A specifications document for electronic document management (GED) is a document that describes the functional, technical, and organizational requirements that document management software must meet. Its drafting determines the quality of the offers received and the relevance of the deployment. Writing these requirements down before any consultation forces concrete choices to be made regarding document flows, security constraints, and dematerialization objectives.
Electronic invoicing and GED: a constraint to integrate from the drafting stage
The reform of B2B electronic invoicing in France requires companies to connect to a Partner Dematerialization Platform (PDP) or an approved platform. The schedule, relaxed after several delays, mandates compliance for large companies starting in 2026, with a gradual expansion.
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This reform has a direct impact on the GED specifications document: the chosen software must manage the lifecycle statuses of e-invoices, ensure the legal retention of tax documents, and interface with the selected platform. Ignoring electronic invoicing in the specifications document amounts to planning a deployment that is already obsolete.
Specifically, a section of the document must specify the expected formats (Factur-X, UBL, CII), incoming and outgoing flows, and the rules for legally valid archiving. Without these details, the provider will propose a generic solution that will require costly adaptations after production goes live.
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Cybersecurity requirements and data sovereignty in a GED specifications document
The European NIS2 directive, currently being transposed, expands cybersecurity obligations to many sectors: energy, health, transport, digital services. Affected companies must demonstrate control over the security of their information systems, including GED.
In the specifications document, this translates into specific requirements:
- Access logging: complete traceability of each consultation, modification, or deletion of documents, with timestamps and user identification
- Data location: data center located in France or the European Union, with explicit mention of storage and replication locations
- Incident management: notification procedure in case of a breach, expected remediation timelines, and a reversibility clause allowing recovery of all documents in a standard format
- Encryption of data at rest and in transit, specifying the expected level (e.g., AES-256, TLS 1.3)
Drafting these technical criteria from the outset helps eliminate providers whose infrastructure does not meet regulatory constraints. A specifications document that is silent on cybersecurity leaves the provider to decide alone on the level of protection applied to your documents.
Mapping document flows: the foundation of the specifications document
Before listing functionalities, preparatory work is necessary: mapping existing document flows within the company. This step involves identifying each type of document (supplier invoices, purchase orders, contracts, pay slips), its validation circuit, its recipients, and its retention period.
The mapping often reveals inconsistencies. The same document may be entered twice in two different departments or archived on a local server without backup. These dysfunctions must be included in the specifications document, as they define the measurable improvement objectives that GED must achieve.
Distinguishing business flows from cross-functional flows
Business flows are specific to a department: accounting manages invoices, HR handles personnel files. Cross-functional flows involve several departments simultaneously, such as contracts validated by legal, signed by management, and archived by administration.
The specifications document must describe both types of flows separately, as they do not involve the same access rights or validation circuits. A provider receiving a mixed description of the two will produce a confusing configuration, leading to frustration for users.
Criteria for selecting GED software: what the specifications document must formalize
The specifications document is not only used to describe a need. It also serves to structure the selection grid that will allow for comparing provider responses. Formalizing evaluation criteria in the document itself avoids vague decisions in the steering committee.
The criteria to be weighted cover several dimensions:
- Functional adequacy: does the software natively cover the described processes, or does it require specific development?
- Technical integration: compatibility with the existing ERP, HRIS, or CRM, via API or standard connectors
- Deployment support: training for teams, migration of existing data, post-launch support
- Scalability: the software’s ability to absorb new document flows without redesigning the architecture
Each criterion benefits from being accompanied by a level of requirement (mandatory, desired, optional). This grading allows the provider to calibrate their offer and accurately estimate the gaps between their standard solution and the necessary adaptations.
The role of tailored support in project success
Choosing a provider specialized exclusively in document management can make a difference in the quality of deployment. Deltic, a French company dedicated to GED and dematerialization, exemplifies this approach. It designs and deploys custom software, including Zeendoc and DocuWare, tailored to the processes of each client company.
Its support covers needs analysis, installation, training, and support. As a Platinum reseller of Zeendoc and a Platinum Partner of DocuWare, Deltic guarantees legally valid archiving and storage in geographically distinct French data centers. This type of provider, which focuses solely on GED, offers specialized expertise that generalist publishers struggle to match.
Planning constraints and internal resources in the GED specifications document
A complete specifications document incorporates scheduling constraints and mobilizable human resources. The document must specify who participates in the project on the company side: business referent by department, project manager, IT manager.
Setting a realistic schedule requires identifying critical periods (accounting closures, audits, peak activity) during which a deployment would be counterproductive. The specifications document that mentions these constraints allows the provider to propose an adapted schedule rather than a standard one.
The issue of internal resources is often underestimated. A dematerialization project requires time from business teams to test, validate, and adopt the tool. Planning for this workload in the specifications document protects against deployment delays due to the unavailability of employees.
A well-constructed GED specifications document is not a form to fill out, but an analytical task that engages multiple departments. Companies that invest time in this stage receive more precise offers and reduce the gaps between the expected solution and the delivered solution.