The Buyer’s Guide to

Document Management Software (DMS) for Salesforce

Salesforce is the leading CRM platform globally. However, maximizing its potential requires understanding the various options at your fingertips, and how to make them work best for you and your clients.

With over 600 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) on the Salesforce AppExchange dedicated solely to Document Management Software (DMS), and each providing a range of features, selecting the most suitable option for a client can be.... well, a challenge.

While these Apps may appear similar at first glance, they possess distinct storage and integration capabilities that serve very specific purposes. This Buyer’s Guide aims to assist IT leaders in navigating the ever-changing landscape of document management. It streamlines the selection process, highlighting how the best options can boost efficiency and security simultaneously - all while integrating this tech with the other enterprise solutions your customers are using (like Microsoft SharePoint, Google Drive and Box for example).

Document Management

The Document Management Software Comparison Matrix breaks down the whole space into categories, and shows who uses what App, and what they use it for:

Why Do You Need a Buyer's Guide?

 A Buyer’s Guide is useful because the ecosystem of Document Management Software (DMS) is a very confusing space. Some of the reasons this is a hard type of software to get a firm grasp on are as follow:

  • Categories - There are 4 different Categories of Document Management software and 22 companies. And it's hard to tell which companies do what exactly in terms of their capabilities. They all use very similar marketing messaging (“Document Management Software will help you be more efficient”), and while it is true that they all help you be more efficient, they all help you do so by doing different things for different users.

  • Marketing Creep - Sometimes a company that has always focused on one Category starts to do a little tiny bit of another Category, and their marketing materials start saying that they do both categories. As my favorite example, even if a company as big as Ford starts to make boats, they aren’t going to compete with MasterCraft on the open ocean anytime soon (this actually happened, true story). This is pretty common in software in general because the people that do the marketing are told to bring more eyeballs to the site, and they do this by making the product seem relevant to a broader audience.

  • They All Look the Same - Document Management software all has something in common. They all have document storage capabilities. The functionality is all built in an interface where documents are organized into folders along with other functions that allow you to perform different business tasks. There is a lot of feature overlap, but when you dig into the actual workflows, it becomes apparent that these different companies are doing different things for different users on top of documents.

  • Mergers - Some companies that are in one Category of Document Management Apps have bought companies that are in another Category, but then they have put them under the same name, when really, they are two separate apps with the same name that you buy together or separately.

We decided to compile a Buyer’s Guide to clear this confusion up and to help IT Teams get where they wanted to go. There is not one App that fills every Document Management need, so IT teams need to figure out which apps from which categories will help them the most. At MatrixPlace, we’ve been working with Sales and Marketing Teams since 2015, and we’ve seen a ton of them benefit from different types of Document Management Software. However, we realized that the Document Management space was very confusing for an IT leader who is just starting to look at the different types of tools available to them. 


After we built a focused version of this analysis for one use case, we decided to make this broader guide to pass on some of what we’ve learned over the years and make it available to everyone. Of course, if you like our analysis here, we’d love for you to take a few minutes to look at what we do at MatrixPlace to support Sales Teams with our Marketing Consulting Services:

Our Methodology for Evaluating Document Management Apps

We initially did this evaluation as a part of a consulting engagement where a large customer of ours wanted us to do a full analysis of the Document Management space. We learned a ton about the different tools in the process of doing this research. Our research team reviewed demos of products to actually evaluate the experience from a customer's perspective. We talked directly to our customers about what kinds of Document Management apps they were using and what their results were. We sifted through publicly available information. We spoke directly with the companies to hear what they had to say about their products and the space. We evaluated review sites to see what other actual users had to say about their experiences and what they had found.

In general, we found that it was impressive how far this space has come since we first started looking at it 10 years ago, and how truly advanced some of the tools are. An IT Team can really get their Document Management problems solved today. The results through efficiency within storage that a company can get from these solutions can save them time and money, which in the end means their Sales, Marketing and Operational teams can achieve more. If you don’t give them a Document Management solution, your team is truly flying blind!

