SC-900 Practice Question: Describe the capabilities of Microsoft compliance solutions
Your organization uses Microsoft Purview to manage compliance. You need to create a policy that ensures data is retained for a specific period and then automatically deleted. Which solution should you use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Information Protection (which handles classification and labeling) with Data Lifecycle Management (which handles retention and deletion), leading them to select option C instead of D.
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 Data Lifecycle Management
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management (D) provides the ability to create retention and deletion policies that automatically retain data for a specified period and then delete it. This solution directly addresses the requirement to manage data retention and deletion schedules within Microsoft Purview.
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 Audit
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview Audit focuses on logging and retaining user and administrator activities across Microsoft 365 services. It provides a forensic record for investigations, eDiscovery, and regulatory compliance, allowing organizations to track who did what, when, and where. However, its primary function is activity logging and search, not the proactive management of data retention periods or the automated disposition of content.
- ✗
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager is designed to help organizations manage and improve their compliance posture by providing a centralized dashboard for assessments and actionable insights. It translates complex regulatory requirements into manageable tasks, tracks progress against various standards, and calculates a compliance score. While it guides compliance efforts, it does not directly implement or enforce data retention or deletion policies on content.
- ✗
Microsoft Purview Information Protection
Why it's wrong here
Microsoft Purview Information Protection is primarily concerned with classifying, labeling, and protecting sensitive data throughout its lifecycle, regardless of where it resides. It enables organizations to apply sensitivity labels that enforce encryption, access restrictions, and visual markings to prevent unauthorized disclosure. This solution focuses on data classification and protection mechanisms, rather than defining how long specific data types should be retained or when they should be permanently deleted.
- ✓
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
Why this is correct
Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management (DLM) is the correct solution for managing the retention and deletion of data across an organization's Microsoft 365 environment. It allows administrators to create and apply retention policies and labels that automatically retain content for specified periods or delete it after a certain time or event. DLM ensures that data is kept for legal, regulatory, or business requirements and then defensibly disposed of when no longer needed, directly addressing retention and deletion needs.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Compliance Concepts
Key term
Compliance
Compliance is the process of ensuring that an organization follows laws, regulations, standards, and internal policies that apply to its operations and data handling.
Key term
Data lifecycle management
Data lifecycle management is the process of managing data from its creation to its deletion, ensuring it is stored, used, and disposed of in a way that meets security, compliance, and business needs.
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JA
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.