Imagine supercharging your organisation’s efficiency, where every decision is data-driven and innovation becomes a daily norm. As the digital frontier expands with tools like Microsoft Copilot, there’s a hidden linchpin to this vision: pristine data quality. With businesses haemorrhaging an astounding $3.1 trillion in 2022 due to poor data1, the role of SharePoint archiving emerges as not just important, but indispensable. Let’s delve into its pivotal role in shaping the future.
Why SharePoint Archiving Matters
Imagine trying to find a needle in a haystack. Now, imagine if half of the haystack was unnecessary straw. That’s what it’s like for AI tools trying to sift through cluttered data environments. Microsoft Copilot, designed to deliver sharp insights and enhance productivity, relies heavily on the quality of data it accesses. A cluttered SharePoint, filled with Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial (ROT) data, can significantly hinder Copilot’s performance.
The Silent Powerhouse: SharePoint Archiving
At its core, SharePoint archiving is about more than just cleaning up. It’s about enhancing data quality, streamlining performance, ensuring compliance, and paving the way for advanced tools like Microsoft Copilot to function at their peak. Here are the key benefits of SharePoint archiving:
1. Enhanced Data Quality and ROT Data Management
Copilot’s effectiveness is entirely dependent on the quality of data it can access. Unarchived SharePoint ecosystems gradually accumulate vast amounts of ROT data over time. This “noise” can mislead and confuse AI algorithms such as those leveraged by Copilot, leading it to deliver irrelevant or inaccurate insights. By implementing SharePoint archiving, we can:
- Identify and remove duplicate files and items.
- Delete or archive data past retention periods.
- Archive inactive sites, lists and libraries.
- Isolate orphaned assets and clean up broken references.
2. Optimised Performance and Infrastructure Efficiency
A cluttered SharePoint doesn’t just impact data quality but also platform performance. Excessive inactive data can slow search queries, page load times, and API calls by up to 70%2. These delays disrupt workflows, reduce user adoption and hamper Copilot’s responsiveness. Archiving sweeps away GBs or even TBs of obsolete data from the active environment, allowing Copilot to rapidly process requests and deliver insights in real-time. Moreover, this decluttering recovers significant storage capacity, optimising infrastructure efficiency, especially considering Copilot’s machine learning models which take up considerable storage during training.
3. Regulatory Compliance, Challenges, and Lower Security Risks
With numerous laws and regulations related to record-keeping in the UK, such as the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), staying compliant is a complex dance. Archiving simplifies this by ensuring data is stored, accessed, and deleted in line with UK regulatory mandates. However, challenges arise, such as data migration issues, ensuring data integrity during the archiving process, and training staff. Addressing these challenges head-on with a systematic approach and the right tools ensures smooth sailing. Additionally, the more data an organisation accumulates, the larger its exposure to data breaches and cyberthreats. Archiving reduces this risk profile by systematically removing obsolete data, enhancing the overall security posture, especially critical for tools like Copilot accessing sensitive information.
These adaptations focus on the specific regulatory environments of Australia and the UK, making the content more relevant to each audience.
4. Efficient Use of Microsoft Copilot
Quality over quantity is the mantra here. Microsoft Copilot thrives on quality data. A cluttered SharePoint might lead Copilot astray, offering outdated or irrelevant insights. A streamlined, well-archived SharePoint ensures Copilot’s insights are accurate.
5. Cost Savings
Storing redundant data is akin to pouring money down the drain. A staggering 65% of data stored by companies is either redundant or obsolete3. Archiving identifies and offloads this excess to more cost effective storage which can translate to tangible cost savings.
6. Comparative Analysis
When we compare SharePoint’s performance with and without archiving, the differences are stark. Organisations which have embraced archiving report faster data retrieval times, a reduction in system crashes and an overall smoother user experience. In the context of Microsoft Copilot, a well-archived SharePoint ensures the tool can function at its optimal capacity, providing accurate and timely insights.
7. Sustainable Future Performance
SharePoint archiving is not a one-time initiative. Without ongoing archiving, ROT data will accumulate and hence impact the results of a Copilot search and erode performance gains. Establishing regular policy based archiving ensures SharePoint maintains peak performance over time and works towards creating an optimal environment for Copilot to operate at maximum accuracy and efficiency.
Conclusion
In the digital age, the efficiency and security of your data infrastructure are paramount. As tools like Microsoft Copilot come to the forefront, they bring with them the promise of revolutionising workflows and enhancing productivity. However, their efficacy is deeply intertwined with the quality and organisation of the data they access. SharePoint archiving, thus, isn’t just a best practice—it’s the foundation upon which the success of future tools and innovations will be built. By prioritising archiving today, organisations not only safeguard their present but also pave the way for a more streamlined, efficient, and innovative tomorrow.
Ready to Harness the Full Power of Microsoft Copilot?
At Insentra, we’re not just observers of the future; we’re active participants in shaping it. Our seasoned experts, with their deep understanding of SharePoint, stand ready to guide your organisation into the next era of digital excellence. Is your organisation primed to maximise the capabilities of Microsoft Copilot? Engage with Insentra today for our Copilot readiness assessment. Together, we’ll ensure your SharePoint is optimally configured and your team is prepared to harness the transformative power of Microsoft Copilot.
Source:
- The Economic Impact of Bad Data.” IBM Big Data & Analytics Hub.
- SharePoint Performance and Capacity Planning.” Microsoft TechNet.
- The Cost of Redundant Data.” Data Management Institute.