Tips and Tricks to Buying a Document Management App:

Don’t just get a demo, get a free trial of the product and see it working in the real world, not just in the sandbox. Preferably with your data and documents in the trial to verify compatibility of formats and workflows in CRM. Some products are a lot easier for teams to use from a user experience perspective. And sometimes these tools are made for specific types of teams who use it in specific types of ways or for specific industries. You want to make sure you get this in your hands so that you can really “kick the tires” and make sure it's the right fit for YOUR team.  That said, as a first step, watching demo videos gives a great, initial feel for a product’s features and flexibility, before even installing it.

Also, ask to see the integration or connector working with a sample file or folder within an Account in CRM... Meaning you change an attribute in the Document Management solution and then have it show up in the CRM that you would want to connect to. For example, change a file name within the folder in SharePoint, and then see that new file name shows up in the CRM. There were a lot of complaints and feedback that we found online about connectors to CRMs not working as well as they should. The way to minimize deployment risk here is to see the integration running. To do that, when the software company tells you they have an integration, they will almost always have it running on a sample account. For example, let's just say you have Salesforce CRM and they say they have a connector. You can reduce your risk by just saying, “Great, can you show me a live demo of your solution syncing files on this Account record in the CRM?” This isn’t as good as doing a trial on your own data, but if they can’t demo it, that means they would have to build a connector custom for you, which can work (or can not work). 

We definitely recommend a free trial to install and actually set up the integration as the next step, because it is easy for apps to make claims about the ease of setup and the quality of their team and user experience. But there are many snags that you encounter, and limitations appear as you set up the integration with your sandbox (or in production). When you encounter those issues and try to resolve them, the quality of a product’s documentation and team are vitally important and put to the test. This is where certain vendors set themselves apart time after time. We recommend that you review the list of features that are supported to think about all the important needs you may not know you have, and then compare these to competitors. Also, compare the quality, transparency, and depth of videos available for solutions – vendors really aim to make that clear and helpful. Install a solution and evaluate any other competitor’s software that seems comparable, and then compare the different user experiences and the support experiences before making a selection.


There is a ton of great information available on the review sites, but there is so much information that you have to go through it carefully and systematically. It’s also worth looking deeper at the ratings on different review sites. Some of our favorite review sites are G2 Crowd, Gartner Peer Insights, Software Advice, Capterra, GetApp, Crozdesk and Google Reviews. But the Salesforce AppExchange reviews are probably the most important. We recommend that you take a close look at when people report negative or average experiences on the sites, you can see what they say and how the company responds, as it's a datapoint on how they take care of their customers. Especially look at customer service as an important consideration. Read reviews to seek praise of an incredible onboarding and support teams, and their ability to communicate quickly, clearly, and to do so on complex, technical matters. With a deep background in CRM consulting and technical integrations, find a team that excels in this - where many product/app teams do not.

Understanding Integrations

We found in our research that most companies say they can integrate to everything - which is technically true, but not all connectors are created equal. Let’s get into the weeds on this because it's really important to the success of your deployment of Document Management Software. This section covers using Document Management Software (SharePoint for example,  as your system of record for file storage) along with your CRM (Salesforce for example, which plays a key role in managing customer interactions and the documents associated with them).

First, let’s cover the buzzword definitions that you’ll hear thrown around when people are talking about integrations, along with the key information of why this is important to your IT Team:

Application Programming Interface (APIs) - Like phone lines that allow two pieces of software to communicate with each other. APIs can be used to read or write data, and can be linked together to create an integration. The major downside to API integrations is that they require development resources to build initially and maintain (keep working). These usually involve ongoing consultants or ongoing IT interactions and can be fairly involved projects, depending on the complexity and data needs. API integrations are also transactional, not Bulk (see definition below). Zapier integrations (see definition below) are API integrations managed by Zapier.

Zapier - A company that makes a fancy User Interface (UI) or wrapper around APIs. This helps you set up two apps to communicate data back and forth with one another. You pay by your metered usage, called transactions. Depending on how much data moves back and forth in a given period, this can become cost ineffective compared to a Native integration because you are being charged for each transaction.

A Zapier integration is not generally 2-Way (although you can potentially set up two Zapier integrations, one going each direction), and Zapier integrations are not native. Zapier connections also don’t support Bulk updates or synchronization operations. They communicate with a stream of transactions. There are added points of failure with a Non-Native integration because the information is streaming through multiple platforms. Native integrations are considered a core piece of Document Management Software, so you get better support that addresses the specific needs you have.

