The disposition review does not work

A common problem and its solution.

The definition of retention periods plays a decisive role in data lifecycle management. It determines how long data must be stored before it can be deleted. These periods are regulated by law and serve to protect important information while at the same time safeguarding the privacy of those affected. A breach of these regulations can have significant legal consequences, such as fines or even criminal investigations.

To ensure that all legal requirements are met, a disposition review is often carried out. Here, files are checked again before they are deleted. Unfortunately, this process does not always work smoothly.

Why does the disposition review fail so often?

In my practice, I have found that a frequent cause of problems with the disposition review is the configuration of the extension period. This period determines how long a document is held for review before it can be automatically deleted.

Spoiler: Select more than seven days for the extension period and the Disposition Review will work.

The 7-day rule: An empirically determined correlation

After detailed analysis, I have found that an extension period of at least seven days leads to a successful disposition review. If the period is shorter, there is a risk that the document will fall out of the process. In this case, it simply remains stored in SharePoint with the respective retention label, it is no longer included in the disposition review and is not deleted.

Why or: The role of the Managed Folder Assistant

My guess is that the Managed Folder Assistant (MFA) plays a decisive role here. The MFA is a Microsoft 365 service that automatically performs tasks such as moving, deleting or labelling files. It is probably responsible for collecting documents and preparing them for review. However, there is no official documentation from Microsoft that describes in detail exactly how MFA works for Disposition Reviews.

If the extension period is less than seven days, then the document drops out of the process before the MFA can collect it for review.

Why exactly seven days?

Microsoft documents that the Managed Folder Assistant (MFA) is usually run every seven days to process files according to the defined retention policies. This is also my point of reference, which is why I assume that the MFA is at work here. If the extension period for a Disposition Review is less than seven days, there is a risk that documents will fall out of the process before the MFA can capture them. This could explain why Disposition Reviews with shorter timeframes are often unsuccessful.

My recommendation:

To ensure that your disposition reviews work reliably, I strongly recommend the following:

• Extension period: set the extension period to at least eight days.
• Groups instead of individuals: Always designate a group for the review to ensure that the review is conducted even if individuals leave the company.
• Regular review: Check the configuration of the scheduling review regularly and adjust it if necessary.

Conclusion

The Disposition Review is an important tool for data lifecycle management. By following the above recommendations, you can ensure that your company data is properly managed and protected against accidental deletion.

Note:

Although these recommendations are based on my experience and analyses, I recommend that you also take a look at the official Microsoft documentation (the function mechanism may be described there in the meantime).

What experiences have you had with the Disposition Review? Let me know in the comments :)