Where Are Your Documents in Office 365? Take Back Control with OpenKM

Where Are Your Documents in Office 365? Take Back Control with OpenKM

Written by Ana Canteli on 8 August 2025

Every day, we generate a multitude of Office documents using Microsoft Word, spreadsheets with Excel, or presentations with PowerPoint. The Microsoft 365 office suite increases productivity and facilitates collaboration between users. By default, all content is stored in Microsoft’s cloud, allowing access from anywhere. However, while we enjoy these advantages, unanswered questions arise: Where exactly are my documents stored within Microsoft’s cloud? What is the applicable legal and regulatory framework? Who controls the cloud and, therefore, my content?

Most of the world’s documentation is hosted on American technology solutions, meaning that the majority of business content resides physically outside the home country of the organizations that create, edit, and monetize it.

For any organization responsible for the security of its information, data governance—in short, information sovereignty—this is unacceptable. Faced with the risks of data loss and loss of control over information, OpenKM positions itself as the alternative to regain control of your documentation, while ensuring security compliance and productivity.

Office 365 documents: where are they stored, and who controls them?

If you use Microsoft 365, most of your files are stored in OneDrive—Microsoft’s cloud storage service. SharePoint Online acts as the cloud repository at the team or corporate intranet level. For example, Teams chat files are automatically stored in SharePoint or OneDrive.

When your documents are stored in Microsoft 365, the suite generally allows you to choose a primary data region, for example, Europe. However, there are not always absolute guarantees of local sovereignty. In the UK, Microsoft was forced to acknowledge that it cannot guarantee data will remain in British territory, due to possible cloud service continuity issues. In fact, the company admitted that, to resolve such incidents, it might transfer customer data outside the UK—exposing clients’ sensitive information to foreign jurisdictions.

This situation prompted a strong reaction from the British government, due to violations of the applicable legal framework and the national security risks involved.

The implications for companies are clear. Using cloud services like OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft 365, or similar, some of your data may end up replicated or transferred to other jurisdictions, beyond your direct control. This impacts legal and regulatory compliance, information security, and personal data privacy, among others. It also raises concerns about disaster recovery protocols, as you are entirely dependent on an external provider. Many Microsoft 365 customers are unaware that the cloud does not come with built-in backups or recovery plans to protect file integrity. Many organizations mistakenly assume the cloud automatically provides backups. In reality, in the event of human error or threats such as malware or phishing attacks, the customer must configure their own backups and disaster recovery plans. While the platform does include certain configurable protection tools, experts warn these features are not sufficient against advanced threats. Microsoft itself recommends performing regular backups to another cloud to ensure disaster recovery.

In other words, using Microsoft products means trusting that they will comply with local, national, and regional laws, and protect your data from external access (including foreign governments)—something that concerns many organizations, including public administrations.

OpenKM: Control where and how your documents are stored

In this context, OpenKM positions itself as a solution for data protection and sovereignty. OpenKM is a document management platform that organizations can deploy on-premises or in the cloud. Unlike Microsoft, OpenKM lets you decide exactly where your documents are stored—whether in your own data center or in a private cloud you control. This means regaining control over the physical and legal location of your information. Your data is no longer distributed across your provider’s data centers but stored in the folder or server you choose, under the rules you define.

OpenKM offers advanced document management and data security features. You can classify and organize documents by categories, keywords, metadata, and folders with granular security. These tools are essential for records management and retention schedules. The software includes version control, so you can always undo mistakes or recover previous versions of any document. It also includes a powerful search engine, enabling any authorized user to find what they need—while respecting the organization’s defined security policy.

OpenKM is also an excellent collaborative platform. It offers a task manager, subscription service, automatic notifications, a native workflow engine, and full API documentation to facilitate integration with third-party applications.

A key strength of OpenKM lies in its document security policy. The system offers granular permissions management so only authorized users—by group or individually—can access each node, and under specific conditions (read, edit, delete, download, security, etc.). Microsoft 365 also provides permission control, but OpenKM elevates this to centralized administration under the full control of the installation’s administrator. Integration with Active Directory or LDAP is possible, ensuring only users with valid credentials can access the repository. OpenKM’s powerful activity log records every event in the system. The platform also offers end-to-end encryption, two-factor authentication, and customizable data loss prevention policies. Because you control the infrastructure, you can implement tailor-made backups and replication without third-party limitations.

It is worth noting that OpenKM integrates with Microsoft Office through add-ins, enabling you to work with your usual applications while saving files directly into OpenKM instead of OneDrive. This way, you can keep the advantages of Office while changing only the storage location—from a public cloud to your private OpenKM repository.

From an economic standpoint, OpenKM is a sound choice. It is available in SaaS and on-premises versions, both scalable. While Office 365 requires ongoing subscription payments, OpenKM offers perpetual licenses. In response, Microsoft is considering offering an ad-supported version of Office—an indicator that licensing costs are becoming an issue. OpenKM also provides consulting and training services via OpenKM Academy, along with free webinars to accelerate adoption.

OpenKM vs. Microsoft 365: Comparison

Data sovereignty and location: In Office 365, your documents are stored in data centers whose exact locations are controlled by Microsoft. OpenKM lets you decide where to host your data (on your own server or private cloud), ensuring data sovereignty—so if your company must keep data within the country, OpenKM provides that assurance.

Control and security: Microsoft 365 offers built-in security measures for sensitive information. However, as a customer, you do not ultimately control who may access it. With OpenKM, you manage security, authorized users, granular security policies, encryption, backups, and more. Not even OpenKM as a vendor can access your files, providing greater privacy and security by design.

Collaborative features: Office 365 is a suite including Office apps, email, Teams, etc. OpenKM is a document management solution offering automation, online editing, version control, metadata, reports, subscription services, email archiving, task management, and workflow. It centralizes the corporate document repository and integrates transparently with third-party apps, such as Teams or SharePoint. Think of OpenKM as your document management system and Office 365 as your content creation tools. Together, they can provide the best of both worlds.

Availability and mobility: Both OpenKM and Microsoft 365 offer remote, multi-platform access. While Microsoft 365 excels in mobile accessibility, OpenKM ensures document access even in cases without internet connectivity—e.g., via a local VPN.

Licensing and costs: Office 365 requires subscription fees. OpenKM offers perpetual licenses (server + users) without Microsoft’s per-user pricing. Many Microsoft 365 security features are only available in higher-priced plans, whereas OpenKM includes all its native document management features at no extra cost (technical support is optional).

In practice, many organizations find value in integrating both solutions. You can use OpenKM to sync documents with SharePoint while storing final or sensitive documents in OpenKM for secure archiving.

Today, data is the new gold. While Office 365 has revolutionized productivity, it also entails relinquishing some data sovereignty to Microsoft’s cloud. For organizations in regulated sectors or those that value confidentiality, OpenKM enables you to regain control without sacrificing efficiency. In the era of data, investing in sovereignty and control means investing in your company’s future.