Native Integration - This Integration is built and supported by the Document Management company and connects directly, as opposed to transactionally with Zapier for example. Native integrations are more reliable, consistent, and keep each system up-to-date in near Real-Time, even with very large changes in either system. It minimizes the costs of needing developer resources or paying per task through third party integration platforms.

Real-Time Integration - Updates are instantaneous or every few minutes so the data is up to date in both systems in near Real-Time. 

2-Way Integration or Bi-Directional - Changes made to your customer data in either the CRM or ERP will be updated in the Document Management App and it also goes the other way, so changes made in the Document Management App will be reflected in your CRM or ERP. 

While Native integrations are generally 2-Way, users can run into problems on this with API and Zapier integrations which need to be built out both ways if you want to be able to update information on both sides. If you have a one directional integration, the data will get out of sync in one application. For example, if you're not sending data from the CRM’s Account record (Notes and Attachments) over to the Document Management Software, then your team can’t add a new file to the folder within the Document Management Software, and the Document Management Software won’t have the file and rules in place to automatically add it to the corresponding Opportunity in CRM. If you don’t have the CRM sending information to the Document Management Software, then the user can’t update information or gather new data when they need it while working in the Opportunity record in CRM. To solve this problem, you have to build out the communication both ways to get the information from one system to the other. So you build one Zapier integration to send information from the CRM to the Document Management App and another Zapier integration to send information from the Document Management App to the CRM. But this requires costly developer resources, so a 2-Way, Native integration is a better solution if you have these needs. 

Also, API and Zapier integrations have to be maintained, and they can be costly to maintain, because the skills required to keep them running and make changes to them are highly compensated skills whether you have the person on your IT staff or hire a consultant. Additionally, CRMs have API limits that cost money and Zapier costs money per task. These costs can add up quickly if you are making changes between systems. And you can bump into these limits when a lot changes. That being said, if Native integrations to your CRM are not an option, then API or Zapier are the next best thing. Document Management Apps can use FTP, Zapier or API integrations that are not Native at least some of the time, because there are hundreds of CRM systems, and no one has built Native integrations to all of them. The trick is to get a Document Management Software that has a great integration with your CRM, ERP, or wherever you keep your data and interact with your customers.

Bulk Integration - An integration with Bulk functionality. Data is synchronized in Bulk (for example one spreadsheet of data at a time) instead of as a one directional push of a single object (for example one row in the spreadsheet at a time). This is important in many ways, for example when you make changes to the structure of your data like adding a field or mass updating many specific values at once (for example updating a field about many customers at one time to say that they are a priority customer). Another reason this is important is when first setting up your Document Management Software, you will need to somehow get your files and folders into it. Using a Bulk integration is usually less time consuming and allows greater flexibility.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) - A standard way for servers to transfer files. Here it is used to move updated data files from one place (like your CRM or customer database) to your Document Management App. FTP integrations are Bulk but they are not Real-Time (typically they are scheduled to automatically run once per day).

Summary - what to consider as you evaluate integrations:

Native is the way to go, with 2-Way, Real-Time integrations that work out-of-the-box for Salesforce with very little setup. If the software already has one built for the CRM (Salesforce) and the Document Management Software (SharePoint for example), then a deployment shouldn’t take long. Native integrations keep your files up-to-date in both places in near Real-Time. But not all Native integrations are created equally, and you need to consider the following:

Security: In order to offer convenience and functionality that users desire, some competitors cut corners on security, opening their customers up to hackers and attacks.

Middleware: Some competitors move data and files through their infrastructure, which adds risk and exposure – as compared to solutions that connect a customer’s Salesforce to their Document Management solution directly, without ever having access to the data or files. Avoid using middleware - because it is an extra layer that acts as a bridge between different applications - and ensure that middleware doesn’t touch your proprietary data or your environment(s).

Platform: Some Document Management Software solutions are more than just an app when it comes to their depth and the breadth of flexibility – instead they are a complete platform that you can build on, extremely robust, with API calls, support for Flows, and many layers of configuration and settings to let customers dial in exactly the behavior for their users and use cases.

Architecture: Below are the technical aspects that buyers should understand before making an informed decision:

  • A “setup wizard”, which guides admin users through the initial configuration step-by-step, is an extremely powerful and helpful tool to walk you through the setup quickly and easily.

