The verdict in three sentences
For a records storage company with 180,000 boxes and 400 clients in Dublin, custom business software costs 35,000 to 60,000 EUR excluding VAT (2026 order of magnitude) and is delivered in 4 months. The main gain comes from barcode traceability and a client portal that replaces retrieval requests by email, today a source of misplaced boxes and delays. If you also offer digital archiving with evidential value, the architecture must be designed from day one around ISO 14641 (the international version of the French NF Z42-013 standard).
Off-the-shelf package or custom build: compare over three years
Specialist vendors for physical records management exist, but their pricing models get heavy at 180,000 boxes and their client portal is rarely customisable to your brand.
| Criterion | Spreadsheet + email (today) | Specialist package | Custom software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | 0 EUR | 8,000 to 20,000 EUR setup | 35,000 to 60,000 EUR |
| Annual cost | Lost time, errors | 12,000 to 25,000 EUR in licences | 4,000 to 9,000 EUR hosting and maintenance |
| 3-year cumulative cost | Hard to measure | 44,000 to 95,000 EUR | 47,000 to 87,000 EUR |
| Barcodes and scanners | No | Yes | Yes, matched to your existing labels |
| Branded client portal | No | Limited | Full, with requests and billing |
| Retention rules per client | Manual | Standard | Configurable per record type |
| Code ownership | Not applicable | No | Yes |
Over three years, the two options converge. The difference lies in branding, automated billing of services and the ability to evolve the tool without depending on a vendor roadmap.
Budget module by module
The core of the software is the location register: site, aisle, bay, shelf, box, file. Everything else builds on it.
| Module | 2026 range (EUR excl. VAT) | What it delivers |
|---|---|---|
| Location register and inventory | 7,000 to 11,000 | Migration of the 180,000 boxes from your current files |
| Barcodes, labelling and scanning app | 6,000 to 10,000 | Check-in, check-out and moves logged with one scan |
| Client portal (requests, retrievals, returns) | 8,000 to 14,000 | No more email requests, real-time tracking |
| Retention schedules and destruction | 4,000 to 7,000 | Expiry alerts, signed destruction certificates |
| Service billing | 4,000 to 8,000 | Monthly storage, courier runs, retrievals, scanning |
| Digital archiving aligned with ISO 14641 | 6,000 to 10,000 | Hashes, timestamps, event log |
| Total | 35,000 to 60,000 | 4-month delivery, data migration included |
Migrating existing data often accounts for 15 to 20% of the effort: an inconsistent Excel inventory costs more to migrate than a clean database.
Legal retention and ISO 14641: what the software must guarantee
Your clients hand you records subject to legal retention periods: 6 years for accounting and tax records under Irish Revenue rules, 8 years for some payroll and employment records, longer for certain pension and health files. The software must link each box to a record type, a start date and a period, then trigger an alert and a destruction certificate for the client to approve, with GDPR in mind for personal data. For digital archiving, ISO 14641 (aligned with NF Z42-013) requires file integrity, a tamper-proof event log, timestamping and traceability of every access. Full certification requires an external audit of 8,000 to 15,000 EUR, but designing the software to comply costs little if it is in the specification from the start.
Mini case study
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Ciara, managing director of a 14-person records storage company in Ballymount (hypothetical persona), handles 1,100 retrieval requests a month by email. Each request takes 12 minutes of searching, logging and confirming, i.e. 220 hours a month. With the portal and barcodes, time drops to 4 minutes, or 73 hours: 147 hours saved per month. At 32 EUR per loaded hour, the gain is about 4,700 EUR a month, or 56,400 EUR a year. For software at 48,000 EUR and 6,000 EUR of annual running costs, payback comes in just under 12 months, before counting fewer misplaced boxes.
FAQ
How much does custom records management software cost in Dublin?
Budget 35,000 to 60,000 EUR excluding VAT for 180,000 boxes and 400 clients, with barcodes, a client portal and billing. A version without digital archiving starts at about 28,000 EUR.
Do we have to replace all our existing labels?
No, if your current codes are unique and readable, the software reuses them. Otherwise, gradual relabelling during moves avoids tying up a team: roughly 3 to 5% of boxes move each month.
Does the software make us ISO 14641 compliant?
It provides the required functions (integrity, log, timestamping), but compliance also covers your procedures. Certification requires an external audit of 8,000 to 15,000 EUR.
Where is our clients' data hosted?
With an EU-based provider certified ISO 27001, ideally in Ireland, for 150 to 500 EUR a month depending on the digital volume stored.
How long does the project take?
Four months on average: 3 weeks of scoping, 10 weeks of development, 3 weeks of data migration and on-site acceptance testing.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of boxes, clients and monthly requests, and we will return a scope, an indicative budget and a migration plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
