Records Management with Microsoft Purview 

Most modern businesses and organizations need to manage vast amounts of data. You gather data from various sources like emails, chats, project files, contracts, and others. Most of the time, they are scattered and lack any real policy for management. For IT leaders, the question is clear but daunting – how do you ensure critical information is retained? How are they protected and disposed of, aligning with strict compliance requirements – without slowing down productivity? At Evolvous we have a solution – records management with Microsoft Purview. 

Now, here is the catch – implementing records management in Purview is not just about turning on the policies. You need to understand regulatory requirements, map them to the existing M365 capabilities, and configure governance frameworks in line with your requirements. Managing all that is a challenge.  

What is Records Management with Microsoft Purview?

Let’s put it simply – records management is the practice of systematically controlling the creation, classification, retention, and disposal of records. In the modern digital workplace, this is not just limited to paper-based and digital static files, but also emails, chat messages, collaborative documents, meeting recordings, transactional data and other forms of informational content. 

Now, for organizational IT teams, this requires solutions that can scale and adapt to the changing needs while still meeting the strict compliance demands.  

At Evolvous, we develop and deploy Microsoft Purview Records Management solutions, to address exactly these challenges. It goes beyond what traditional Document Management Systems do. The solution extends records governance across the governance system across your system infrastructure. This ensures that your records are always safe and compliant.  

The Advantages of Purview-Based Records Management

While implementing Purview Records Management, we have seen that the benefits can be many and varied. In fact, most of the time, it depends on how and why the solution is being implemented. But, overall, we can say that it has the following benefits: 

• Intelligent Classification – You will be able to use trainable classifiers, sensitivity labels, and auto-apply policies. This will help you to detect and tag records without any kind of manual intervention. 

• End-to-end Document Lifecycle Management – From records declaration to secure disposition review, our solution ensures that you can track and audit every step of the document lifecycle.  

• Code-Compliant Retention – We will configure the system, the retention and the deletion policies so that they align with regulations like ISO 15489, GDPR, MFIPPA, or industry-specific compliance codes. 

Learn More About Microsoft Purview 

Discover more about Microsoft Purview as a platform, the benefits it offers and how we help you tap into its potential. 

Our Purview Solutions 

What is the Structure of Purview-based Records Management? 

Evolvous focuses on building a system that is efficient, robust, and yet easy to use. In most cases, we build a layered structure that ensures classification, control and compliance across all content. 

Here are the key components of the structure 

• Content Sources – Documents, emails, chats are records are stored in a repository. We mainly use Microsoft SharePoint for this purpose, as it is easy to use, and comes with advanced compliance features of its own. 

• Classification Layer – Retention labels, sensitivity labels, and trainable classifiers are used which tag documents based on their content type, sensitivity, or regulatory requirements. 

• Policy Engines – The policies will be applied at scale so to make sure that all documents are consistently governed according to the same set of policies. 

• Automation & Workflows – We almost always automate the application of retention policies. This is important for event-based retention actions like when a contract closes, or an employee is no longer working. Our team will also set up disposition review workflows to streamline compliance, without needing manual oversight. 

• Monitoring & Reporting – As the final block of the structure, we will implement built-in audit logs, reporting dashboards and compliance reports. This will provide your IT teams with real-time visibility and also proof of code adherence. 

How to Use Microsoft Purview Records Management System?

Let us now get an overview of how you can use the system. The target users can be of two types – administrators and end-users. Here’s how the two different categories of users can use the system. 

For Administrators

• Define Requirements – Map the regulatory or unique business rules to the relevant retention and sensitivity labels, as well as policies. 

• Configure the Policies – Create and publish the policies across SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive and Exchange, or any other application that you might be using. 

• Automate & Monitor – Enable auto-classification, event-based retention and monitor activity through dashboards. 

• Review & Dispose – Check the disposition reviews, audit logs, and ensure proper lifecycle management of the documents. 

For End Users 

• Create and Collaborate – Continue to work on platforms like SharePoint, Exchange, Teams and others, which you are already working on. 

• Apply Labels – Retention and sensitivity labels will be automatically applied (if so configured). You can still override it and apply labels manually. 

• Declare Documents as Records – You can mark important documents as records. This will lock them against changes. 

• Ensure Compliance – You can continue working normally as Purview will take care of all compliance tasks in the background. 

Explore Our Electronic Records and Document Management Solutions

Discover more about our ERDMS solutions where we combine the functionalities of Microsoft Purview and SharePoint to build a full-compliant system to manage critical records. 

ERDMS Solutions 

The Process of Building a Microsoft Purview Records Management System 

Let us now look at the process that we follow to build a records management system based on Microsoft Purview. To be honest, the process is a bit complicated. Well, all thoughtful structures are! But here is an overview of the process so that you understand what is involved. 

STEP 1: Discovery and Assessment 

• We will start by reviewing your regulatory and industry compliance requirements GDPR, HIPAA, MFIPPA etc. 

• The team will also audit the current document repositories, retention schedules and governance gaps. 

STEP 2: Information Architecture Design 

• Based on your requirements, we will define the data taxonomy, metadata strategy and categories for record classification. 

• Map content sources like SharePoint, Teams, Exchange etc. 

STEP 3: Developing Policy and Label Frameworks 

• Create and define retention and sensitivity labels, as well as the trainable classifiers. 

• The lifecycle rules (retain, archive, or delete) will be configured according to the organizational requirements. 

STEP 4: System Configuration 

• Set up event-based retention and disposition workflows 

• Configure rules for auto labelling and records declaration. 

STEP 5: Integration & Security  

• Connect third party applications as required 

• Apply identity and access management and role-based controls to protect the system and the documents from unauthorized use. 

STEP 6: Testing & Training

• Conduct UAT, Performance and Security Testing 

• Offer role-based training and documentation for easy adaptation 

STEP 7: Deployment & Monitoring 

• The system is deployed for use across the organization. 

• We will be monitoring the system and making fixes and enhancements as necessary. 

Our Purview Records Management Services 

Here are some of the key services that we offer as Purview Records Management consultants: 

• Compliance & Governance Assessment

We will help you analyze regulatory requirements, current retention policies, and identify gaps. Based on that, we will design an information governance framework that is tailored to your needs and risk profile. 

• System Design & Implementation

You will complete assistance for configuring retention and sensitivity labels and allied policies. We will also help you automate workflows, including event-based retention, records declaration and disposition reviews. 

If you are already using a Document Management System, based on SharePoint, then we will help you migrate and upgrade your records management.  

• Technical Support 

We will provide ongoing monitoring, system audits and performance optimization solutions. Our team can also offer you support to make sure that the system remains compliant with evolving regulations. 

Build a Fully Compliant Purview Records Management System that Reduces Compliance Issues by more than 40% 

Contact us today and discover how we help you at every step of the way to simplify the development of Purview Records Management without compromising on performance. 

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