  • Use a solution that supports multiple Document Management tenants, sites, and document libraries.

  • Make sure the vendor supports secure deployment to Salesforce’s Experience Cloud, carefully removing/hiding data or code that could be used to hack the integration.

  • Also, consider a solution’s advanced workflows which can be created with Salesforce Flows and/or code and tie into standard UI or a completely custom UI.

Cost: Last (but certainly not least) consider the costs, because vendors often have the following:

    • Hidden fees

    • API or Apex usage limits

    • Flow or Flow usage limits

    • File of volume limits

    • Community user limits

    • Tenant, Site, or document library limits

    • Sharing or email volume limits.

    • Storage or transfer charges (Storage that’s owned by the customer on SharePoint for example)

Beyond Native, there are other options (although they aren’t recommended in most cases).

  • If you just need to push a few changes at a time between systems and can cover the cost per change, then you can use Zapier.

  • If you need to push a lot of changes at a time between systems on an infrequent basis (like once per day), then you can push and pull files to and from an FTP integration.

  • If you have more complex use cases or data needs and have developer resources available, then you can use an API integration noting the expenses for custom development for this.

  • Bulk functionality might be important if you need to update the data for many records at a time or add multiple records to the account list all at once.

How to test that an integration works for you:

  1. Edit a file in both systems, and make sure that the bi-directional sync of the changes are reflected in both CRM and within the Document Management software. Note the time and make sure the lag is acceptable.

  2. Create a new Account in CRM, make sure the desired Folder structure and Files within the Account shows up in CRM automatically.

  3. Custom object types in CRM show up, and you can perform the above tests plus see the files associated within the Document Management Software, add them to an Opportunity or a custom object.

  4. Check that you can update many Accounts at once in your CRM and those changes show up in the Document Management Software in near Real-Time. And vice versa, updating in the Document Management Software, and then it’s represented in CRM. This often happens when the marketing team creates new collateral, and wants them uploaded into CRM from the Document Management Software. Sales teams want them to show up in the CRM where they are working. This is a common point of failure for Non-Native integrations or Zapier integrations. 

  5. If you are using a Zapier integration (which is not recommended), verify the API costs in terms of ‘Zaps’ and factor this into the total cost of ownership.

  6. Remember to test the App out with the people that will be using the App. For example don’t just test with the management team or the IT team if the App will ultimately be used by the sales team. 

  7. Test the App in the way your users will be using the App. For example, don’t just have an employee on the CRM Admin team use the App, instead have a handful of users who are in the field get a real-life feel for the workflow in their daily activities.

Deep-Dive Category Analysis

of Document Management Apps

Now we begin our in-depth analysis of the different software options available within each of the categories:

  1. Cloud-Based Document Management Integrations

  2. Cloud-Based Document Storage

  3. Enterprise Content Management

  4. Forms and Workflow

  5. Collaboration and Business Process Management

1) Cloud-Based Document Management Integrations

Category Summary:

The apps in this category are built for all different types of roles across literally any type of organization, helping them be more efficient and organized with project management, sales, marketing, operations and services. They connect and integrate Salesforce with Document Management and Enterprise Content Management Software (like SharePoint for example), eliminating the need to switch between systems and ensuring files are always accessible in the right place. This integration streamlines document storage, organization, and retrieval while maintaining version control, security, and compliance. It helps enhance collaboration by enabling efficient document sharing and workflow management, allowing teams to work more productively while maintaining control over access and updates. Document Management integration with CRM (Salesforce) is essential across a broad range of industries: Business Services (Real Estate, Legal, Finance, Banking, Insurance), Manufacturing (Supply Chain, Construction and Engineering), Healthcare, Public Sector (Government, Education, Nonprofit) and Human Resources.

There are several companies in this space that are all doing very similar things but optimized for slightly different use cases, at different price points, and at varying levels of quality and for security. Make sure that when you look at an integration as you evaluate the various options within this Category, that you keep in mind how your organization will use the integration with CRM in a secure way. For example, don’t just evaluate the capabilities without looking at the security aspects. Because some competitors route data and files from Salesforce through their own infrastructure, increasing risk and exposure. In contrast, other vendors establish a direct connection between a customer’s Salesforce and their Data Management Software (for example SharePoint), ensuring that direct connection protects their proprietary data and files, so they are never accessed via middleware.

