Document Management
16 October 2025
Is the data on your Microsoft 365 tenant growing faster than you can keep up with? Are you dealing with laws and regulations or want to get storage costs under control? On this page, you’ll discover how IT admins can create effective archiving, retention and retention policies within Microsoft 365. We’ll show you how tools like Microsoft 365 Archive and Purview can help you keep your tenant organized, reduce storage costs and meet compliance requirements at the same time.
Many IT admins face similar challenges when it comes to data and document management. Consider, for example:
There are increasingly stringent requirements, such as the NIS-2, DORA, the Archives Act, BIO and AVG,
that you must comply with as an organization. It can be challenging to effectively integrate these obligations into your management strategy.
Redundant, Old and Trivial (ROT) data is piling up. End users cannot find relevant information properly due to the abundance of outdated/unimportant documents interfering with their search results.
The rapidly growing volume of data on SharePoint
can eventually lead to high
costs for additional storage
capacity. Managing these costs becomes increasingly difficult as the data continues to grow in volume
.
You want to implement Copilot or other AI tools within your organization, but have concerns about what is discoverable due to improper access rights. This can pose risks to the security and privacy of your data.
Fortunately, there are powerful tools available such as Microsoft Archive & Microsoft Purview to address these challenges. Microsoft 365 Archive allows you to easily move data to lower-cost cold storage. Microsoft Purview allows you to set up advanced rules that turn laws and regulations around archiving and retention periods into concrete actions.
This goes beyond simply deleting data over time – you can also mark important data as “record” so that it is not accidentally deleted. Data Lifecycle Management and record management go hand in hand here.
Automatically delete Teams chats exactly one month after they are sent. This keeps your tenant tidy and prevents unnecessary storage.
Keep contract docs as records for five years from the contract end date. Request a disposal review for deletion of these documents.
Archive project sites in cold storage five years after the project end date. This reduces storage costs while preserving your data.
Keep emails for seven years and then automatically delete them. This helps meet retention periods without manual actions.
Delete applicant data one month after the application process, in accordance with the AVG. This ensures efficient and secure processing of applicant data.
By deploying Microsoft Purview and Microsoft 365 Archive, you can automatically archive and/or delete data over time. This keeps your tenant organized, saves storage costs and ensures that users (and Copilot) encounter less irrelevant data. In addition, with a good archiving policy you reduce the risk of data leaks: what is no longer present can no longer be viewed, leaked or stolen.
And the advantage is that these tools work seamlessly with the platforms your users work with every day: SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, etc.
Want to know how your organization scores on governance and compliance? Schedule a scan and get instant insight. We map key areas, identify risks and provide practical guidance for quick improvements.
Setting up Microsoft Purview requires careful consideration. We offer advice and support in setting up an optimal setup. We also help you improve your information architecture so that your tenant remains clear and manageable in the future.
Do you have specific needs that can’t be solved with standard Microsoft 365 functionality? We specialize in extending SharePoint, Purview and M365 Archive so that these tools can be optimally used to keep your environment clean and efficient.
