A global pharmaceutical company uses Microsoft 365. Due to strict clinical trial regulations, all documents related to a specific trial must be retained for 15 years from the trial's completion date, regardless of when the document was created or modified. This retention period must start precisely when the trial formally concludes, and the retention policy must be immutable. Which Microsoft Purview feature should be implemented?
- AAn event-based retention policy, where the 'event' is the clinical trial completion date, triggering a 15-year retention period from that date, with Preservation Lock enabled.
- BA standard retention policy applied to the SharePoint site where trial documents are stored, with a 15-year retention period and Preservation Lock.
- CA retention label with a 15-year retention period from the date 'label was applied', auto-applied to documents based on keywords, and then declared as a regulatory record.
- DA Microsoft 365 Backup policy configured to retain the SharePoint site for 15 years, with point-in-time restore capabilities.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. An event-based retention policy, where the 'event' is the clinical trial completion date, triggering a 15-year retention period from that date, with Preservation Lock enabled.
Event-based retention is designed for scenarios where the retention period begins on the occurrence of a specific event, not the creation or modification date of the content itself. This perfectly matches the requirement for retention to start from the clinical trial's completion date. Combining this with Preservation Lock ensures immutability.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. A standard retention policy starts retention from content creation or modification, which does not meet the requirement of starting from the trial completion date.
- C. While auto-applying labels and regulatory records provide immutability, 'label was applied' is not the 'trial completion date'. A regulatory record also typically implies indefinite retention until manual disposition, not a fixed retention then auto-deletion based on an event.
- D. Microsoft 365 Backup is for data recovery, not for compliance-driven retention that starts from a specific event and ensures immutability against deletion.
Event-Based Retention
Event-based retention allows organizations to define retention periods that begin when a specific event occurs, rather than on content creation or modification.
- Ideal for scenarios like contract expiration, employee departure, or project completion.
- Requires defining an event type and event properties.
- Can be combined with Preservation Lock for immutable retention.
Memory trick: An 'event' sparks the retention clock, not just creation.