{"id":129625,"date":"2025-06-09T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-platform\/blog\/?p=129625"},"modified":"2025-06-08T22:56:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T05:56:46","slug":"long-term-retention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/power-platform\/blog\/2025\/06\/09\/long-term-retention\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-Term Retention (LTR): Cost Effective Strategy for Managing Storage and Compliance\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Retention (LTR) is one of data management tools that helps enterprises effectively manage their growing data estates while ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. By archiving less frequently accessed data, LTR optimizes Dataverse storage usage and reduces costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Retention (LTR) in Dataverse helps organizations retain data that\u2019s no longer actively used but still required for regulatory or business purposes. Whether it\u2019s for archiving operational records or meeting audit requirements like 5-year retention mandates, LTR ensures data remains secure, immutable, and compliant\u2014at a fraction of the storage cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But LTR isn\u2019t just about storage\u2014it\u2019s also built for analytics. Retained data is treated as a first-class citizen in Dataverse, seamlessly integrated into the real-time data warehouse. With Microsoft Fabric\u2019s OneLake Shortcuts<\/a>, you can analyze both live and archived data without copying or duplicating it. For customers preferring their own data lake, Synapse Link offers a flexible alternative for reporting and analytics on business and retained data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog will focus on how implementing LTR can significantly reduce storage costs for enterprises, providing practical insights and strategies for leveraging LTR to achieve cost efficiency. We will also discuss how you can get deep insights from the retained data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is LTR and how can you enable  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Data Retention (LTR) streamlines your data strategy by automatically moving historical records from Microsoft Dataverse and Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O) into a managed data lake (MDL). This approach ensures efficient, scalable storage\u2014freeing up space in your transactional databases while keeping retained data accessible for analytics and compliance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can enable the LTR for Dataverse using this article Dataverse long term data retention overview – Power Apps | Microsoft Learn<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To enable LTR for F&O, you can follow this article Archive data in Dynamics 365 finance and operations apps with Dataverse – Finance & Operations | Dynamics 365 | Microsoft Learn<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When LTR is the Right Fit <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Long-Term Retention (LTR) is a powerful tool for managing storage in Dataverse and Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (F&O), but its value is maximized when applied to the right scenarios. LTR allows organizations to move inactive, compliance-bound, or infrequently accessed data to a cost-optimized, read-only storage tier\u2014freeing up space in the primary database while maintaining access for reporting and audits. <\/p>\n\n\n

\"LTR<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s when LTR is especially relevant: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2705<\/strong> 1.\u202fCompliance-Driven Data Retention<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your organization operates in a regulated industry (e.g., finance, healthcare, public sector), you likely need to retain data for 5\u201310 years or more. LTR ensures that this data remains immutable and accessible for audits, without bloating your operational database. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/em>: Financial records, customer invoices, and customer contracts that must be retained for legal or regulatory reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2705<\/strong> 2.\u202fAnalytics on Historical Data<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LTR doesn\u2019t mean your data is locked away. Retained data can still be queried for trend analysis, forecasting, and AI workloads\u2014especially when integrated with tools like Azure Synapse Link or OneLake shortcuts. This enables long-term insights without compromising performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/em>: Analysing 7 years of sales data to forecast seasonal demand patterns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2705<\/strong> 3.\u202fData Relevancy and Lifecycle Management<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not all data needs to be live forever. LTR helps you separate high-value, frequently accessed data from historical records that are still important but rarely used. This improves system responsiveness and reduces noise in day-to-day operations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Example<\/em>: Archiving closed cases, completed orders, or inactive customer records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u26a0\ufe0f<\/strong> What LTR Does\u202f<\/strong>Not<\/em><\/strong>\u202fDo<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While LTR reduces your\u202foperational storage footprint<\/strong>, it does\u202fnot<\/strong>\u202freduce the size of your\u202fanalytics store<\/strong>. If you\u2019re exporting data to Synapse, OneLake, or other analytical platforms, you\u2019ll still need to manage retention and tiering strategies there separately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cost savings with LTR <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most impactful benefits of implementing Long-Term Retention (LTR) in Dynamics 365 is the significant reduction in storage costs. On average, LTR compresses archived data by up to\u202f80% <\/strong>and in some cases up to 90%<\/strong>, which can translate into substantial savings. For instance, archiving 1,000 GB of database data could reduce storage expenses from\u202f$80,000 to $10,000<\/strong>\u2014a game-changer for data-heavy organizations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few real-world examples of how customers are reaping the rewards: <\/p>\n\n\n\n