Because these companies have different integration features, like API, support for Flows, and many layers of configuration and settings for customizations, it's important that you do a trial to try out the Document Management integration solutions before you make a purchase. They don't all integrate and connect in the same way, and they all won’t be a good fit for everyone’s needs. The trial ensures that the software will work in a way that actually works for you. Our best advice is to do a quick initial analysis by getting a free trial, adding documents and folders, and then actually running some of your most common workflows between CRM and the Document Management Software with them. Essentially, use it the way your organization will use it. Then when you’ve boiled it down to your top choices, do a full trial with users on your team with your actual files integrated, to determine what the actual workflow costs will be (because there are typically a lot of hidden fees to customize the capabilities to meet your specific needs). There have been challenges reported with successful deployments and the costs associated, specifically as it relates to the CRM (Salesforce) integration piece, so the full trial will lower your purchase risk. 

Document Management Software is critical for: storage, version control, access control, search, collaboration, workflow automation, integrations, compliance support, audit trails, deployment options, and backup… and last but certainly not least, CRM integration, so that files accumulated within CRM are synced with storage securely. There are complaints about the CRM integrations and hidden costs, so a trial is an important thing to do, so that the company can prove to you that they have a functional integration for the exact way that you use CRM.

These products are built for established companies that work with a lot of documents and data, and the core capabilities include:

  • Salesforce integration (Apex API and Experience Cloud)

  • Active Directory access

  • Custom branding and folder management

  • File operations (upload, retrieve, versioning)

  • Security controls to protect sensitive documents

  • Customizable user interface

  • Multi-site support for distributed teams

  • Syncing with Document Management Systems

  • Priority support for issue resolution

Selecting the right Document Management integration solution requires testing file organization and access workflows, ensuring compatibility with customizations, and verifying seamless CRM and Document Storage integration before committing. We’ve broken down each vendor in this space in our Vendor Comparison to help you make the right decision.

1I) Cloud-Based Document Storage

Category Summary:

The apps in this category are designed to help organizations of all types and sizes (from SMB to Enterprise) manage and store documents securely and efficiently. They are built for Finance, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, HR, and Legal departments to name a few, helping them be more efficient and organized with project management, sales, marketing, operations and services when it comes to Cloud-Based Document Storage. They integrate Salesforce with Document Management Software (such as SharePoint, Box and Google Drive), allowing for seamless storage, access, and retrieval of documents without switching between systems. These solutions are optimized for cloud-based document storage, ensuring files are securely stored and easily accessible while maintaining version control, compliance, and security protocols. By centralizing document storage, teams can collaborate more effectively, manage workflows with ease, and maintain control over document access and updates. This includes storing, organizing and retrieving documents, version control, security and compliance, and collaboration workflow management as it relates to file and folder structure and sharing. It helps enhance collaboration by enabling efficient document sharing and workflow management, allowing teams to work more productively while maintaining control over access and updates. Document Management integration with CRM (Salesforce) is essential across a broad range of industries that deal with large volumes of sensitive data, such as: Financial Services, Life Sciences, Government, Small Business, Education, Nonprofit, Retail, Professional Services, and Media & Entertainment.

These solutions provide Cloud-Based Document Storage, by leveraging a connection that integrates Salesforce with a Document Storage solution (like Google Drive) and also Enterprise Content Management Software (like SharePoint for example). To further delineate, see how we have categorized the two examples:

  1. Google Drive is more of a Cloud-Based Document Storage solution so we’ve included them in this category and we will be talking more about Google Drive in our ‘Deep-dive vendor analysis’. While Google Drive can also be used to store and manage content to a certain extent, it’s not considered to be a full-fledged CMS because it lacks advanced features like content workflows, detailed analytics, and robust content categorization that dedicated CMS platforms offer.

  2. SharePoint functions more like a full Content Management System (CMS), or even an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution with Microsoft products especially, because it allows organizations to manage and collaborate on various types of content like documents, web pages, and digital media within a centralized platform. It also includes capabilities of a Document Management Solution capabilities due to its strong focus on storing, managing and collaborating on documents within a centralized repository. But it extends its capabilities managing web content with broader content management features, so we have categorized this separately in our ECM category review.

