Today, as SC-400 Microsoft Information Protection Administrator aspirants, we’ll delve into the creation and application of retention policies for Microsoft Teams. This feature, when properly practiced and implemented, can significantly bolster your database management skills, further ensuring data protection and compliance in your organization.
Retention policies in Microsoft Teams are a part of Microsoft 365 compliance solutions that help organizations manage and govern their data. They permit administrators to dictate how long specific types of data should be retained and automating what happens when content reaches the end of its retention period.
What a Retention Policy Can Do
A retention policy in MS Teams can:
- Delete data automatically after a specified period.
- Keep data for a defined time and prevent users from deleting it.
- Both delete and retain data according to a determined schedule.
Set Up a Retention Policy
- In the Microsoft 365 compliance center, navigate to Data governance > Retention.
- Choose +New to create a new retention policy. This will open the New retention policy page where you can denote the settings for your policy.
- Input a name and description for your retention policy. These should reflect the nature of data being governed.
- You have the option to either set the policy for the entire Teams data or specific locations/teams. This can be achieved under the Settings section.
- In the Retention settings, set the period for which you want to retain data and the actions to be taken when the data exceeds the retention length.
- Review the settings and click Create this policy.
- After the policy is created, it starts to show up in the Retention policy list.
Example:
Let’s say you want to create a retention policy to delete all Teams chat messages after 100 days. Here’s how you would do it:
- Navigate to Retention > +New (create a new retention policy)
- Name it “100 Day Teams Retention Policy”.
- For the settings, choose all Teams chat messages.
- Set Retain Items to 100 days.
- Set When Items Expire to Delete Items automatically.
Comparing Retention Policy and Retention Labels
While retention policies apply to an entire organization, or to specific locations or teams within an organization, retention labels enable users to classify individual documents and emails in order to carry out the required actions.
| Retention Policy | Retention Labels | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Org-wide or specific teams/locations | Individual items |
| User input required | No | Yes |
Administering Retention Policies
Once a retention policy is created, it’s important to monitor and manage it regularly. Microsoft provides several ways to do this:
- Retention Dashboard: Provides a high-level view of your organization’s data and how retention policies are applied.
- Retention Schedule Report: Shows the current retention schedule for all data in your organization.
In conclusion, understanding and utilizing retention policies in Microsoft Teams is a critical skill for an SC-400 Microsoft Information Protection Administrator. They help in managing and retaining data effectively, reducing risks, and ensuring compliance. It’s a powerful tool that can dramatically improve an organization’s data governance strategy.
Practice Test
True or False: A retention policy in Microsoft Teams can be applied to entire organization or to specific locations.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Microsoft Teams retention policies can be applied to the entire organization or to specific users, groups, or locations.
Which of the following can a retention policy be applied to in Microsoft Teams?
- a) Teams channels messages
- b) Teams chat messages
- c) Teams video calls
- d) Teams audio calls
Answer: a) Teams channels messages, b) Teams chat messages.
Explanation: Retention policies can be applied to Teams chat messages and Teams channel messages, but not to audio or video calls.
Which type of license is required to use retention policies in Microsoft Teams?
- a) Office 365 E3
- b) Office 365 E5
- c) Microsoft 365 Business Basic
- d) All of the above
Answer: b) Office 365 E
Explanation: The Office 365 E5 license or advanced compliance add-on is needed to create and use retention policies in Teams.
True or False: Retention policies in Microsoft Teams are applied to data at rest in Teams and data in transit in Teams.
- True
- False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Retention policies in Microsoft Teams are applied to data at rest (data that is stored) not data in transit (data that is being transmitted).
How long does a Teams retention policy retain data?
- a) Up to 7 days
- b) Up to 1 month
- c) Up to 1 year
- d) Custom duration
Answer: d) Custom duration.
Explanation: A Teams retention policy can retain data for a custom duration, ranging from one day to indefinitely.
