In today’s digital landscape, educational institutions rely on data to drive innovation and enhance student experiences. The rapid increase in data requires strong information management practices to maximize the potential of AI. Effective information governance in education ensures that AI applications are developed using accurate, complete, and reliable data, which is essential for generating meaningful insights and improving educational outcomes.
One effective solution for managing data is Microsoft 365 Archive. We’re happy to share that Microsoft 365 Archive will be available for qualifying education tenants at education pricing. This will enable institutions to cost effectively archive information that must be kept for compliance, legal, or other institutional requirements. By securely storing important data, Microsoft 365 Archive helps education institutions meet regulatory requirements while ensuring that valuable information is preserved and accessible when needed.
Bill Sluss, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, expressed his enthusiasm for making this offering available to education, stating, “We are excited to make Microsoft 365 Archive available with education pricing to help customers reduce their storage costs, meet data retention and compliance requirements, and optimize their data and storage for Microsoft 365 Copilot.”
Enhancing information governance in education
The introduction of Microsoft 365 Archive aims to help education institutions better manage their information governance, which is critical to prevent security breaches, oversharing of sensitive data, and combatting data sprawl. Oversharing of content is a significant concern for education institutions, particularly with regulations like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) that mandate the protection of student information. When sensitive data is shared excessively or inappropriately, it can lead to privacy breaches, legal penalties, and a loss of trust from students and their families.
Simplify your tech landscape
Explore IT solutionsIn addition, data sprawl, the uncontrolled growth of data, can lead to inefficiencies and increased storage costs. Good information management practices help institutions organize and manage their data effectively, reducing redundancy and optimizing storage. This not only improves operational efficiency but also minimizes the environmental impact associated with excessive data storage and energy consumption.
Maximizing the potential of AI
AI in education
Bring opportunity to lifeWeak information governance not only exposes organizations to risk, but also undermines generative AI adoption. According to Gartner analyst, Max Goss, “Generative AI tools are only as good as the data in your environment.”
To learn more and get practical guidance, watch this webinar hosted by Gartner and Microsoft, Information lifecycle and governance in the age of AI and storage limits. In this webinar, Sr. Gartner Analyst Max Goss and experts from Microsoft discuss the importance of information governance and give practical guidance on how to more effectively manage the information lifecycle to both meet new storage parameters and prepare for the future of AI.
Education institutions might need to keep inactive or aging data for long periods of time in case it needs to be retrieved later. Data can be stored in SharePoint to simplify searchability, security, compliance, and data lifecycle management. Microsoft 365 Archive enables you to retain this inactive data by moving it into a cold storage tier (archive) within SharePoint.
Microsoft 365 Archive allows education institutions to store inactive SharePoint content as well as unlicensed OneDrive accounts at a lower cost with long-term, compliant cold storage. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Archive reduces storage expenses by up to 33%1 by storing data in a cold tier within SharePoint, freeing up space for your growing library.
Sustainable data strategies for education
With Microsoft 365 Archive, you only pay for storage when usage exceeds your pooled storage limit.2 You can archive large volumes of content in minutes and restore it with just a few clicks, all while retaining search indexes, metadata, and Microsoft 365 compliance and security features. Whether active or archived, your data remains fully searchable and compliant without manual effort, so you can manage all your content within SharePoint without the complexity of multiple storage systems.
Microsoft 365 Archive also enhances productivity by decluttering active views and removing obsolete data from searches, while excluding archive data from Microsoft 365 Copilot search indexes. This improves the relevance of Copilot outputs and reduces the risk of over sharing sensitive information. With Microsoft 365 Archive your data stays secure, compliant and manageable as you scale.
By prioritizing information management and governance, educational institutions can harness the full potential of AI technology, protect sensitive data, and operate more efficiently, all while reducing their environmental footprint. Don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your institution’s data management strategies and stay ahead in the digital age.
1 Compared to additional storage priced at $300 USD estimated retail per month for 10 TB.
2 For unlicensed OneDrive accounts, the archive consumption meter is charged for every OneDrive account that is archived.
