SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
A legal team is handling a lawsuit and needs to gather all electronically stored information (ESI) related to a specific case from across Microsoft 365, including emails, Teams messages, and SharePoint documents. They need to place a hold on the custodians' data to prevent deletion or modification, and then collect, review, and export the data. Which Microsoft Purview solution should they use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse eDiscovery (Standard) with eDiscovery (Premium), assuming the Standard tier can handle custodian holds and advanced review, but only Premium provides the full legal hold and collection workflow required for complex litigation.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium)
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) is the correct solution because it provides end-to-end workflow for legal cases, including the ability to place legal holds on custodians' data across Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive to preserve ESI, and then collect, review, and export that data. The Premium tier adds advanced features like custodian management, review sets, and predictive coding, which are essential for complex litigation scenarios.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium)
Why this is correct
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Premium) is the comprehensive solution specifically engineered for managing the entire electronic discovery workflow required for complex legal cases. It enables legal teams to identify specific custodians, place defensible legal holds on their data across Exchange mailboxes, SharePoint sites, OneDrive accounts, and Microsoft Teams, and then perform advanced collection, processing, review, and analysis of electronically stored information (ESI) using features like analytics and predictive coding. This robust capability ensures all relevant data is preserved and efficiently prepared for litigation.
- ✗
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Standard)
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery (Standard) offers foundational search and export capabilities for content across Microsoft 365, suitable for basic investigations or regulatory requests. However, it lacks the advanced features essential for comprehensive legal proceedings, such as the ability to identify and manage specific custodians, apply targeted legal holds, or leverage sophisticated analytics and machine learning tools for efficient document review and culling. Consequently, it is insufficient for the rigorous demands of a full-scale lawsuit requiring extensive data gathering and analysis.
- ✗
Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium)
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview Audit (Premium) is primarily designed to provide detailed logging and forensic investigation capabilities for user and administrator activities within Microsoft 365 services. While invaluable for understanding security incidents, compliance breaches, or user behavior, it does not offer any functionality for placing legal holds on data to prevent modification or deletion, nor does it facilitate the collection, processing, or review of electronically stored information (ESI) for legal discovery purposes. Its focus is on activity monitoring, not data preservation or collection for litigation.
- ✗
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) is centered on managing the retention and deletion of data throughout its lifecycle using retention policies and labels. While DLM can prevent data from being prematurely deleted and ensure compliance with retention requirements, it is not designed to implement specific, targeted legal holds for litigation. It lacks the ability to identify custodians, apply holds based on legal case requirements, or provide the advanced collection, processing, and review tools necessary for a comprehensive eDiscovery workflow.
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Microsoft Entra ID
Key term
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based cloud service from Microsoft that combines productivity tools like Office apps with security, device management, and online storage.
Key term
Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance and compliance service that helps organizations discover, manage, and protect their data across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SC-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SC-900 exam.