How it works
How Archivum takes over your case
From the first scoping hour to the final arbitration five or ten years later, post-cessation archiving unfolds in eight steps, grouped into three phases. This page tells the whole mechanism, without jargon, for directors, court-appointed administrators, successors and advisors new to the trade.
Overview
An Archivum archiving agreement runs in three phases. First we prepare the case together — understanding your situation, signing an adapted contract, planning the migration calendar. Then we switch over the relevant assets — depositing documentary archives, freezing the website in static mode, taking over critical mailboxes inbound-only, moving conservation into its contractual regime. Finally, at term, the named successors arbitrate between extension, deletion or transfer of rights.
These eight steps are not a rigid standard. The detail depends on your legal status, archive volume, number of decision-makers involved, and the urgency imposed by the procedure (planned voluntary cessation or court liquidation in progress). We adapt the scoping, contract and calendar to your case. The principle, however, stays the same: no data changes hands without a frame, no final decision is ever made by Archivum alone.
Phase 1
Prepare
Before any data changes hands, we take the time to understand your case, set a legal framework adapted to your situation, and lay out a realistic migration calendar. This phase is invisible to your customers and team — but it is what guarantees the rest unfolds without disruption.
- 1
Scoping the case
Before any deposit, we take stock of your case: legal status of the entity (SAS, SARL, SCI, non-profit, sole trader), stage of the procedure (voluntary cessation, amicable liquidation, court liquidation), perimeter of digital assets to preserve — volumes, types, sources, scattering across SaaS accounts and internal NAS — list of present and future decision-makers, sector-specific constraints. This first structured hour, usually by video call, results in a scoping memo that serves as the basis for the quote. No data changes hands at this stage.
- 2
Signing the contract
Once the quote is validated, we draft a contract adjusted to your situation: nature of the entity, archive perimeter, retention duration, named access grants, collegial voting rule if several decision-makers are involved, end-of-period arbitration terms, default scenario in case of deadlock. For complex post-mortem transmissions, a notary may step in. Signature can be electronic or on paper. The framework contract is not a ready-to-sign standard: it is a convention adapted to your specific case.
- 3
Migration plan
Before any transfer, we draft a migration calendar over four to eight weeks. Precise technical inventory (SaaS accounts, internal NAS, existing backups, editorial tools, payment platforms, email), designation of client-side contacts — often the former CTO, the data protection officer, the accountant — pre-validation of exports with your current IT provider, communication plan for stakeholders. The goal is that the migration finishes by the day before the registry removal at the latest, with no break in service for your former customers.
Phase 2
Switch over
The operational migration runs over four to eight weeks, ideally before the effective cessation date. Your documentary archives are deposited, your website is regenerated as a static version, your critical mailboxes are taken over inbound-only, and conservation enters its contractual regime. By the end, your entity can be removed from the register without loss of memory or break in public-facing service.
- 4
Documentary archive deposit
Structured extraction of your data: files, projects, databases, emails, application logs, office archives. Indexing by folder, contributor, date. A cryptographic fingerprint is generated for each item — technical integrity proof, with no claim of regulated evidential value. Encrypted storage on sovereign French infrastructure (Scaleway), French data centres. A named deposit register is produced. You can keep an encrypted local copy if you wish. No data leaves Europe at any moment of the process.
- 5
Static-mode site migration
Your existing website — marketing pages, blog, documentation, public area — is regenerated as static HTML. Pages, articles, media, metadata, sitemap, canonical URLs are kept identical to preserve accumulated SEO. Active features (forms, member areas, carts, user accounts) are cleanly disabled with explanatory messages. The static site is deployed on Scaleway behind Cloudflare. The domain name is kept under contract. Your visitors do not see a downtime — just a clear note that the entity is no longer operating.
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Inbound-only email takeover
Critical mailboxes (contact@, support@, accounting@, etc.) are taken over in inbound-only mode. No outgoing message is possible — protection of former directors against address impersonation. Incoming mail is preserved and indexed. The grantees named in the contract consult them through a secure channel, with each consultation logged. Senders receive a notice (header or informative bounce) stating the cessation of activity and indicating the relevant orientation — liquidator's contact, alternative address for successors, or regulatory instruction.
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Conservation contracted by stratum
The contract sets differentiated archive durations per data type, aligned with legal obligations: ten years for accounting (French Commercial Code art. L.123-22), five years for payroll, three years for commercial prospecting, free duration for intellectual heritage. Each stratum has its own deadline and its own arbitration at term. Access grants are named and revisable by collegial vote. The consultation register is kept for the full duration. No data leaves without a logged request and without applying the agreed rule.
Phase 3
Arbitrate
An archiving agreement is never eternal by default. At the end of each contractual period — typically five or ten years — the named successors decide between extension, deletion, and transfer of rights. This is the step that sets Archivum apart from a mere storage service: the final decision belongs to designated people, never to the provider.
- 8
End-of-period arbitration
Three months before each contractual deadline, the named successors are notified. They decide — alone or collegially under the agreed voting rule — between three options: extension for a new period, secure deletion with issued certificate, or transfer of rights to the archive trustee, who then inherits contractually the domain, the published content or the archives under the terms set in advance. Failing a decision within the period, the contract's default scenario applies automatically. Every decision and every vote is logged.
How long does it take?
The preparation phase — scoping, contract, migration plan — runs over two to four weeks, depending on the complexity of the case and the availability of signatories. For court liquidations under time pressure, we can compress to ten working days in coordination with the court-appointed administrator.
The operational migration takes four to eight weeks: technical extractions, structured deposit, static regeneration of the website, mailboxes set to inbound-only mode. The goal is for it to complete by the day before the effective registry removal at the latest, with no break for former customers or administrations.
Conservation then runs for the duration set in the contract — typically five or ten years — with a notification three months before each deadline so the successors can decide in time.
Who decides at each step?
Each step involves distinct decision-makers, and the contract specifies by name who validates what. At scoping and signature, it is the directors in office — or the court-appointed administrator if the procedure is judicial. At the migration plan, your CTO or IT provider is involved. During conservation, it is the named grantees designated in the contract. At arbitration, it is the successors — who may be different from the initial decision-makers: spouses, heirs, former partners, post-mortem agents. See our glossary on access grants, collegial vote and digital successor.
Scope your case
Whatever stage you are at in the procedure, the most efficient path is to talk for an hour. We understand your situation, we validate a perimeter, you walk away with an adapted quote and a realistic calendar.