In the latest episode of Guardians of M365 Governance, I co-hosted an insightful discussion with Joy Apple (@JoyofSharePoint) and our special guest Nikki Chapple (@ChappleNikki), a dual Microsoft MVP and Principal Cloud Architect at CloudWay UK. Our topic, “More Storage? Or Just Smarter Use?”, tackled a persistent challenge in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

Despite falling storage costs, the exponential growth in data volume continues to pose significant challenges. Organizations are increasingly finding themselves navigating through:

• Data sprawl across countless files and sites
• Unclear ownership structures
• Inefficient storage utilization
• Growing security concerns
• Rising storage costs

The good news? Modern automation tools now offer innovative solutions for lifecycle management tasks, from archiving to removing obsolete content. This automation helps organizations optimize their data footprint and reduce unnecessary expenses.

We also explored the critical partnership between IT departments and business units in digital asset management. While Microsoft 365’s collaboration tools (Teams and SharePoint) offer fantastic flexibility, this ease of use can lead to:

• Fragmented data across platforms
• Unclear ownership responsibilities
• Potential security vulnerabilities

The emergence of Microsoft Copilot, combined with enhanced governance features, is highlighting the importance of robust data management. By implementing clear accountability measures and structured processes for data lifecycle management, organizations can:

• Reduce operational costs
• Enhance security
• Improve collaboration efficiency
• Better manage retention and deletion policies