Mari El Authorities Complete Shift to New Electronic Document Management Platform Remarkably Fast
Russian regions are moving beyond ordinary digital documents to full-fledged platforms for managing government processes.
The executive bodies of the Republic of Mari El and the administration of the republic’s head have completed the transition from the Directum 5 electronic document management system (EDMS) to the more advanced Directum RX platform. Less than six months passed from the signing of the contract to the system’s production launch.
The electronic workflow now covers incoming and outgoing correspondence, citizen requests, orders, directives, internal memos and assignments. Staff at a government-affiliated organization handled a substantial share of the system configuration themselves using no-code tools, without the need for continuous developer involvement.
Directum RX is a Russian ECM/BPM platform for managing documents and business processes. It supports no-code/low-code configuration, integration with external systems and built-in AI capabilities. The platform is listed in Russia’s Unified Register of Domestic Software.
Russian Platform Already Expands Across CIS
Going forward, Mari El authorities plan to connect additional organizations to Directum RX, integrate the platform with regional data dashboards, the feedback platform and R7-Ofis (R7 Office), and introduce AI tools into core processes. Connecting subordinate organizations will gradually reduce reliance on fragmented information systems and create an end-to-end flow for documents and assignments. Integrating the EDMS with data dashboards could also make Directum RX part of a broader digital framework for regional government.
Today, Directum, the developer of Directum RX, is one of Russia’s largest suppliers of EDMS and ECM systems for comprehensive document management. The market is also supported by the government’s push for electronic document management and import substitution. Demand for such products is therefore likely to keep growing. The Mari El case offers a useful example for other regions and countries with similar government document-management models. The platform is already localized and available outside Russia, including in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
Who Moved Fastest?
The shift to similar platforms has already become widespread among Russian regions. In 2022, Tyumen region moved to Directum RX. The system covered 4,200 users, 36 executive bodies, 250 subordinate institutions and 410 local government bodies. The following year, Vladimir region joined the platform, with more than 50 regional organizations and over 1,500 users moving to Directum RX. In 2025, Vologda region completed the migration of its government document management system, bringing the regional government, executive bodies, municipalities and hundreds of subordinate institutions onto Directum RX. A year earlier, government and local authorities in Kurgan region had also switched to a unified digital platform.
Mari El, however, completed the transition faster than any of them: all 23 executive bodies moved to the new platform in less than six months.
A New Model for Government Management
For the republic itself, launching the Russian platform is more of a first step in modernization. The most significant development could begin once additional organizations, data dashboards and AI capabilities are connected to the processing of documents and assignments. That would provide a clear demonstration of the maturity of Russian ECM/BPM platforms and their ability to move regional government bodies to an import-independent technology stack relatively quickly. In practice, that means more than greater independence in technology development. It points to a fundamentally different level of government management. Russia’s public sector is moving from a conventional “electronic office” toward more universal platforms for managing government processes, bringing together EDMS, BPM, no/low-code tools, integration with government information systems and AI.
