# folio or a document management system for the records you have to keep

> A document management system is made for working on documents, and folio for looking after the finished record. folio will apply each record's retention class, hold it through a dispute and account for every view, and it will sit beside your system rather than replace it.

Source: https://unforged.ai/folio/compare/document-management-system

Document management systems differ a lot, and we won't guess at any particular one. This is what folio will do on each point, and the question worth asking of any system you're weighing up.

## Side by side

| | Unforged folio | What to ask of any system |
|---|---|---|
| How records are organised | Each record will be filed in a folder by your unit of work, such as a matter, a client's year or a tenancy, under a retention class. | Can it file by your unit of work, and does it set the finished record apart from drafts? |
| How long things stay | Each record will stay for as long as its class says, and a Locked record will be write-once until then. | Can you set a period for each kind of record, and will it be enforced or only recorded as a field? |
| Removing something early | A Retained record will be kept until retention ends, and deleted early only by two people with a reason. | Who will be able to delete a record before its period ends, and will that need a second person? |
| During a dispute | You'll be able to place a hold on a record, a folder or a matter, and nothing under it will be disposed of until two people release it. | Will a hold stop deletion by every route, including admin tools and automatic clean-ups? |
| Views and reasons | Every view will go in your ledger, and you'll be able to set a folder so nobody opens it without giving a reason. | Will it log every view as well as every edit, and can it ask for a reason? |
| Showing nothing has changed | Each record will carry its fingerprints and an outside time-stamp, and the ledger will show any change. | How will you show a record hasn't changed since it was filed, to someone who won't take the system's word for it? |
| Finding things | You'll be able to search by name, folder, matter or the words inside, scanned paper included. | Will it find words inside scanned paper, across years of records? |
| Where it's stored | Your documents, and anything we make from them, will stay in the region you choose. | Which region will your documents, the search index and the backups be stored in? |
| At the end of the period | When retention ends, folio will dispose of the record, and the disposal will go in your ledger. | What will happen when a period ends, and will each disposal go on record? |
| Everyday work on documents | folio won't be an editor. It will look after the finished record, beside the tools your team works in. | Is it where your team drafts and works together? If so, folio will sit beside it rather than replace it. |

## Where a document management system fits

A document management system is made for the work, and folio for the record:

- **Drafting and versions**: Working on documents together, with versions and check-out, is what a document management system is for.
- **Matters and workflows**: Tasks, deadlines and matter workflows belong in the systems built for them. folio isn't a practice management system.
- **Filing the finished record**: When the work is done, you'll be able to file the finished record into folio from your own systems through the API.