A Reproducible Architecture for Automated Document Management with SharePoint Online and Microsoft Entra: A Design Study at PUCE Esmeraldas

Abstract

University document management is often fragmented across folders, email, individual permissions, and approval paths with limited traceability. This paper presents and evaluates a reproducible architecture for an institutional document system using SharePoint Online, PnP PowerShell, and Microsoft Entra. Action design research examined scripts, configuration, and logs from March to August 2026. The artifact declares 18 hubs and 24 sites and, for each processed site, six libraries and 24 standard folders. Documented provisioning time fell from approximately 180 to 5 minutes (97.2%), while capacity increased from 10–15 to more than 150 sites per day. Nineteen CSV files provided 70 operational events from July 20 to August 5. The paper documents the architecture, BPMN workflow, automations, controls, evidenced licensing, and inference limits. Advanced Entra, Power Platform, and Purview capabilities without verifiable exports are reported as NR. The contribution is a replicable technical and methodological design for higher education, accompanied by a pseudonymized reproducibility package.