- 02 | 12 | 2025
In Part 1, we talked about the Subject Access Request nightmare – the scramble, the stress, the spreadsheets tracking dozens of file locations. Now let’s talk about what actually helps with SAR management.
Because here’s the thing not all electronic document and records management systems are created equal when it comes to handling data subject requests. Some are basically just fancy filing cabinets sure, they’ll store your documents and let you search for them, but when a SAR comes in, you’re still doing most of the heavy lifting manually. You’re still hunting through folders, copying files into separate locations, redacting in Word, and cobbling together a response with whatever tools you can find.
Others understand the workflow of responding to a Subject Access Request under GDPR. They’ve been built with the knowledge that someone, somewhere in your organisation is going to need to pull together specific documents, review them quickly, redact sensitive information, and deliver a compliant response all within 30 days. These systems don’t just store documents; they actively help you manage the SAR process from start to finish.
There’s a massive difference between the two. And if you’re currently using the “fancy filing cabinet” type, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
You’d think this would be table stakes for any EDRMS, but you’d be surprised how many document management systems have search functionality that’s… well, let’s call it “unreliable.”
When a SAR comes in, you need to be able to search across your entire organisation’s digital documents instantly. Not just file names the actual content of documents. Not just recent files everything you’ve got in your records management system, going back years. And you need it to actually find what you’re looking for for GDPR compliance, not give you 3,000 vaguely related results that you then have to trawl through manually.
If your document management system is built on Microsoft 365 tools like SharePoint that you already use, you’re getting the benefit of Microsoft’s search capabilities. Which, say what you like about Microsoft, they’ve invested billions in making enterprise search work properly. Why reinvent the wheel when you can use something that’s already good?
Already using Microsoft 365? Find out how FileSmart supercharges what you’ve already got without the pain of learning a completely new system.
Lets talk about FileSmart
So here’s something that caught my attention about how OASIS FileSmart handles Subject Access Requests. They’ve got this digital briefcase feature that’s basically built for the SAR workflow and GDPR compliance.
You pull all the relevant documents into this secure workspace within your EDRMS. Everything’s in one place you’re not jumping between windows or systems or trying to remember which SharePoint shared drive you saw that file on. Then you can view everything, annotate stuff, redact personal data that needs redacting, and set up custom retention and access rules so it’s not cluttering up your document management system forever after.
It sounds obvious when you say it out loud, but most EDRMS solutions don’t think about SARs like this. They’re built for day-to-day document storage, and then when you need to do something specialised like a data subject request response, you’re basically hacking together a workaround with whatever records management tools you’ve got lying around.
Having a workspace that actually understands the Subject Access Request process? That’s worth its weight in gold when you’re on request number five for the quarter and you’re wondering why you ever got into records management.
Want to see the briefcase in action? We’ll walk through a real SAR response, no fluff.
Book a 15-minute demo
If your EDRMS doesn’t play nicely with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, you’re making SAR responses harder for yourself.
Most organisations basically run on Microsoft at this point. Your emails are in Outlook, your files are in SharePoint or OneDrive, your workflows probably involve Power Automate even if you don’t realise it. If your document management system sits completely outside that ecosystem, you’re constantly moving things between systems for GDPR compliance, which means more manual work, more room for error, and more things that can go missing when a Subject Access Request arrives.
With something like FileSmart that works within your Microsoft 365 environment, your digital documents are already being captured and organised as part of people’s normal workflows. That email attachment someone needs to save? There’s an Outlook plugin. Documents can be routed automatically through Power Automate. The search actually works across everything in your electronic records management system.
When SAR time comes, you’re not starting from scratch trying to figure out where things might be in your document management system. You’re searching one integrated system that actually knows where stuff is.
No lengthy sales presentation, just the actual features doing actual work. If you’d rather chat through your specific setup first, drop us a line.
Book a 15-minute demo
