Reduce SharePoint Storage Costs with Microsoft 365 Archive

Managing storage costs can be a significant challenge for IT admins and IT directors leveraging Microsoft 365. The good news? Microsoft 365 Archive. It offers a smarter way to reduce storage expenses by keeping only the most active and essential content in your SharePoint environment. With the potential to cut large portions of your storage costs up to 75%, it’s a powerful tool for optimizing your Microsoft 365 environment.  

But there’s a weird, counterintuitive caveat—misused archiving can actually double your expenses. So how do you leverage Microsoft 365 Archive to its fullest while avoiding costly mistakes? Let’s break it down. 

What Is Microsoft 365 Archive? 

Microsoft 365 Archive allows you to cost-effectively manage inactive SharePoint sites without sacrificing searchability, security, or compliance. It lets you move aging data into cold storage and free up active storage —while maintaining full access to archived content. It’s the best of all possible worlds: significant savings for your organization, along with a secure and compliant data lifecycle. Many organizations are quickly exceeding their pooled storage limits, leading to unforeseen costs.  

With Microsoft’s storage rate of $0.20/GB/month, just 1 TB of additional data could add an extra $200 to your monthly bill. For active, valuable data, this cost might make sense. But in reality, much of your stored data is old and rarely accessed—though not disposable because of retention requirements and future reference. This is where Microsoft 365 Archive shines. By moving inactive SharePoint sites to a cold storage tier at just $0.05/GB, you can save up to 75% on storage costs, all while keeping your data secure and accessible. 

How to Enable and Use Microsoft 365 Archive 

Step 1: Set Up Your Azure Subscription 

Before archiving, you need to connect your Azure subscription through Microsoft Syntex’s pay-as-you-go model. Your subscription covers archiving and reactivation costs based on usage, giving you flexibility and scalability all in one. 

• Create an Azure subscription: If you don’t already have one, set it up through the Azure portal.
• Link Azure to Microsoft 365: In the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, go to the Microsoft Syntex pay-as-you-go section and link your Azure subscription for archiving. 

Step 2: Access the SharePoint Admin Center 

Once your Azure subscription is set up, head to the SharePoint Admin Center to manage site archiving. 

• Go to the SharePoint Admin Center: You’ll find this in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
• Select the sites to Archive: Identify the teams, communication, or project sites that are no longer active but still valuable. 

Step 3: Archive the SharePoint Site 

Now that you’ve identified a site, archiving is straightforward. 

• Choose the Archive Site option: This is typically located under the site settings within the SharePoint Admin Center.
• Confirm the Archive: Once archived, the site remains accessible for search and compliance, but further edits will be restricted. 

Step 4: Manage Archived Sites 

Archived sites will remain available for search and compliance purposes but are no longer editable, keeping essential content close at hand while reducing your environment’s clutter. 

• Restoring Archived Sites: If needed, you can easily restore sites via the SharePoint Admin Center. Note that restoring incurs a reactivation cost, so be sure to evaluate these potential expenses ahead of time. 

SharePoint Archiving Benefits 

Data Retention and Preservation 

When a SharePoint site is archived, its documents, lists, libraries, and pages are preserved in their original form. This keeps you compliant with your data retention policies while providing a secure, long-term storage solution. 

Cost Management

With Microsoft 365 Archive’s pay-as-you-go model, you’re only charged for the data you archive and reactivate. This flexible approach scales with your needs, allowing your organization to manage storage costs effectively without the burden of fixed pricing. 

Search and Compliance 

Even after a site is archived, it remains fully searchable, making it easy to retrieve information when needed for audits or compliance checks. Microsoft 365’s powerful compliance tools ensure your organization remains in line with regulatory requirements. 

Automated Archiving 

What’s more, retention policies save you time by automating archiving. You can set conditions so inactive sites are automatically archived, keeping your environment organized without time-consuming manual intervention. 

Understanding the Costs of Archiving in M365

Here’s how the cost of archiving compares with keeping sites active: 

Scenario: Archiving a 150 GB SharePoint Site 

• Before Archiving: Keeping an inactive 150 GB site active costs $30/month (150 GB @ $0.20/GB). 

• After Archiving: The cost drops to $7.50/month (150 GB @ $0.05/GB) for archived storage.

This gives you a 75% savings! However, restoring this site later will inur a one-time charge of $90 (150 GB @ $0.60/GB). In this instance, you’d need to keep the site archived for at least four months before restoring to avoid cancelling out your savings. 

Archiving only makes sense if data is infrequently restored. Over three years, archiving a 150 GB site costs $360, compared to $1,080 for keeping it active. The long-term savings are substantial if managed correctly. 

Unlock the Full Potential of Archiving

Microsoft 365 Archive is a powerful tool for managing your SharePoint storage costs, but its effectiveness depends on how you use it. By understanding its strengths—and limitations—you can slash per-site storage expenses by up to 75%, while keeping critical data accessible and compliant. However, frequent restorations can diminish the cost-saving potential, so it’s crucial to plan your archiving strategy carefully. 

Maximize Your Savings with Orchestry’s Archiving Solutions 

Looking to take your archiving strategy even further? Orchestry’s Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Archiving solutions help you streamline archiving, automate workflows, and ensure your data stays secure and compliant—all without unnecessary costs. Explore Orchestry’s comprehensive Archiving solutions to see how you can cut costs while keeping your digital landscape organized.