The client’s research teams worked with large sets of interconnected files that needed to be versioned as a unified collection rather than as individual documents. Traditional tools like SharePoint’s built‑in versioning weren’t designed to handle this type of grouped version control, where relationships between files are just as important as the files themselves. Each collection represented a complete snapshot of research work, and any change, no matter how small, needed to trigger a new version of the entire set. This required a system that could preserve the hierarchy between projects, collections, and files while ensuring consistent, accurate versioning.
Beyond versioning, the client needed a platform that supported real‑world collaboration and operational workflows. Their teams needed to manage metadata at the collection level and collaborate through comments. They also had to perform role specific actions such as requesting updates or initiating approvals. The solution needed to be intuitive, flexible for evolving research needs, and robust enough to maintain authoritative version records. Together, these requirements shaped the foundation for a custom, collection‑based version control system built specifically for their environment.