Enterprise Document Management System, Built on SharePoint & Microsoft 365
Turn chaotic file shares into a governed, intelligent document management system. We design DMS on the Microsoft stack you already own, taxonomy-driven navigation, automated approval workflows, OCR-powered search, and enterprise-grade compliance, proven across 700,000+ documents.
The Basics
What Is a Document Management System?
A document management system (DMS) is software and governance for capturing, organizing, securing, and retrieving an organization's documents across their lifecycle. A modern DMS replaces scattered file shares and folder sprawl with metadata-driven structure, controlled access, automated workflows, and fast, accurate search, so the right people find the right document in seconds, and only the right people can.
Al Rafay Consulting builds enterprise document management on SharePoint and Microsoft 365, extending the tools you already license into a governed, AI-ready content platform.
Who It Is For
Built for Document-Heavy, Compliance-Sensitive Organizations
- Commercial real estate: leases, amendments, COIs, and tenant records organized by property and entity (our flagship deployment).
- Legal and professional services: matter files, contracts, and version-controlled deliverables with retention and audit trails.
- Financial services: policies, statements, and KYC/compliance documents with sensitivity labeling and DLP.
- Healthcare and life sciences: controlled documents and records management with strict access and retention.
- Nonprofit and public sector: grants, board materials, and program records in one governed home.
Information Architecture
Term Store Taxonomy
Documents are classified using SharePoint Term Store, a managed metadata hierarchy that enables consistent tagging, intelligent navigation, and enterprise-wide search across all document libraries.
Region
Market
Property
Tenant
Document Type
Managed Metadata Service
Taxonomy terms are centrally managed in SharePoint Term Store. When a market expands or property is acquired, administrators add new terms, instantly available across all document libraries without migration or reclassification.
Select Portal
Choose document upload portal
Tag Metadata
Apply taxonomy classifications
Upload Files
Drag & drop or browse files
Submit Review
Route to approval workflow
Admin Approval
Review and approve content
Published
Document visible to users
Intelligent Discovery
Multi-Modal Search
Find any document in seconds, search by title, scan content with OCR, filter by taxonomy, or combine queries for precise results across 700K+ documents.
Title Search
Find documents by name, title, or filename
OCR Search
Search scanned document content via optical character recognition
Metadata Search
Filter by Region, Market, Property, Tenant, Document Type
Date Range
Find documents by creation, modification, or expiration date
Lease Letters
Auto-generate tenant correspondence with merged property data
Contract Templates
Create contracts from approved templates with auto-fill
Lease Abstracts
Extract and summarize key lease terms into standardized format
Expiration Reports
Automated tenant expiration tracking and notification
Stay Informed
Configurable Alerts & Notifications
Subscribe to document changes at any taxonomy level, Region, Market, Property, or Tenant. Receive instant notifications when documents are added, modified, or approaching expiration.
- New document upload alerts by property or tenant
- Document modification and version change notifications
- Lease and COI expiration warnings (30/60/90 day)
- Approval workflow status updates
Portfolio Administration
Property & Entity Management
Manage the complete property lifecycle, from acquisition through operation to disposition. Handle entity ownership changes, property transfers, and archive formerly owned assets without data loss.
Metro Tower
Central Plaza
Heritage Center
Formerly Owned Properties
When properties are sold or disposed, documents are preserved in archived status with full metadata and audit history. Legal and compliance teams can search and access historical documents without impacting active property views.
Platform
Built on SharePoint Online
Leverage your existing Microsoft 365 investment with enterprise-grade document governance, managed metadata services, and seamless cloud integration. Available on both SharePoint Online and SharePoint On-Premises.
Security & Compliance
Security, Compliance, and Governance
Enterprise document management is a governance discipline, not just storage. We configure protection that travels with every file:
- Microsoft Purview sensitivity labels and DLP: classify and protect confidential documents automatically.
- Retention and records management: policy-based retention and defensible disposition, so no document expires by accident.
- Least-privilege access and audit trails: need-to-know permissions with full version and access history.
- Compliance-ready: supports GDPR, SOC 2, and industry record-keeping requirements.
Explore our data security and governance services.
Migration & Cleanup
Migration and Cleanup, Done Right
Most DMS projects start with a mess. We consolidate file shares, OneDrive sprawl, and legacy document systems into a single governed estate, and clean it first: removing duplicates, empty folders, and stale content, and securing anything exposed. The result is a migration that improves your information architecture instead of porting the chaos.
AI & Copilot Ready
An AI and Copilot-Ready Foundation
Microsoft 365 Copilot and AI search are only as good as the content beneath them. A well-structured, labeled, permissioned DMS becomes a true intelligent document processing layer when paired with Azure AI Document Intelligence and SharePoint Syntex. Our OCR-powered, metadata-rich libraries are built to turn documents into usable, trusted answers.
See our SharePoint Syntex service and AI-Powered Search solution.
