Your M365 storage allocation is shrinking. Your problem isn't.
CAUDIT Cloud Data Lifecycle. A sovereign data lifecycle service for the Australian higher education and research sector, built with Arcitecta.
Start with what you actually have
You cannot manage what you cannot see.
Most institutions can see who has an account and how much space they use. Very few can say what is in their tenant, who owns it, how old it is, or what can safely go. In practice a small number of accounts generate the majority of stored data, and nobody can name them.
CAUDIT Cloud Data Lifecycle answers that first. File-level reporting on ownership, ageing, distribution and consumption tells you the size of your exposure and how much of it you can act on, before you make a single irreversible decision.
Research Data in Microsoft 365
The Microsoft 365 storage deadline.
Microsoft has ended unlimited storage across Microsoft 365 for Education. In its place: a pooled model of 100 TB per tenant plus 50 GB for every A3 licence and 100 GB for every A5, shared across OneDrive, SharePoint and Exchange, priced in US dollars once you go over. The change applies at your next agreement renewal.
CAUDIT Cloud Data Lifecycle closes it for you. Microsoft 365 stays exactly as your people know it. Behind it, the service connects via the Microsoft Graph API, applies the lifecycle policy your institution sets, and moves only what exceeds your allocation into sovereign, FAIR-ready storage. You have already paid for your entitlement. The objective is to use it, not to empty Microsoft 365.
Every institution facing this has the same four options: pay Microsoft’s overage, delete without knowing what is being lost, move the data to somewhere cheaper and end up managing it across two systems with no single view across them, or bring it under management and move only what exceeds your allocation.
Your path forward
Turning the storage squeeze into a sector fix.
Years of research, intellectual property and institutional knowledge cannot be recreated if they are lost. We’ve created a better way to manage it, powered by Arcitecta.
Microsoft 365 remains the everyday front door for your people. Behind it, a sovereign, Australian approach moves the data that does not belong there into managed, FAIR-ready storage, with Copilot and Purview continuity preserved.
This provides a smarter home for your data, and it turns a shared sector problem into a shared sector solution.
- Sovereign, project-level custody that survives staff departure.
- Metadata and FAIR compliance captured on ingest, not retrofitted.
- Access via web portal, desktop client, mappable drives and S3 API.
- Retention aligned to the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research and State Records obligations.
Deletion is a records decision
Deleting under storage pressure is not a strategy.
Public universities are subject to public records legislation in every Australian jurisdiction, under which disposal must occur against an authorised retention and disposal instrument, with a documented rationale. Records authorities have also been explicit that a backup is not a recordkeeping system, because a bulk image cannot be searched, sentenced or selectively disposed of. Research data carries a separate obligation under the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.
Retention classes are applied as policy rather than as a manual exercise. Where a retention period has genuinely passed, the metadata and the reason for disposal are retained, giving you an audit trail that the decision was authorised.
Exclusive Offer
'Stronger Together' conference offer.
CAUDIT Cloud Data Lifecycle was launched to the CAUDIT community at Stronger Together 2026.
Register by 31 July to qualify for our foundation member offer and a complimentary assessment of your Microsoft 365 tenant. The assessment tells you what you are holding, who is driving it, and how much of it you can safely act on before your renewal.
You’re in good company.
Why Macquarie Cloud Services
Built for research data.
Sovereign security operations, sector-aligned support and proven capability for Australian organisations.
Onshore and sovereign operations
Sovereign Australian data centres in Sydney, Macquarie Park and Canberra, certified to SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 Type 2, DISP and ISO 27001, with no offshore replication by default.
Simple, transparent pricing priced in AUD.
Priced in Australian dollars, with consistent terms for every CAUDIT institution and no hidden charges.
Copilot and Purview keep working
Moving data out of Microsoft 365 should not mean losing it from the tools your institution relies on, so Microsoft 365 Copilot and Purview continuity is part of the service by design.
Deep sector alignment
We understand the realities of higher education and research – from funding models and compliance requirements to complex data sovereignty and multi-campus operations.
CAUDIT partner
Our strategic partnership with CAUDIT and Dell Technologies provides a secure and flexible cloud for Australasia’s education and research sector.
Compliance-ready
Hosted in sovereign, certified Australian data centres, CAUDIT Cloud is built to support ISO 27001, DISP, IRAP and sector-specific compliance frameworks.
From our experts
Explore our insights.
Insights to help you strengthen protection, simplify security operations and respond faster to emerging cyber threats across your environment.
Shaun Domingo
July 1, 2026
Tharindu Ruwanpathirana
April 22, 2026