocs when

Volumes grow across sites, teams and years, beyond what conventions can hold

When documents need more, extend your tenant

Some documents need a controlled lifecycle, a version in force and secure collaboration across teams. AODocs adds that layer inside the same tenant, running on SharePoint Embedded, next to SharePoint and OneDrive. Your teams keep working in files and asking Copilot, and Copilot draws on the governed documents too.

What AODocs adds, inside your tenant

AODocs runs the document layer on SharePoint Embedded. Your files stay in your tenant, under your Purview policies, and Microsoft 365 keeps doing what it does best.

Four developers, each building one component: document versions, access security, an approval workflow and a retention policy

At least four components, one team to keep them running

Versions, access, approvals, retention… Each one can be built on SharePoint with the tools your team already knows. Each one also needs an owner, a test plan and an update path, for as long as the documents live.

Document control

One designated version in force for each document; superseded revisions leave circulation.

When it matters: several teams must work from the same authoritative version.

Review and approval workflows

Review, approval, periodic re-review and acknowledgement, configured rather than coded.

When it matters: procedures must be reviewed on schedule and acknowledged by the people who apply them.

Document types and required metadata

Each document type carries its own required fields, rules and lifecycle, enforced at creation.

When it matters: retention, access or approval depend on what a document is.

Evidence on demand

One traceable record per document: who reviewed and approved which revision, under which procedure, and when.

When it matters: an auditor, a regulator or a client asks for proof.

Controlled external sharing

Suppliers, contractors and partners contribute through controlled access, without copies escaping your control.

When it matters: documents cross company boundaries.

Trusted AI

AIDA answers only from controlled, validated content, and Microsoft 365 Copilot draws on the same governed documents.

When it matters: people act on what AI tells them.

SharePoint alone, or SharePoint with AODocs

Same tenant, same Microsoft security. The difference is who designs, enforces and maintains the document layer.

Comparison
Criterion	SharePoint alone, configured in-house	SharePoint with AODocs
Where files live	Your Microsoft 365 tenant	Your Microsoft 365 tenant, in dedicated SharePoint Embedded containers
Retention and data loss prevention	Microsoft Purview	Microsoft Purview: the same policies apply
Document lifecycle	Custom columns and flows, configured library by library	Statuses from draft to obsolete, applied the same way in every library
The version in force	A convention people are asked to follow	One designated current revision; superseded ones leave circulation
Required metadata	Optional unless each library is set up to enforce it	Required by document type, at creation
Review and periodic re-review	Power Automate flows to build and maintain	Configurable workflows, with scheduled reviews
Audit trail	Assembled from several logs	One traceable record per document: who did what, when, under which procedure
AI answers	Agents read whatever the library holds	AIDA and Copilot read controlled, validated content.
Who keeps it running	Your team, through every reorganisation and platform update	AODocs, as a product

Where files live