Archiving Third-Party Data in Office 365 Aids Compliance

Specialized connectors from partners allow the movement of data from messaging services, such as Cisco Jabber and Skype for Business, and social media postings, such as Twitter and Facebook, into Office 365. These connectors will allow organizations to use Office 365 as a complete archive for compliance data, or to process such data using Advanced eDiscovery, making Office 365 a more complete compliance and governance tool. However, organizations may need multiple connectors to capture data from all relevant sources, and they will need to ensure the import process preserves the fidelity of the data for compliance.

Aiding Governance and Compliance

Most organizations must ensure compliance with government regulations, for example, the Health Insurance Portability or Accountability Act (HIPAA), or non-governmental organization (NGO) regulations, such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Although much of this compliance involves properly preserving traditional information from internal databases and documents, including e-mail, many organizations must now manage data from a variety of external instant messaging, social media, and collaboration services to ensure compliance with the governance requirements of their specific business. For example, employees are using more and more Internet-based or hosted services to perform their jobs. In some cases, the use of these external services is sanctioned by the organization’s IT department. In other cases, a group of employees or a department may be using the services to replace or supplement IT services.