Smarter Retention in Microsoft 365: A Step Toward Cleaner, More Relevant Data - Coming soon

Anyone who has worked with SharePoint management knows that data governance is a cornerstone of digital productivity, especially in large organizations where information can accumulate rapidly. Today, retention policies in Microsoft 365 allow administrators to manage data based on creation or modification dates. However, in my experience, this approach is not always sufficient. Files that haven’t been accessed in years may still linger in OneDrive or SharePoint, cluttering storage, slowing down search, and diluting the relevance of AI-powered tools like Microsoft 365 Copilot. A new feature in Microsoft Purview Retention Policies, expected this winter, promises to enhance Data Lifecycle Management. This upcoming setting will enable policies to identify files that have remained untouched for a specified period and automatically flag them for deletion or archival. This enhancement is particularly valuable for organizations leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot. By removing outdated or irreleva...

Town Hall for Microsoft Teams and retirement of Live Events

Microsoft has announced a new feature called 'Town Halls' in Microsoft Teams. This new experience is designed to host and deliver large-scale, internal events, and will eventually replace Microsoft Live events which is set to be retired for commercial customers on September 30, 2024


Some of the highlights of Town Halls include:

  • It provides a familiar interface to plan, create and produce large scale events.
  • It provides a one-to-many format with advanced production capabilities.
  • It offers a structured approach for attendee engagement.
  • It enables customers to extend their reach to scale their message and connect with audiences everywhere.
  • It allows organizations to create professionally produced, studio-quality events that deliver a more dynamic experience.

The feature will be enabled by default once it rolls out, but it can be controlled through the "Set-CsTeamsEventsPolicy" cmdlet: Set-CsTeamsEventsPolicy -Identity "policy name" -AllowTownhalls Disabled 

According to a post in the message center the rollout may begin already this month. This is associated with the roadmap item: 123148