Execution, Automation, and Training

Data placement and automation

Classify, store, and tag information quickly, consistently, compliantly, and defensibly.

Classify, store, and tag information in five seconds or less.

Reduce the burden on end users.

Leverage products you already own.

White Paper

Developing a Data Retention Policy to Meet Privacy Data Minimization Requirements

Recorded Webinar

Using M365 to Create a Personal Data Inventory

Article

Should You Combine Your Privacy and Records Management Programs?

How we help

Organizations need clear, fast, and prescriptive processes for what information to save where. Employees are concerned about compliance and risk and want to do the right thing, but often do not know what that is.

Modern content management systems, including Microsoft 365, can be configured to allow automatic classification through inheritance, tagging, retention and disposition. This reduces the burden on end users (enabling them to classify, save, and tag information in five seconds or less) and drives employee productivity by making valuable information accessible while reducing and deleting low-value information and expired records. It also facilitates consistent, compliant, and defensible governance and disposition across the enterprise.

Our Data Placement and Automation service enables organizations and employees to consistently apply records retention, document retention, data security classification, legal hold, and access controls to files and emails using the products and technologies they already own.

Explore our data placement and automation services

Data Placement Strategy

Comprehensive framework to automate governance policies and processes within content management repositories for unstructured data, including files and email.

M365 Configuration and Provision

Knowledge transfer of how to use M365 capabilities for information governance.

Data Placement Mapping and Migration (Pilot Approach)

Pilots data placement mapping and migration with a set number of user groups as documented, repeatable processes.

M365 In-Place Email Management

Configures M365 in-place email governance within Outlook.

Unstructured Data Mapping and Migration

Enterprise-wide implementation of mapping and migration.

Data Placement/Email Implementation SME

Fractional or transitional support with data placement or email implementation.

If you’ve been asking yourself…

“Are we meeting current legal, regulatory and privacy requirements for records management and document retention?”

“Who should participate in developing and executing our document retention and records retention program and how do we make this an enterprise-wide effort supported by multiple stakeholders?”

“What current capabilities do we already have in place, and which pieces are missing or need updating?”

“What are our current records management, document retention, information governance and privacy capabilities and how do they impact employee productivity, collaboration, compliance, risk and cost?”

“How do our information governance and data retention capabilities compare against peers in our industry?“

“What order should these program development activities take, how long will they take, and how should these activities be coordinated with other initiatives?”

“How do we communicate this plan effectively and credibly to senior management?”

“What level of records management, privacy and information governance maturity should our program have and what level of resources do we need to support this maturity for our company in our industry?”

…you’ve come to the right place.

Learn more about our services and explore related resources below.

Related resources

Recorded Webinar

Creating a Modern, Compliant, and Easier-to-Execute Records Retention Schedule for Privacy and AI

A well-designed schedule not only ensures regulatory compliance but also fosters collaboration with business units, reduces conflicts, and supports automation of classification and disposition processes.

Recorded Webinar

Information Governance 101

Gain an overview of the essential building blocks of an effective program including records and data retention, privacy and data minimization, and the role of technology, processes, and training in making governance sustainable.

Recorded Webinar

Using M365 to Create a Personal Data Inventory

Rather than investing in expensive and complex tools, organizations can take a more practical, scalable, and compliant approach by leveraging Microsoft 365 to manage personal data inventories more effectively.

What We Do

Our data placement and automation services

Modern content management systems, including Microsoft 365, can be configured to allow automatic classification through inheritance, tagging, retention, and disposition, greatly reducing the burden on end users. Organizations should initially take full advantage of the products and technologies they already own: most organizations are successful in implementing robust information governance programs using Microsoft 365’s native capabilities, without the need to purchase add-on products.

We automate these information governance tasks by teaching retention rules to the system, enabling users to classify, store, and tag information in five seconds or less.

We have assisted clients in configuring and migrating hundreds of thousands of users across thousands of departments and business units in nearly all industries. We have worked throughout the world with organizations ranging from small, 50-person operations to large corporations with more than 150,000 employees. Our consultants have deep expertise in all versions of Microsoft 365 and other content management systems; we are up to date on the latest releases and features and experienced at configuring these systems in client environments. We are also well-versed in the capabilities and limitations of OpenText, Box, Dropbox, Hyland, iManage, and other platforms.

Data Placement Strategy

We develop a comprehensive framework to automate governance policies and processes within content management repositories for unstructured data, including files and email.

Our Data Placement Strategy for Unstructured Data provides a comprehensive, enterprise-wide information management framework for defensible and compliant retention management, data security classification, collaboration, efficient storage, and disposition of unstructured data, including files and email. This drives automation for classification, tagging, retention, access, and controls when information is placed in a repository.

Contoural presents options based on best practices, builds consensus of stakeholders, and produces a recommended configuration for retention, sensitive data management, and governance as well as an implementation strategy and task-based milestone roadmap.

