In recent years, many customers I talked to, told me they are struggling with oversharing and content sprawl in Microsoft 365. These challenges often lead to issues with managing security on the platform and can also hinder companies from fully adopting Microsoft 365—particularly with integrating new AI offerings like Microsoft Copilot. But one has to ask: where does this problem actually stem from?
When you think about it, Microsoft 365 contains vast numbers of documents, mostly generated through Microsoft Office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Across companies worldwide, end users are creating dozens of documents every day using these tools. However, one critical step occurs when they begin a document: they need to save it.
When you click ‘Save’ in Microsoft Word, you’re presented with a simple dialog, as shown in the picture below. In most corporations, the default option is to save the document to OneDrive. It’s the easiest choice, and because it’s the default, most users will select it. This leads to documents being stored in a personal OneDrive, essentially your own private corporate space.
The challenge arises when you need to collaborate with colleagues. To do so, you have to share the document, which results in many uniquely shared files across thousands of users in the company who are all facing the same issue: saving documents to their OneDrive. If you click on ‘More options,’ Microsoft Word allows you to save in various other locations. Depending on your setup, these options can include personal OneDrive, corporate OneDrive, multiple SharePoint sites, or Microsoft Teams.
But if you look at the attached picture, you’ll notice that the dialog in Microsoft Word can feel overwhelming.
There are so many options that end users don’t fully understand, making it difficult to choose the right location. That’s why many of them stick with the default option, saving documents to OneDrive. This behavior can severely compromise the security of Microsoft 365, as it creates countless unique documents that must be individually managed.
What can you, as an IT admin or IT organization, do to help your end users?
Here are a few tips you can take from this playbook:
- Train your users to distinguish between OneDrive, a SharePoint site, and a Microsoft Team.
- Teach them how to connect these sites to their OneDrive interface by clicking the ‘Add Shortcut’ option in SharePoint sites or Microsoft Teams.
- Help users configure and pin relevant sites in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, etc.). This will streamline the saving process and ensure documents are always saved in the correct location.
- Train them to use the ‘Move’ function. Even with preparation, documents may end up in OneDrive, but users can clean up by moving them to the appropriate site.
The benefit of these steps is that if users store their documents in the proper Teams or SharePoint sites, they won’t need to worry about security. For example, if a document is saved in a marketing site, everyone in marketing will have access automatically, without needing specific sharing permissions for each individual. It’s important for users to understand the difference between saving a document in OneDrive—typically for personal use or sharing with specific individuals—and saving it in a shared workspace like a SharePoint site, where it’s meant for broader collaboration.
This will all take time, but you will ensure way better results in the future. In the meanwhile, if you are looking for a Microsoft 365 governance solution, check Syskit Point.