Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) vs Records Management - When to use what?

Hello,

Let me try to explain and elaborate a little bit.

Data Lifecycle Management

• DLMfocuses on managing content across its entire lifecycle, from creation to deletion. It’s generally used for compliance and retention policies.
• DLM allows you to apply retention labels to control how long content is retained before it’s either disposed of or archived.
• Use Cases:
  • Ensuring compliance with data retention regulations by automatically deleting data after a specified period.
  • Applying retention labels to documents and emails to manage how long information is kept.
• Example Implementation: Setting up DLM retention policies to delete emails older than five years across all users in Exchange.

Records Management

• Records Management provides more rigorous control, allowing organizations to declare certain items as records, which are then managed with additional security and retention rules.
• It includes labeling items as records, applying retention schedules, and placing legal holds.
• Use Cases:
  • Managing official records that must be preserved for regulatory, legal, or business requirements.
  • Applying stricter controls to sensitive information and ensuring its protection from modification or premature deletion.
• Example Implementation: Declaring certain documents as records in SharePoint to meet legal requirements, which ensures they cannot be deleted or altered before the end of a retention period.

When to use ?

• Use DLM when you want to apply retention policies broadly across content types to ensure compliance with general retention schedules.
• Use Records Management when you need to manage specific records for regulatory compliance, apply stricter controls, or enforce protection from deletion or modification.

Both solutions can work together within Microsoft Purview for a comprehensive records management strategy.

I hope it will be useful.
I would be happy if you could mark it as an answer.

Best Regards,

Ali Koc

Thank you Alikoc for the response. It appears both could be used, wondering if you could provide any detailed use case ( or tutorial other than learn.microsoft.com) with live example on Records Management and DLM implementation.