We utilize a full governance framework including records retention, privacy and other sensitive information, security requirements, legal holds, access controls, and employee productivity and collaboration. Compliance requires that these governance requirements be integrated and configured together to avoid conflicts or interference.

M365 Configuration and Provision

We provide for knowledge transfer of how to use M365 capabilities for information governance.

Our M365 Configuration and Provision defines a customized, organization-specific, enterprise-standard M365 configuration for unstructured data and creates a provisioning process to implement this configuration across the enterprise.

This includes training and demonstration of retention and sensitivity labels, creating scripts to implement standard configuration across the enterprise, reviewing migration strategies, and providing knowledge transfer of how to use both front-end and back-end M365 capabilities for information governance in a testbed environment.

The enterprise rollout plan includes project team participants, roles and expectations for collaboration within the team, pilot plan, business unit engagement, and a realistic enterprise rollout schedule.

Automating Configurations for Consistent, Enterprise-wide Configurations

Default policies can be created at the library or folder level in SharePoint, as well as by pushing retention labels by job function for use in Outlook. Retention labels based on the records retention schedule can be auto-populated through PowerShell and scripts. This allows for department-specific customizations while still maintaining consistent labels throughout the enterprise.

Intuitive, Familiar Department and Business Unit Naming and File Structures

Department and business unit sites and shared folders should be designed to use names already familiar with the employees within that group. The site and folder structures should be designed to be intuitive reflecting the business activities within the group. Creating this intuitive, department-specific structure with understandable naming conventions will greatly accelerate employee adoption.

Centralization of Information with Distributed Management

Centralized records governance with distributed management across repositories leads to reduced storage and discovery costs, improved efficiency, and protection for sensitive data. In-scope repositories include Microsoft/Office 365, File Shares, email, and more.

Data Placement Mapping and Migration (Pilot Approach)

We pilot data placement mapping and migration with a set number of user groups as documented, repeatable processes.

Microsoft 365 information governance deployment typically starts through a series of pilots that guide a set of user groups through a pilot data structure development and data migration exercise. We advise starting out with a limited number of functional business groups and taking them through the entire process. This includes mapping all content with source/destination, proposed file structures, and default retention and sensitivity, as well as required metadata. This map can then be used to drive a migration toolset.

Our pilot approach includes mapping sessions with workgroup personnel, establishment of cleanup processes for existing repositories, mapping and implementation workbooks, configuration of the workgroup environment, assistance with migrating or retrofitting unstructured information from current locations into the newly-configured areas, and knowledge transfer for the IT team.

We use a repeatable cleanup and mapping process (including mapping, classification, cleanup, filing structure creation, and validation) for existing data in file shares prior to migration, as well as for migrating information to new, compliant M365 SharePoint or Team sites and/or retrofitting existing SharePoint sites with default labels based on content types and the records retention schedule. This includes the buildout of new sites or re-organization of existing sites, migration of data to those sites, validating that all required data has been migrated and configured to match existing policies as defined in the filing structure produced during the mapping phase, and making further configurations as necessary for each business group’s SharePoint library/site.

Typically, we conduct 5-10 pilots (sometimes more) of this process with an enterprise, complete a master playbook with change management materials, templates, and process flows, then turn these over for the client to do a full enterprise rollout.

The enterprise implementation playbook supports repeatable implementation. This includes all communications, presentations and process definitions placed in a step-by-step framework to serve as a template for future implementations across the enterprise.

IT and Information Governance staff can participate throughout the pilot process. With this “teaching to fish” experience, some organizations may elect to drive the rest of the full enterprise rollout with their own internal resources, engaging Contoural consultants as subject matter experts for as-needed assistance and questions.

M365 In-Place Email Management

We configure M365 in-place email governance within Outlook.

Contoural implements the Email Management Strategy to configure M365 in-place email governance within Outlook, including retention and sensitivity label creation, script development, and publishing. We provide email management knowledge transfer for how to use M365 capabilities for information governance in Outlook, educating and training Legal and IT personnel on the configuration of a records retention schedule and data classification policy in M365, along with assisting with rollout of the solution to all employees. This establishes the foundation for future migration of data.

Unstructured Data Mapping and Migration

We conduct enterprise-wide implementation of mapping and migration.

Data Placement/Email Implementation SME

We provide fractional or transitional support with data placement or email implementation.

After implementation is complete, Contoural consultants may be engaged for temporary or part-time support.

Data Placement subject matter experts provide assistance, and support for integration, implementation, and problem resolution, including working with internal technology teams and integrators, resolving issues, and providing general implementation advice and consulting services as requested.

Email management subject matter experts provide assistance, and support for email management, including publishing retention labels, configuring mail and retention policies, working with IT to move emails from archives, setting up the default retention labels on the custom folders in mailboxes, and other tasks as needed.

Connect with a member of the Contoural team to learn more about our information governance consulting services.

As an independent provider, Contoural does not sell or resell any products, take product referral fees, or provide discovery services such as matter-specific document identification, document collection, or document review. Our advice is based solely on the needs of our clients and is not driven by the sale of products.