Foundation

Your outsourced
records function. From R10,000/month.

For law firms, accounting practices, group medical practices, mid-size NGOs, growing professional services, established estate agencies, private schools, specialist brokers. Modern records management, fully operated, for less than the cost of a junior employee.

Book Free Assessment →
What you get

A real records function. Run by us.

  1. i.

    Information Officer-as-a-Service (Standard tier).

    Named lead IO. Registered with the Information Regulator. Legal duties handled. POPIA, PAIA, FICA — properly done.

  2. ii.

    Full gap assessment & remediation.

    Year 1 includes a comprehensive POPIA, PAIA, and FICA gap assessment. We find the gaps, then close them. You start year two from a defensible position.

  3. iii.

    PAIA manual, privacy notices, retention schedule.

    PAIA manual published and maintained. Privacy notice library across every touchpoint. Records retention schedule customised for your sector, with proper legal citations.

  4. iv.

    DSAR & PAIA service.

    Up to twelve data subject and PAIA requests per year, handled end-to-end. Additional at R3,200 each.

  5. v.

    POPIA training, quarterly check-ins, annual review.

    Annual POPIA refresher (online + one in-person workshop). Quarterly compliance check-ins. Monthly compliance dashboard. Annual operator review for up to ten of your vendors.

  6. vi.

    Records destruction & basic file plan.

    Records destruction coordinated with certificates. Basic functional file plan. The records hygiene that should have been there from the start.

What it costs

R45,000–R85,000 setup. From R10,000/month.

  • Setup fee: R45,000–R85,000 (gap assessment, PAIA manual, policy suite, initial configuration)
  • Monthly fee: From R10,000/month, depending on staff count and sector complexity
  • Contract: 12-month rolling, 30-day notice after Year 1
  • Support: Business hours (08:00–17:00 SAST, Mon–Fri)
  • Response SLA: 1 business day standard, 4 hours for breach incidents
Service levels

Named primary contact. Pooled IO team behind.

You get a named primary contact for continuity, backed by Arcivo's IO-aaS specialist team. Escalation path to the Records Programme Lead for complex matters. Monthly compliance dashboard. Quarterly check-in call.

If you need a named senior IO or 24/7 breach response, the Professional package → is the next tier up.

Common add-ons

Optional. Available when you need them.

  • Document organisation sprint — R55,000–R140,000
  • Day-forward scanning (mailroom-as-a-service) — R8,000–R25,000/month
  • Light DMS rollout (one department) — R85,000–R220,000
  • E-signature integration — R45,000–R95,000
  • Custom DSAR/PAIA requests beyond twelve — R3,200 each
  • Enhanced face-to-face training — R18,000–R45,000 per session
When to size up

Three signs you've outgrown Foundation.

  1. i.

    Your headcount has crossed fifty, or turnover has crossed R50m. Mid-market complexity needs Professional-tier service.

  2. ii.

    Sector regulation has tightened — new HPCSA category, new FSCA Conduct Standard, sector code of conduct. Foundation covers the basics; Professional covers the complexity.

  3. iii.

    You're rolling out modern collaboration tools with AI, considering an enterprise DMS, or facing material litigation exposure. Foundation gets you compliant; Professional gets you ahead.

When any of these happen, we move you up. No fuss, no rebuild. See Professional package →

Book your free Records Assessment.

Thirty minutes. We'll tell you whether Foundation fits, or whether you need to look up or down.

Book a free assessment →
P.S. Yes, “for less than a junior employee” is a literal claim. Add up the cost of one junior salary plus payroll plus training plus the fact that they'll leave in eighteen months. Foundation costs less. And it doesn't resign.
— T.