purview-data-lifecycle

name	purview-data-lifecycle
description	Guidance for Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management and Records Management - retention labels and policies to retain and delete content across Microsoft 365, plus declaring records. Covers retention strategy, adaptive vs static scopes, principle of precedence, disposition review, and regulatory records. WHEN: data lifecycle management, retention policy, retention label, records management, declare record, disposition review, adaptive scopes, retain and delete content, file plan, regulatory retention, immutable records.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"Microsoft","version":"0.1.0"}

Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle & Records Management

Data Lifecycle Management (retention policies and labels) and Records Management govern how long content is retained and when it is deleted across Microsoft 365 - meeting regulatory, legal, and business requirements while reducing risk and cost from over-retention.

When to use

Implementing retention and disposition for Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams, and managing formal records (including regulatory records) with a defensible file plan.

Do not use this skill for legal-hold preservation tied to a specific matter (use purview-ediscovery) or for audit log retention (use purview-audit).

Pick the right control

Need	Use
Retain or delete content at a location level (whole mailbox/site)	Retention policy
Item-level retain/delete, label-driven workflow	Retention label
Immutable, regulator-grade record	Regulatory record (label-based)
Triggered retention (start clock on event, e.g., contract end)	Event-based retention
Policies that adapt as users move/leave	Adaptive scopes (query-based)
One-time targeted scope	Static scope

Rule of thumb: policies for breadth, labels for precision, adaptive scopes by default so the policy follows the org, not the org chart of two years ago.

Approach

1. Define requirements - Map regulatory/legal/business retention rules to content types and locations; build a retention schedule / file plan with the records manager. Verify: each retention rule cites a regulation or business owner approval.
2. Retention policies vs labels - Use retention policies for broad location-level retain/delete; use retention labels for item-level control and records declaration. Verify: each rule in the file plan is mapped to either a policy or a label, not both.
3. Adaptive scopes - Prefer adaptive scopes (query-based on user/site/group attributes) over static scopes so policies stay current as the org changes. Verify: scope queries return expected user/site sets in preview.
4. Records management - Declare records / regulatory records where immutability is required; build the file plan with retention triggers (event-based where needed). Verify: records cannot be edited or deleted outside the disposition workflow.
5. Auto-apply labels - Configure auto-apply rules based on SITs, classifiers, or keywords in simulation first; review impact before broad rollout. Verify: simulation shows expected match coverage and few false positives.
6. Disposition - Configure disposition review so reviewers approve deletion of labelled content; capture proof of disposition for audit. Verify: disposition queue populates and reviewer notifications fire.
7. Operate - Quarterly review of policy coverage, disposition backlog, and file plan drift against new regulations.

Guardrails

• Understand retention principle of precedence (retention wins over deletion; longest retention wins; explicit beats implicit; record beats non-record) before layering policies - unexpected interactions are the top support issue.
• Regulatory records are immutable - apply only where truly required; you cannot undo declaration even by a Global Admin.
• Pilot auto-applied retention labels; review impact before broad rollout - mis-targeted auto-apply is hard to roll back at scale.
• Coordinate with eDiscovery - retention labels do not replace legal holds, and a hold extends retention until released.
• Keep the file plan short and human-readable; a 200-row plan no one understands fails audit.

Common anti-patterns

• Stacking three overlapping retention policies on the same location and being surprised by precedence outcomes.
• Declaring everything a regulatory record "to be safe" - blocks legitimate deletion forever.
• Auto-applying labels in production without simulation - mass mislabel events.
• Building a file plan in IT with no records manager / legal sign-off.
• Treating retention as a one-off project; regulations change and the plan must too.

Example prompts

• Create retention policies and labels with adaptive scopes.
• Set up records management with disposition review.
• How do I declare records and meet regulatory retention?
• Build a file plan to retain and delete content correctly.
• Explain retention precedence when policies and labels overlap.

Microsoft Learn

• Data lifecycle management: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/data-lifecycle-management
• Retention policies & labels: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/retention
• Records management: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/records-management
• Disposition review: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/disposition
• Retention for SharePoint & OneDrive: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/retention-policies-sharepoint
• Principles of retention: https://learn.microsoft.com/purview/retention-policies-exchange