Deployment Options for M-Files Server

M-Files offers many server deployment options that give you the flexibility to leverage M-Files based on the model that best suits your organization's business needs and budget. Below is a short description of each server deployment option. Contact M-Files sales at [email protected] if you need more information and advice on finding the best solution for your organization.



You can access your vaults with M-Files Desktop, M-Files Web, and M-Files Mobile regardless of the server deployment solution that you decide is best suited for your organization.

On-premises server

An on-premises server deployment is best suited for organizations that have already invested in existing servers and systems, or are required to use an on-premises solution deployed behind the organization's own firewall for regulatory reasons.

Using on-premises servers for M-Files vaults does not, however, mean that they could not be securely accessed from outside (or inside) the company network. The vaults in the organization's private network can be accessed with M-Files Web, M-Files mobile applications, or M-Files Desktop (with a VPN connection or a pre-shared key) in any location.

Cloud server

Document and intelligent information management with a cloud-based server deployment provides software as service (SaaS) flexibility associated with licensing and scalability (such as the ability to easily expand storage, or to modify the number of user licenses as necessary) without significant capital investment and incremental resources to support it. In addition, cloud-based solutions offer inherent remote access to company documents, and flexible monthly billing. Powered by the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, M-Files Cloud delivers additional redundancy and automated third-party backup that offers greater protection against data loss or theft.

Please note that using a cloud-based deployment also enables you to use all the client options for connecting to your vaults.

See also M-Files Cloud Requirements.

M-Files Manage

M-Files Manage is a web application for centralized user and license management of your M-Files subscription. In the Classic Cloud environment, use M-Files Cloud Subscription Management Portal instead to manage your subscription.

With M-Files Manage, you can do, for example, these operations:

  • Add and remove users.
  • Add and remove licenses.
  • Change user information and license types.
  • Control user access to vaults.
  • Connect an identity provider, such as Azure AD, to your subscription to import and synchronize user groups to M-Files.
  • Manage license types for user groups gotten from your identity provider.
  • Download M-Files installers.

For more information, refer to M-Files Manage - User Guide.

Self-managed cloud server

The managed instance deployment option of Microsoft Azure SQL Database lets your organization set up a cloud-based environment to control the M-Files server and vault database engine. A managed instance of the Microsoft Azure SQL Database is a fully managed SQL Server Database Engine instance hosted in Azure cloud.

Hybrid server

With an M-Files hybrid deployment, organizations can both leverage their existing on-premises technology investments and take advantage of an award-winning document and intelligent information management solution running in the public cloud or a private cloud, as needed.

Furthermore, M-Files Cloud can be seamlessly integrated with existing on-premises systems like an ERP or CRM, such as SAP or Microsoft Dynamics GP and AX. Conversely, an on-premises deployment of M-Files can be easily integrated into existing cloud-based business applications, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics Online, or NetSuite.

The same client options (M-Files Desktop, M-Files Web, or any of the M-Files mobile applications) are equally available for organizations using a hybrid server deployment.