    *Also note that traditional Document Management Software (DMS) does NOT typically cover document creation (ie. NOT Document Generation) nor Electronic Signature capabilities, although some of the companies within DMS do provide those as extension of their primary offerings because the space is adjacent to some extent, relating to documents. Instead, these solutions which integrate seamlessly with CRM (Salesforce,) ensure that documents accumulated in CRM are automatically synced and stored in the appropriate cloud storage systems that we are talking about in this section, offering reliable access across teams.

Vendors in this space offer similar functionalities, but the solutions vary in terms of optimization for use cases, security features, pricing, and scalability. Some platforms route data through their own infrastructure, which could expose sensitive files to additional risk. In contrast, other providers establish a direct, secure connection between Salesforce and document storage systems (e.g., SharePoint), eliminating unnecessary middle layers and offering enhanced security and data integrity.

Given the range of integration capabilities, including API support, workflow automation, and custom configurations, it’s essential to perform a trial period to evaluate the solution’s ability to meet your specific document storage needs. Some vendors may offer hidden fees or challenges related to document management storage, so a comprehensive trial will help ensure the solution fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Here are the best practices for evaluating your options: Run an initial free trial to test document storage capabilities, Upload documents to see how the solution organizes and stores files, Test the cloud storage integration with Salesforce to ensure automatic syncing of documents, Evaluate security controls and access permissions to ensure documents are protected, Once narrowed down, conduct a full trial with real users and actual files to assess the solution’s scalability and potential hidden costs.

Document Storage is a crucial aspect of any document management system, and these solutions support vital functions like storage, version control, search, file access, collaboration, and security management. With cloud-based storage, documents are backed up and stored securely, ensuring access whenever needed. Additionally, these solutions are designed to scale with your needs, whether your team is handling a few files or thousands of documents.

These products are ideal for companies that need efficient, scalable, and secure document storage.

Core capabilities include:

  • Centralized Storage and Accessibility for Documents to be stored in a central online repository that can be accessed from any device, anywhere, with an internet connection, enabling seamless collaboration.

  • Security and Encryption with cloud storage that ensures data protection through encryption (both in transit and at rest), multi-factor authentication (MFA), and role-based access controls to secure sensitive information.

  • Version Control for the ability to track, manage, and revert to previous versions of documents, ensuring that the most up-to-date and accurate versions are always in use.

  • Collaboration and Sharing with real-time collaboration tools allow multiple users to access, edit, and share documents simultaneously, improving productivity and teamwork.

  • Search and Retrieval for advanced search capabilities enable users to quickly find documents using keywords, metadata, or file types, making document retrieval efficient and fast.

  • Access Control and Permissions with customizable permissions and role-based access settings allow users to control who can view, edit, or delete documents, ensuring data security and compliance.

  • Backup and Syncing for automatic backup and syncing ensure that documents are regularly updated and stored in real-time across all devices, minimizing data loss risks.

Selecting the right Cloud-Based Document Storage solution requires testing file organization, ensuring compatibility with customizations, and verifying seamless CRM integration before committing. To help you with this decision. We’ve compiled a vendor comparison guide to simplify your evaluation process and help you make the right choice.

1II) Enterprise Content Management

Category Summary:

These solutions are designed for diverse roles across organizations, IT & Compliance, Finance & Accounting, Human Resources (HR), Legal & Contract Management, Sales & Marketing, Operations & Supply Chain, Customer Support & Service, Research & Development (R&D), Administration & Facilities. They improve efficiency by integrating CRM (Salesforce) with ECM (SharePoint) and Document Management Systems (DMS), eliminating system switching and ensuring documents are always accessible in the right place. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a system designed to capture, store, organize, manage, and secure business content throughout its lifecycle. It helps organizations streamline document-related workflows, ensure compliance, and improve collaboration by providing a structured approach to handling digital information. This integration also streamlines document storage, organization, and retrieval while maintaining version control, security, and compliance. By enhancing collaboration, ECM solutions enable seamless document sharing and workflow management, allowing teams to work productively while maintaining strict access controls. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is widely adopted across various industries to organize, store, secure, and manage business documents and digital content. Industries that commonly use ECM include: Financial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Government & Public Sector, Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Legal Services, Retail & E-commerce, Energy & Utilities, Nonprofit Organizations, Real Estate & Construction and Technology & Telecommunications.

