SharePoint: Advanced Management - Inactive files policy

🚨 The Signal: SharePoint now offers automated inactive file archiving to cold storage. This helps manage data lifecycle, potentially reducing exposure of stale data and improving compliance posture by ensuring only active, relevant data is readily accessible.

The Impact

SharePoint administrators are affected by new data lifecycle management capabilities, reducing the risk of over-retained, inactive data.

• SharePoint Admins: Gain new tools for automated data lifecycle management.
• Security Teams: Benefit from reduced exposure of stale, potentially sensitive data.
• Compliance Officers: Improved ability to enforce data retention and disposition policies.
• Organisations: Reduced risk of data sprawl and associated compliance liabilities.

The Action

1. Enable Microsoft 365 Archive and pay-as-you-go billing in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
2. Connect to SharePoint Online PowerShell.
3. Review existing SharePoint sites and data for potential archiving candidates.
4. Use `New-SPOInactiveFilesPolicy` cmdlet to create an inactive files policy, specifying inactivity threshold and scope.
5. Utilise `Get-SPOInactiveFilesPolicy -WhatIf` to preview policy impact before activation.

Domain: SharePoint · Impact: medium · Workload: SharePoint