If the creation of O365 Groups is not controlled, every new Team in MS Teams creates an O365 Group that in turn creates a SPO site.Every new O365 Group creates a SharePoint site (this is not optional).

They are in many respects central to Office 365. Image source: īut O365 Groups are much more. Office 365 (O365) Groups are ‘kind of’ a mix of DG and SG functionality in that they can be used to control access to certain resources in Office 365 (including SPO) AND they can be used to contact all members of the Group. SGs, on the other hand, are not email enabled. However, DLs cannot be used to control access to IT resources this is achieved by using Security Groups (SG). Most people know that Distribution Lists (DL) are used to send emails to multiple people. Records managers need to understand how Office 365 Groups work. Otherwise, at the very least they should be Site Collection Administrators and work closely with the SharePoint Admins to ensure that SharePoint Online (SPO) is configured correctly.

Records managers could potentially be SharePoint Admins if they are suitably skilled. The SharePoint Admin role is a customised administrator. Typically these admins will have log ons that are different from their normal user log on and will not need the full range of licence options. In addition to the GAs, the Office 365 admin portal is where customised administrators are set up. The options and settings in the Office 365 admin portal required to manage records are listed below. Office 365 admin portal options and settings E5 licences provide additional capability some of which is referenced below with a comment. Note, the description below is for a typical E3 licenced level organisation. See the next post for a list of the options and settings available in SharePoint Online to manage records. These would normally be set by the Office 365 Global Admins (GAs) or, in some cases, devolved to Customised Administrators. GAs have access to all parts of the Office 365 environment including SharePoint Online, Exchange, OneDrive and Microsoft Teams. If you plan, or want to understand how, to manage records ‘out of the box’ in the Office 365 ecosystem including in SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and MS Teams, you will need to know the available options and settings.

Office 365 adminportal