ISO 16175 explained: The global standard for legally compliant document archiving

ISO 16175 is an internationally recognized voluntary standard that defines how companies and authorities manage, file and accessibly archive electronic documents and data over their retention period. Software certified to ISO 16175 takes the frustration out of fulfilling legal and regulatory requirements and makes it easy to ensure your archiving is done strictly by the book.

The ISO 16175 series consists of several parts:

• ISO 16175-1: principles and functional requirements for a DMS
• ISO 16175-2: further functional requirements for a DMS for managing electronic and physical documents
• ISO 16175-3: guidelines for digital archiving of documents and data

Is ISO 16175 mandatory?

While ISO 16175 is a voluntary international standard, many of its principles are mirrored in national laws and regulations. For example, requirements such as version control, audit-proof archiving and secure access are legally mandated in countries like Germany, France, Italy and the United States. Regulations such as the German Commercial and Fiscal Codes, France’s Code de commerce, Italy’s Codice dell’Amministrazione Digitale or the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act reflect similar expectations. Although these laws do not govern ISO 16175 directly, the standard provides a reliable framework for aligning with legal requirements across different jurisdictions.

Although ISO 16175 is a voluntary international standard, it closely aligns with legal requirements found in many national regulations — from Germany’s Commercial and Fiscal Codes to France’s Code de commerce, Italy’s digital administration laws and the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act. By following ISO 16175, organizations can build document processes that support compliance across multiple jurisdictions. It provides a unified framework for managing documents in a way that meets both legal and operational demands globally. To ensure your system meets these requirements, look for ISO 16175 certification.

What are the goals of ISO 16175?

ISO 16175 helps companies and public authorities archive documents in electronic systems while staying fully compliant with legal requirements. It offers a clear framework for managing documents subject to retention in a secure and traceable way. At the same time, it helps organizations build more reliable processes that support smoother operations and reduce risk.

The benefits of ISO 16175 compliance include:

• Legally compliant processes: Organizations fulfill legal archiving requirements, manage documents in accordance with the law and are always primed for the next audit.
• Efficient processes: Structured, standardized document management processes are resource-efficient and speed up workflows.
• Secure processes: ISO 16175 minimizes risks associated with lost documents, unauthorized access, data manipulation, etc.

When your document management system is built around the principles of ISO 16175, it takes care of everything you need to keep documents secure, traceable and fully compliant. Here’s what that includes:

1. Clearly recording where documents come from and proving they’re authentic
2. Archiving files in a way that locks them in and prevents any changes
3. Storing electronic signatures, metadata and related info securely
4. Following every step of a document’s journey — from creation to edits to final storage
5. Logging all changes with version control
6. Managing who can see or edit what
7. Making documents easy to find when you need them
8. Using file formats that stay accessible over the long term, no matter the platform

ISO 16175 provides companies and public administrations with a cornerstone standard for optimizing document management processes.

The role of ISO 16175 in quality management

The standard directly supports document control and process consistency, helping you to safeguard quality management throughout your document processes. An ISO 16175-certified DMS:

• Meets requirements for document capture and control
• Improves traceability of document changes
• Aligns with and enhances QM standards in accordance with ISO 9001

The role of ISO 16175 in records management

ISO 16175-certified software is especially useful in records management, where documents need to be carefully handled throughout their entire life cycle. That means everything from creating and editing to storing and eventually deleting them — all while making sure the process is secure, traceable and audit-proof.

A certified software solution:

• Guarantees full control of documents with tracking over their entire life cycle.
• Immutably stores documents and data.
• Archives documents for the appropriate retention and deletion periods in accordance with regulatory requirements.

The role of ISO 16175 in information and document management

ISO 16175 helps bring structure and clarity to the way you handle documents across the business. Since information, document and records management are all closely connected, a certified system keeps everything working together smoothly. With the right setup, you can:

• Work with documents in any format, from any source
• Set up clear rules for how documents are sorted, named and stored
• Find what you need quickly, without digging through folders or systems

Effective document processes are managed via a document management system (DMS) or an enterprise content management system (ECM) with integrated DMS. Certifications make it easy to spot if an ECM fulfills the requirements of ISO 16175. Doxis Intelligent Content Automation (ICA) does!

To keep your document processes running smoothly, you’ll need a modern document management system (DMS) or an enterprise content management (ECM) system that includes one. The easiest way to know if a system meets ISO 16175 standards? Check for certification. Doxis Intelligent Content Automation (ICA) has it covered.

Doxis is ISO 16175:2020-certified. The independent certification authority Van Bussel Document Services confirms in its inspection report that Doxis fulfills the nearly 300 cross-industry and technology-neutral requirements for documents subject to retention, including:

• The conditions under which information is captured and managed
• The definition of processes
• Retention and deletion rules
• The support of compliant work procedures

In other words, choose Doxis as your ECM system and you choose comprehensive document protection and intelligent workflows. Doxis automatically complies with legal retention periods and much more.

Businesses today are grappling with the challenge of what do with the huge volumes of data being generated non-stop by business applications. Some of these applications are manipulable or subject to constant updating without keeping a record of earlier versions. While this data can be entirely legitimate for business applications, if you need the data to serve as reliable evidence of business functions and processes, your documents need to be inviolable and traceable. Your systems need to be able to guarantee their reliability and integrity.

ISO 16175-certified software gives you peace of mind that your company fulfills all of the legal requirements for storing documents subject to retention — like how documents need to be stored, which functions a certified system must perform and more. Stay on the right side of the law and manage your documents with the ISO 16175-certified software, Doxis. Every document saved in Doxis is stored in compliance with regulations at every point in its life cycle — guaranteed.

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FAQs on ISO 16175