Vendors in this space offer similar solutions, optimized for different use cases, price points, security levels, and integration capabilities. When evaluating ECM solutions, organizations should consider both functionality and security. Since ECM solutions vary in their capabilities, a trial is recommended to test file management, workflow automation, and CRM integration. This ensures seamless deployment, optimal security, and cost-effective implementation.

Core capabilities include:

  • Document Storage & Organization for centralized cloud-based or on-premises repositories for structured document management, supporting various file formats.

  • Version Control & Audit Trails with automatic tracking of document changes, ensuring regulatory compliance and data integrity.

  • Security & Access Controls with role-based permissions, encryption, and authentication methods (e.g., Active Directory, OAuth) to safeguard sensitive data.

  • Workflow Automation & Business Process Management (BPM) with customizable approval workflows, document routing, and automation for increased efficiency.

  • Collaboration & Content Sharing including Multi-user document editing, real-time co-authoring, comments, and sharing capabilities for seamless teamwork.

  • Search & Retrieval via AI-powered search, metadata tagging, and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to quickly locate documents.

  • Compliance & Governance with built-in regulatory compliance for industries such as healthcare, finance, and government, ensuring adherence to data policies.

  • Integration with Productivity Tools for compatibility with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, and third-party applications for enhanced usability.

  • CRM & Business Application Integration for direct linking of content to Salesforce records, eliminating the need for manual file transfers and ensuring relevant documents are always accessible in the right context.

Choosing the right ECM solution requires testing the strengths and limitations of each solution, as it relates to organization, storage, security, and management of business documents and digital content, as well as Salesforce compatibility. Our Vendor Comparison provides a breakdown of the top providers to help organizations make informed decisions.

1V) Forms and Workflow

Category Summary:

The apps in this category empower Marketing, Operations and Support teams by streamlining data collection and optimizing workflows. These solutions enable dynamic, customizable Form creation, multi-step process automation, and seamless third-party integrations. We have included Forms within this category because Forms are frequently a key component of Workflows - used as a data collection point within the larger process of automated workflows. Native CRM (Salesforce) integration, as well as other enterprise systems, ensure real-time data syncing, reducing manual effort and improving operational efficiency.

Teams across industries such as Legal & Compliance, Healthcare, Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Human Resources, and Government use these tools for lead capture, contract approvals, employee onboarding, compliance tracking, and more. Acting as a starting point or a step within a workflow to gather necessary information from users to move the process forward, Forms are often the user interface for interacting with Automated Workflows. While some platforms focus specifically on Forms and Workflow Automation, others integrate with the broader Document Generation, Document Management or e-Signature solutions that we’ve categorized separately.

Given the variation in optimization, pricing, and customization, testing different solutions within your forms is crucial for the most efficient workflows. Some integrations work better than others, particularly with CRM systems (like Salesforce), so running a trial helps ensure compatibility with your team's specific workflows. Consider mobile accessibility, as many field-based roles require on-the-go form submissions and approvals.

Leading platforms can leverage AI to enhance workflow automation, intelligently routing approvals, validating data, and reducing manual input. These capabilities enable efficient, streamlined processes while ensuring security and integration with existing business systems.

Core capabilities include:

  • CRM (Salesforce) and ERP Integration with a real-time sync for data management within workflows

  • Form Creation and Management with a Drag-and-Drop Interface with a user-friendly way to customize forms without the need for coding.

  • Workflow Automation that automates business processes like approvals, task assignments, and notifications based on form inputs.)

  • Reporting and Analytics to provide insights into form submissions, workflow performance, and any bottlenecks in the process.

  • Security and Compliance with Data Encryption & Access Control that ensures secure handling of sensitive data through encryption and role-based access control, maintaining compliance with industry regulations.

Choosing the right Forms and Workflow Automation software requires evaluating your real-world use cases, ensuring customization flexibility, and verifying CRM (Salesforce) integration before committing. We’ve broken down each vendor in this space in our Vendor Comparison to help you make the right decision.

