The Records Management Lifecycle

The records management lifecycle is a framework that describes the different phases a record moves through during its existence, from the time it is created or received until its final disposition.

At SFU, employees and departments use a variety of tools to create, use, maintain, and retain records, including Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, departmental systems, and other university applications. Regardless of where a record is stored, it should be managed throughout its lifecycle in accordance with SFU's records management requirements.

M365 and the Records Management Lifecycle

In Microsoft 365, the records management lifecycle can be understood as the movement of information through different M365 tools as it changes from working information into an official record that must eventually be retained, destroyed, or preserved.

• Creation: Records may begin as documents created in OneDrive, Teams, or other M365 applications. OneDrive is particularly appropriate for individual working documents and early drafts.
• Use: OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint provide shared spaces where employees can work together, review documents, communicate, and develop records. SFU's current training describes Teams as the collaboration space and the connected SharePoint site as the underlying shared repository.
• Maintenance: Records should be organized in a shared location (Teams/SharePoint) where authorized employees can find and manage them. At this phase records should be moved out of an individual's OneDrive and into an appropriate shared recordkeeping environment.
• Retention: Official records must remain accessible for the period established by the applicable Records Retention Schedule and Disposal Authority (RRSDA). Retention depends on what the record documents, not simply where it M365 the document was created.
• Disposition: Once the retention period expires, records should be reviewed and disposition implemented.