Purview Records Management — Strategies for a Successful Start
Introduction
Welcome to the blog recap of my recent webinar, Purview Records Management: Strategies for a Successful Start.
Whether you’re just beginning your journey with Microsoft Purview or already have some experience, this article highlights key strategies and insights to help you implement records management more effectively, including:
For more on this topic, including unmissable tips and a case example, tune into the full webinar session on our YouTube channel (access below)!
What is Microsoft Purview Records Management?
Microsoft Purview Records Management is a solution within Microsoft Purview’s broader suite of information governance tools, which also include information protection, data loss prevention, eDiscovery, and others.
The Records Management (RM) solution focuses on the classification, retention, and disposition of electronic records in repositories such as SharePoint.
Diagram shows Purview Records Management as one component of the Microsoft Purview umbrella.
Listed are some of the capabilities within Purview RM:
File Plan Management
As a core element, Purview Records Management enables organizations to define a tenant file plan—a representation in M365 of the organization’s retention schedules and records classifications. File plans in Purview are made up of retention labels – akin to how a classification system will be made up of many individual classifications.
Each label dictates how its associated records are kept, and what happens at the end of their lifecycle. Creating a label also involves selecting rules for preservation, such as whether records can be modified during their retention period, in addition to setting up disposition processes, such as whether it concludes in a review, and if so, who can action and approve disposal.
Automated Classification
One of the most powerful features of Purview Records Management is automated classification. While manual classification is also possible, a combination of thoughtful SharePoint design and automation is our team’s recommendation to ensure accuracy, scalability, and to manual effort. With automated classification, organizations can define label policies that automatically assign content to their retention schedule in alignment with business processes (such as based on status conditions or other triggering metadata).
Disposition Reviews
Purview RM offers a seamless portal for tracking and processing disposition reviews, ensuring that records at the end of their lifecycle are appropriately handled whatever the outcome should be. This could mean extending the lifecycle of a particular artifact, relabeling records, or approving them with comment for destruction.
Reporting
Purview RM reporting tools also allow organizations to monitor what records are being classified, track growth, and review the overall reports of records management activities across different departments or sites.
Some screenshots showing Purview Records Management reporting.
In essence, Purview Records Management helps organizations take control of their information by ensuring that they know what records they have, how long they need to keep them, and how to dispose of them properly when the time comes.
Evolving Challenges in Records Management & Purview’s In-Place Approach
Managing records in the digital age is increasingly complex. In the paper world, records are harder to ignore – their mere physicality demands attention, and inefficiencies are easily felt; a hallway lined with boxes and bulging open filing cabinets is a readily observed problem. But with digital records, chaos can easily foment out-of-sight and out-of-mind: in the form of countless nested folders, self-led filing practices, and troves of outdated information.
Today, many organizations face a sea of unstructured data, with no consistent management processes. Some of these same organizations even have a records management system established that their employees ought to use—sitting mostly empty, because no one likes to use it.
Microsoft Purview Records Management addresses this challenge—the struggle to bring users and their records into the recordkeeping system—with an in-place approach to classification.
Rather than the “out-of-place" approach of relying on users to continuously identify final work products, classify them against an extensive list of retention codes, and upload them into a system where they may struggle to find them again, Purview allows for retention and classification to occur in the same places that staff collaborate, draft, and search for information on a day-to-day basis. When done right, end-users will never need to memorize a primary or secondary code again.
Key Lessons for Adoption of Purview Records Management
Automation may feel magical but it is still not magic: thoughtful information architecture is needed in repositories like SharePoint for a successful Purview implementation. Here are some key lessons we’ve learned through Purview implementation projects with our clients:
1. Foster Disciplinary Partnerships
The integration of information management and information technology is vital. Successful implementation of Purview requires collaboration between records management professionals and IT departments: all parties at the table with their respective strengths to ensure alignment between SharePoint information architecture and retention requirements.
2. Focus on Information Architecture
Having a solid, well-defined information architecture (IA) is foundational for a successful Purview RM implementation. Because automatic classification is query-driven, it requires consistent patterns around how records are organized, described, and differentiated.
So if your SharePoint sites were “lift and shifted” from a network file storage, or they are a 1-library free-for-all of personal folder structures, applying Purview RM will be challenging. Work on this first!
However, if your sites are purpose-built, well organized and consistently used, your organization may be in a state where it is ready for Purview RM. See what good IA looks like in our webinar on this topic.
3. Align the File Plan
Align your retention schedule with what Purview refers to as the file plan, recognizing that they may not mirror each other precisely.
We recommend building your file plan on an as-needed basis since retention labels cannot be renamed and cannot always be deleted. This way, you can leverage new Purview features on the development roadmap as they release, hone and refine your design patterns over time, and save on tenant file plan space (since it is finite).
Also, know whether you are working with standard vs. record retention labels (see how in our webinar).
4. Dial in Automated Classification
Establish automated classification processes that minimize the burden on end-users while ensuring accurate retention periods.
Automatic labelling benefits from:
Function-driven information architecture where records are being managed.
Consistent solution designs in the sense that if a close-date needs to be triggered for retention, then that close-date is the same column that’s being used as a close-date elsewhere wherever content is being closed.
Well-considered choices around when content is ready to automatically label and be retained in the solution.
Sharp Keyword Query Language (KQL) skills – KQL is the SharePoint search syntax used for defining automatic labelling conditions. This is a bigger learning curve when learning Purview, so we’ve created a KQL Playbook to support those wanting to get more familiar.
5. Understand the Limitations
Understand the limitations of your retention labels within Purview. Each tenant has a limit of 1,000 retention labels. Therefore, it’s critical to streamline your classifications.
6. Look for Easy Wins
Identify overlapping classifications and consolidate them. For example, rather than having separate labels for every committee, a single label for all committees with permanent retention might suffice.
7. Avoid Oversimplification
While it may be tempting to have a few generic labels (e.g., seven-year, permanent), this can complicate compliance and disposition reviews later on.
Achieving the right balance in your retention schedule will facilitate more effective records management and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
8. ...and More!
But you are going to have to check out the full webinar session below for the rest - including a case example of Purview Records Management for automated classification and actions regarding Council meeting records. You'll also find answers to frequently asked questions from our attendees at the end.
Visit the Gravity Union Blog to learn more about Purview, and feel free to contact our team if your organization needs further support with Purview!