V) Collaboration and Business Process Management (BPM)

Category Summary:

Business process management (BPM) may or may not include Document Management Software as a key component, as it can include allowing for the efficient management and tracking of documents within a business process workflow, essentially integrating document handling into the overall process optimization efforts of BPM.  That said, Business Process Management (BPM) is more of a methodology and technology that’s primarily used to analyze, optimize, automate, and manage business processes to improve efficiency, consistency, and agility. It helps organizations streamline operations, reduce costs, enhance compliance, and improve overall performance.

The apps in this category are designed to enhance collaboration, streamline workflows, and optimize Business Process Management across various industries. They support multiple roles within organizations, including project management, sales, marketing, operations, customer service, and administration, by enabling seamless integration with Salesforce and other enterprise platforms. These solutions help automate workflows, improve task tracking, and enhance team collaboration by providing a unified space for managing business processes efficiently.

Business Process Management and workflow automation software are essential for: Task and workflow automation, Business rule enforcement and compliance management, Document approval processes, Collaboration and communication across teams, Secure document and data sharing, Integration with CRM, ERP, and other enterprise tools, Audit trails and reporting for accountability, Custom workflow design and automation capabilities.

By integrating with CRM systems like Salesforce, these solutions eliminate the need to switch between multiple applications, ensuring that tasks, approvals, and document workflows remain accessible and organized. They improve process automation, document routing, and task management while maintaining compliance, security, and version control. Collaboration and workflow management tools are critical across industries such as Business Services (Real Estate, Legal, Finance, Banking, Insurance), Manufacturing (Supply Chain, Construction, and Engineering), Healthcare, Public Sector (Government, Education, Nonprofit), and Human Resources.

There are numerous vendors in this space offering similar solutions but tailored to different use cases, budgets, and security requirements. When evaluating Business Process Management and workflow automation tools, it is crucial to assess their integration capabilities with CRM systems while prioritizing security and compliance. Some competitors route data through their infrastructure, increasing risk and exposure. In contrast, others offer direct integration with platforms like Salesforce and SharePoint, ensuring data integrity and minimizing security vulnerabilities.

The best approach is to perform an initial trial by automating basic workflows and integrating documents and approvals with CRM. Once you identify the top candidates, run an extended trial with real users and actual business processes to assess workflow efficiency and potential hidden costs associated with customization.

Key capabilities include:

  • Salesforce Integration with Apex API, Experience Cloud support

  • Workflow Automation for approval routing, process standardization

  • Task Management for assignment, tracking, and escalation

  • Security & Compliance with access controls, audit logs

  • Document Collaboration to upload, retrieve, edit, and version control

  • User Customization with role-based permissions, dashboards

  • Integration Support for seamless connection with other enterprise applications

  • Priority Customer Support for issue resolution and deployment assistance

Choosing the right workflow and business process management solution requires evaluating how well it integrates with your current systems, testing process automation capabilities, and ensuring that it aligns with your security and compliance requirements. Check our our vendor analysis to learn more about the top solutions to help organizations make informed decisions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many Document Management Apps that could help your team today. Your company may benefit from more than one type.

For example, at the same company, you may want: A Document Management Integration App for your Salesforce integration where you want your users to be “living-in” every day, and an Enterprise Content Management App (like SharePoint) to keep the files and folders organized.

We hope that this analysis has been helpful and that you can better evaluate and solve your Document Management needs. There are huge benefits for sales organizations to using the Applications discussed and analyzed here…

And at MatrixPlace Marketing Consulting we are here to help!

Published by:

Preston Hurd has spent his career enabling sales teams to generate leads with technology. He is an expert in the MarTech field and his area of focus has been helping sales teams fill their pipelines with New Leads, in order to generate revenue.

MatrixPlace provides this guide as an informational resource for buyers evaluating technology vendors. This guide constitutes an independent assessment based on MatrixPlace’s research, analysis, and professional opinion at the time of publication. The evaluation incorporates publicly available information, including vendor websites, third-party analyst reviews, and other market research sources. The industry analysis presented herein reflects MatrixPlace’s market perspective and is supplemented by third-party user reviews to offer insights into the perspective on vendor's offerings. This guide is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement, warranty, or guarantee of any vendor’s products or services. All logos and trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.