Microsoft to update OneDrive Storage Policy: Archiving Unlicensed Accounts
Understanding the Impact of the New OneDrive Storage Policy
As businesses continue to embrace digital transformation, Microsoft, has positioned OneDrive at the forefront of its cloud strategy. One of the significant upcoming changes in Microsoft’s OneDrive strategy is the introduction of a new OneDrive storage policy; to archive unlicensed OneDrive accounts. This move is designed to optimise storage management and ensure that only active, licensed accounts occupy valuable cloud resources.
Beginning January 27, 2025, when an account becomes unlicensed – perhaps due to an employee leaving the organisation or a change in user roles – Microsoft plans to archive the account’s data instead of deleting it immediately. This archival process will preserve the data, making it accessible if needed in the future. However, this service comes with a cost implication for administrators.
Charging for Archived Storage
Microsoft’s new policy stipulates that administrators will be charged for storing archived data from unlicensed accounts. This fee structure is intended to cover the costs associated with maintaining and securing the archived data. While this ensures that important data is not lost, it also places a financial responsibility on organisations to manage their archived storage efficiently.
Organisations will be charged $2 per GB per month for storing archived data from unlicensed accounts. This fee structure will come into effect on January 1, 2025, giving organisations a few months to prepare and adapt their data management practices accordingly.
Impact on Collaboration
This new policy will have direct implications on how organisations manage collaboration. By archiving unlicensed accounts, Microsoft ensures that data is not immediately lost upon license expiration, which can be critical for ongoing projects and compliance requirements. However, the added cost requires careful consideration and planning.
What to do
Managers can take proactive steps now by conducting an audit of user accounts to identify any unlicensed users and ensuring that their data retention policies are up to date, and they have the relevant licence if required. They should also budget for potential additional costs associated with archiving and educate their teams about the new policy’s implications to avoid unexpected expenses.
Reference: Manage unlicensed OneDrive user accounts – SharePoint in Microsoft 365 | Microsoft Learn
An experienced Senior Microsoft 365 engineer, specializing in cloud services such as Intune, Entra/Azure as well Microsoft’s Security products. Cormac has years of experience protecting companies against Data breach’s or dealing with the aftermath and can help your company protect its data from attacks from both outside or within.
An experienced Senior Microsoft 365 engineer, specializing in cloud services such as Intune, Entra/Azure as well Microsoft's Security products. Cormac has years of experience protecting companies against Data breach's or dealing with the aftermath and can help your company protect its data from attacks from both outside or within.