True or False: Retention policies for Microsoft Teams can be created in the Microsoft 365 compliance center.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Retention policies for Microsoft Teams can be created in the Microsoft 365 compliance center under Information governance > Retention.
Which of the following are actions that retention policies can perform in Microsoft Teams?
- a) Preserving content
- b) Deleting content
- c) Modifying content
- d) Moving content
Answer: a) Preserving content, b) Deleting content.
Explanation: Retention policies in Teams can preserve content so it’s not deleted by users, or delete content automatically when it’s no longer required.
True or False: A retention policy in Microsoft Teams can override a user’s ability to delete messages.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: A Teams retention policy can override user deletions and preserve content beyond when a user deletes a message.
What happens when a retention policy is created for a Teams channel, and a conflicting retention policy is created for SharePoint site associated with that team?
- a) The policy with the longer retention period wins
- b) The policy with the shorter retention period wins
- c) The Teams channel policy wins
- d) The SharePoint site policy wins
Answer: a) The policy with the longer retention period wins.
Explanation: When there are conflicting retention policies, the policy with the longer retention period wins and the content is retained for that longer period.
True or False: Retention policies in Microsoft Teams can be applied retroactively to old content.
- True
- False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Once a Teams retention policy is implemented, it can be applied to both new and existing content.
Interview Questions
What is a retention policy in Microsoft Teams?
A retention policy in Microsoft Teams helps to ensure that your organization’s data is preserved for an established period for compliance or regulatory needs. It can also help to minimize risk related to data that you don’t need.
Where does a retention policy for Microsoft Teams apply?
For Microsoft Teams, a retention policy applies to the team’s chat and channel messages and applies regardless of the users’ licenses, location, or device.
When creating a retention policy in Microsoft Teams, what types of content can be included?
A retention policy in Microsoft Teams can include two types of content: Teams chat and Teams channel messages.
What happens when the retention period for a Microsoft Teams chat message ends?
When the retention period ends, the data is deleted from both the active user locations and service back-end storage.
How do you apply a retention policy to a specific team in Microsoft Teams?
To apply a retention policy to a specific team in Microsoft Teams, you would need to apply the policy to the mailbox of the group that backs the team.
Can a Teams chat and channel messages be restored after deletion by retention policy?
Once deleted by a retention policy, Teams chat, and channel messages can’t be recovered.
What are the two types of retention policy behaviors in Microsoft Teams?
There are two types of retention policy behaviors in Microsoft Teams: retain-only and retain-and-delete.
Can you specify different retention settings for Teams chat and channel messages within the same policy?
No, if you want to keep Teams chats for different durations, you must create separate retention policies.
What is the maximum retention period that can be set in a Teams retention policy?
The maximum retention period that can be set in a Teams retention policy is 7 years.
If a user modifies or deletes their Teams chat messages during the retention-hold period, what happens when the retention period expires?
If a Teams chat message is edited or deleted during the retention-hold period, the system retains the version of the chat as it was when the period began. When the retention period expires, the data is deleted.
What is the first step to create a retention policy in Microsoft 365 compliance center?
The first step to create a retention policy in Microsoft 365 compliance center is to open the Microsoft 365 compliance center and then go to the Records management > Retention page.
How can you verify if a retention policy is deployed in Microsoft Teams?
You can verify if a retention policy is deployed in Teams by going to the Microsoft 365 compliance center, then to Data governance > Retention > Teams retention policy.
Can an administrator apply more than one retention policy to Microsoft Teams?
Yes, an administrator can apply more than one retention policy to Teams. If there are conflicts between multiple policies, the strictest policy takes precedence.
Are successful and failed attempts to create and manage retention policies audited in the unified audit log in Microsoft 365?
Yes, successful and failed attempts to create, modify, and delete retention policies and retention label policies are audited in the unified audit log in Microsoft 365.
How long does it take for a retention policy to be applied in Teams?
After a retention policy is created or updated in the compliance center, it takes about 1 day for the policy to be applied in Teams.
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