Proven Results
$6M Saved. 700,000+ Documents. 20+ Properties.
For a publicly-traded REIT, we built DocuArc, an enterprise document management solution that centralized 700K+ documents across 20+ properties with taxonomy-driven governance and automated workflows, cutting $6M in operational costs. The same IDP foundations power CAMP contract automation and Abstria lease abstraction.
We have now grown our work with SharePoint into a full-blown Business Intelligence platform that has created tremendous efficiency and value.
David Hsiao, SVP & CIO, BioMed Realty
What Our Clients Say
“Al Rafay Consulting was an outstanding partner in developing our internal pipeline tracker. They took a detailed upfront inventory of the team's existing tools and processes, as well as areas our overall system could improve. ARC was extremely communicative throughout the development process and instrumental in the successful launch.”
Adam Goldblatt
Director, Investments
BioMed Realty
“BioMed Realty engaged ARC 7 years ago originally to kick start an internal SharePoint campaign with the goal of increasing productivity through workflow automation. We've now grown our work with SharePoint into a full blown Business Intelligence platform that has created tremendous efficiency and value for our organization.”
David Hsiao
Senior Vice President, CIO
BioMed Realty
“When we were looking to design and implement our new website, ARC was an invaluable partner. ARC assisted us in selecting a flexible platform and implementing our design ideas into a website that we can easily manage and update as we grow our business.”
Catherine Hastings
Chief Financial Officer
Innovative Industrial Properties
“Al Rafay Consulting went above and beyond to give us the Event Management tool that we needed to take our organization to the next level. Ali and his team developed an events management platform for San Diego Theatres, sat side by side with us while learning our industry and business model, and through it all exhibited patience, collaboration, and resolve to get it done.”
Kelly Bargabos
CFO/COO
San Diego Theatres
“Working with ARC over the past 3 years has been nothing short of exceptional. The team has everything that you would look for in a consultant and then some. A vast knowledge of their core business as well as a hunger to learn new industries and skills has proven to be a critical aspect of our partnership.”
Mark Zikra
Director of Technology
CA Ventures
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a document management system?
A document management system (DMS) is software and governance for capturing, organizing, securing, and retrieving documents across their lifecycle, replacing scattered file shares with metadata, access control, workflows, and fast search.
What is the best document management system for Microsoft 365?
For organizations already on Microsoft 365, the most cost-effective DMS is built on SharePoint Online with Term Store metadata, Power Automate workflows, and Purview governance, with no separate platform or per-user DMS license required. That is what we design and configure.
Document management system vs document management software, what is the difference?
They are often used interchangeably. Software usually refers to the tool that stores and versions files; a system adds the architecture, taxonomy, workflows, security, and governance that make it work at enterprise scale.
How much does a document management system cost?
If you are on Microsoft 365 you already own the platform; the investment is in design, configuration, and migration rather than new per-seat DMS licensing. We scope this in a free assessment.
Can you migrate our existing file shares and legacy DMS?
Yes. We consolidate file shares, OneDrive, and legacy systems into a single governed estate, cleaning duplicates and stale content first so you migrate structure, not chaos.
How is this different from using SharePoint out of the box?
Out-of-the-box SharePoint provides document storage, but a true DMS requires information architecture design, metadata taxonomies powered by Term Store, automated classification, approval workflows, retention policies, and governance, all of which we configure and customize for your specific document types and compliance needs.
How does the taxonomy-driven navigation work?
Documents are tagged using SharePoint Term Store taxonomy, Region → Market → Property → Tenant → Document Type. Users navigate through taxonomy-based panels, drilling down from Region to specific document with full filtering at each level. This eliminates folder sprawl and enables consistent classification across the enterprise.
Can you handle documents for properties we no longer own?
Yes. Our system includes "Formerly Owned Properties" management. Documents are preserved with full metadata and audit history but moved to archive status. Users can still search and access historical documents for compliance, legal, or reference purposes without cluttering active property views.
How does the approval workflow handle sensitive documents?
Documents uploaded through the portal are tagged with metadata and submitted to an approval queue. Authorized administrators review document classification, metadata accuracy, and content appropriateness before approval. Only approved documents become visible to end users, ensuring quality control and compliance.
What search capabilities does the system provide?
Our DMS offers multi-modal search: title/filename search, full-text OCR search for scanned documents, metadata filtering by any taxonomy level, date range queries, and advanced boolean search. Results return in under 2 seconds even across 700K+ documents.
Can the system generate documents automatically?
Yes. Built-in document generators create lease letters, contracts, and correspondence by merging metadata from property and tenant records. Lease abstract management extracts key terms into standardized formats, and automated expiration reports track upcoming tenant renewals.
Ready to Launch Intelligent Document Processing?
Book a document-automation assessment to design an IDP-ready document management system with SharePoint Syntex, Azure AI, and enterprise governance.