Microsoft Lists – evolving the value of SharePoint lists and beyond

Thanks @Mark Kashman and Miceile Barrett - this looks really good!

I've been working in IT for long enough to see Microsoft first bring everything together into SharePoint (lists, surveys, etc) and now, over the past few years, "disintegrate" it back again (eg Lists, Forms, etc); this is the latest manifestation of that.

I note that "My Lists" are stored in a user's OneDrive.

Will Microsoft Lists be part of all Microsoft 365 plans [that include OneDrive]? E1|A1? E3|A3? E5|E5? 

Will Lists follow Forms in the freemium model? Starting off as an "included" product for no additional cost, but evolve to become multiple editions with more capable editions becoming separately chargeable SKUs?

Can you provide some guidance on the lifecycle of "My Lists"?  Let me explain...

1. Alice starts at Contoso.
2. Contoso has lots of semi-structured data spread across post-it notes, emails, chat, spreadsheets, etc.  That's what they do at Contoso.
3. Alice sees Miceile Barrett video, and is inspired! Alice creates a Lists list in "My Lists" [stored in her personal OneDrive]
4. Alice shares it with Bob.  Bob loves it!  Alice's list is shared with everyone and everyone now uses it.  Finally - order where there was chaos.

Contoso now depends on Alice's list.

Now,

• it's no longer "just" Alice's list; Annie has some ideas, and enriches the list.
• arguably, it should no longer be in Alice's OneDrive; it should be in an organisational location, such as a SharePoint site, or a Teams team
  • is that possible? how?  In SharePoint, it used to be pretty primitive; you could save a list as a template, then create a new list based on the template, losing important parts in the transition
• Alice posts her story on LinkedIn.  Woodgrove Bank sees her post and like what they see.  Woodgrove Bank offer her a job with a big pay rise.  Alice accepts; congratulations Alice!
  • but what happens at Contoso?  Alice had actually created many different and important lists in "My Lists" and shared them across the organisation.
  • Wally works at Contoso IT.  He's been notified Alice is leaving, so deletes her account
  • Contoso grinds to a halt - Alice's lists have disappeared!

How can Wally delete any user account anymore, knowing it could contain any number of business-critical Microsoft Lists lists in them?  

Even if Wally knows a user does have one or more Microsoft Lists lists, what can he do about them?

Alice created multiple lists; some are critical to Contoso.  But some are more personal;

• her weekly grocery shopping, which she buys on her way home from work
• Alice arranged a work pot-luck; people contributed what they were bringing
• etc

Is this a data governance and identity lifecycle nightmare, or does Microsoft have a best practice here?  Is it a chargeable extra?  Is it simply to recover a deleted user?  Then what? Alice's resurrected account needs a [chargeable] OneDrive license to keep the Microsoft Lists lists in OneDrive.

Will Microsoft provide administrative controls so that "My Lists" can be disabled, so this scenario cannot arise?  It's a real shame to do this; it potentially stymies "citizen developers" from solving problems locally; but what choice does an organisation that values its data but can't afford an infinite number of licences have?

PS this comment may sound negative; perhaps it is!  I think Microsoft Lists sounds great!  But I still need answers to these concerns