Four hundred thousand documents. A seven-year retention requirement. And zero room for error. Yet DVG Group decided to make the switch from Hyarchis to SharePoint, with Docubird as its new daily workspace. In this case study, co-owner Marcel Hansen explains how the transition went and what benefits it has brought.
About DVG Group
Industry: Accounting, Tax, and Payroll | Locations: Uithoorn and Hoofddorp | In business since 1991 | 13 employees | Switch: from Hyarchis to Docubird for Accountancy | Migration: 400,000 files to SharePoint
An office with two sides
DVG Group provides administrative, tax, and payroll services from its offices in Uithoorn and Hoofddorp. Marcel Hansen joined the firm as a co-owner fourteen years ago. “I handle the administrative side,” he explains. “My business partner, John de Vries, handles the tax and payroll administration.” In addition, Marcel is responsible for the firm’s IT systems. Both are 50% owners and both are entrepreneurs.
Ten Years of Hyarchis
About ten years ago, DVG decided to make a serious shift to digital workflows. They chose Hyarchis as their document management system and stored all their documents there for years. Six or seven years ago, they made the move to the cloud. But in practice, it was mainly used as a kind of digital hard drive. “We were probably using maybe five percent of its capabilities,” says Marcel. “We put the documents in there and consulted them. Other than that, we didn’t do anything special with it.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft 365 was becoming increasingly important in our day-to-day work. “Our office uses it extensively,” says Marcel. At some point, the question became obvious: why aren’t our documents simply stored in SharePoint, where the rest of our work is kept?
Move 400,000 files
The move from Hyarchis to SharePoint wasn’t a simple one. We had to transfer 400,000 files. That’s no small task for a Friday afternoon. DVG set out to find a partner who could not only handle the migration but also make day-to-day work in SharePoint clear and manageable.
A group of four people at DVG reviewed demos from various providers. They ultimately chose Docubird. Marcel: “It was the combination of features, user-friendliness, and the trust we had in the people behind it. Of course, anyone can make promises, but they still have to deliver. In the end, it comes down to the feeling you get.”
The fact that the decision was made collectively also helped. Because four colleagues had watched the demos together and made the decision together, there was greater support within the office from the very beginning.
Migration at a Glance
The transition from Hyarchis to SharePoint took four days. During that time, 400,000 files were transferred, including metadata that was carried over via a conversion table. A 45-minute training session was held the day after the migration. After that, everyone got back to work. Retention periods will be configured at a later stage using Microsoft Purview.
Results already
Marcel is honest: DVG has only been using Docubird for a short time. “The best software is always the one you’re using,” he says. “Because you’re used to it and know where the buttons are.” Not everyone was convinced right away. Some colleagues continued to work the old way at first. Marcel thinks that makes sense. “You have to be open to it.”
But we’re already seeing some surprising results. Since the documents are stored in SharePoint, Marcel can work with Copilot. And that’s already paying off. “If I want a comparison of a client’s revenue and gross profit over the past five years, I just type that into Copilot. It generates a table right away. Before, I had to open all the financial statements, create an Excel sheet, make comparisons, and put together a report. Now it’s done surprisingly quickly.”
They didn't have those options with Hyarchis. And that's even though DVG has only just gotten started. That bodes well for the future.
Pioneering Together
As the first user of the Accountancy template, DVG also encountered some teething problems. That’s just part of the deal when you’re an early adopter. Marcel is positive about the collaboration with Docubird. “They’re very customer-friendly and respond quickly,” he says. “Maybe it’s because they’re learning from the experience themselves, but for us as a customer, that’s obviously great.”
The transition began with the enthusiasm of Richard Schouten, commercial director at Docubird and a specialist in the accounting industry. Marcel: “Richard was very convincing, and we were confident that everything would turn out well. And he delivered on his promises.”
Tip for fellow firms
What would Marcel say to a fellow office that’s on the fence? “Make sure your documents are properly organized in SharePoint so you can integrate Docubird with them. That’s the first requirement. But after that, it offers a lot of extra possibilities, so I’d definitely go for it.”
He also has positive things to say about the migration. “The migration was a smooth process. They were quick, friendly, and kept us informed every step of the way.”
From five percent to a full hundred
For years, DVG utilized only a fraction of the potential of its documents. With the switch to SharePoint and Docubird, the firm is now doing things differently. Copilot analyses that used to take hours are now completed in seconds. And the firm has only just gotten started.
“The real benefits are yet to come,” says Marcel. “But what we’re seeing so far is promising.”