Do You Really Need Email Archiving in Microsoft 365?
Most businesses have native retention policies to keep mail in place for a set period of time, but they were not built for legal holds, granular search, or long-term compliance. Archiving adds the immutability, indexing, and audit trail regulators and courts actually expect. Most organizations assume Microsoft 365 already does this job. It doesn't. Not fully. The gap tends to show up at the worst possible moment: mid-litigation, mid-audit, or right after a breach. What Does Microsoft 365 Actually Retain by Default? Exchange Online ships with retention policies and In-Place Archive mailboxes. Useful features. Not governance. They hold data; they don't govern it. Any admin